Richard Jernigan -> RE: Bullfighting Festival in Colombia (Jun. 30 2022 2:54:51)
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ORIGINAL: Pgh_flamenco Do you mean that Toros used in bullfighting are bred to kill or are you referring to bulls in general? When I was a teenager my friends and I would round up cattle on foot. There was always at least one bull with the cows. After some experience we realized that these animals were no threat to us even when they appeared to be stampeding. When I was six years old we visited my mother's sister and her family on their farm in Mississippi. They had a black bull (Angus?) which was friendly and gentle. I would sit on the ground by the barnyard gate and feed him through the board fence with peaches fallen from the tree nearby. We became good friends. However, on the same farm I was charged by a dairy cow with a new calf. She would have killed me had not my stout 17-year old cousin struck her on the face with a piece of timber he carried, hard enough to bring her to her knees. Once her head cleared she decided to trot off in the other direction. But on the ranch in Texas there were Santa Gertrudis bulls which were both murderous and crafty. If there is rain enough the Coastal Bermuda grass, originally imported from Africa, will grow to a height of six feet. Santa Gertrudis bulls would hide in the tall grass, waiting for an opportunity to attack any unmounted person. Some would even attack a man on horseback. The Santa Gertrudis breed was developed on the King Ranch. Mr. Caesar Kleberg, manager of the South Section of the Ranch, a peaceful and friendly man, observed that the Santa Gertrudis breeders regarded their aggressiveness as a virtue rather than a fault. On my family's ranch, any pasture occupied by a Santa Gertrudis bull was identified by a red bandana tied to the gate. It would only be entered by a group of at least three vaqueros, mounted on trained and capable cutting horses. Nearer the Gulf coast the soil is almost pure sand and the grass is sparse. My grandfather kept a small herd of old style longhorns there, out of historical interest. When I was 16 I was delegated to take a visitor from the north to see the longhorns. Of course I relied upon the four experienced vaqueros who accompanied us. When we came in view of the herd I stopped the party at least 100 yards away. I lent the visitor my binoculars. He observed that the old range bull had sores on his knees and back, and insisted that the bull be treated with the black medicine the vaqueros carried in their saddle bags. I told him, in no uncertain terms, that we would approach no closer. Accusing us of cowardice, the visitor demanded some medicine and said he would treat the bull himself. I said he was welcome to try, but I had three questions: "How do you propose to get past the five of us, all armed? If you do, who will pay for your mount? And where should we send your body?" The Spanish fighting bulls are supposed to be kept from seeing a person on foot until they enter the ring. When in a herd, or at the corral at the plaza with the steers that accompany them there, they are reputed to be calm and manageable. They were on occasions long ago when I saw them in the corral. When they enter the ring alone they are immediately aggressive. They are easily provoked to charge the banderilleros, the horses of the picadores and the torero's big cape in the elaborate passes of the quite. They will continue to charge the matador and his muleta even when weakened and fatigued. RNJ
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