SPAIN’S FIGHTING BULLS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12780, 25 October 1919, Page 12

SPAIN’S FIGHTING BULLS.

HOW THEY ARE TRAINED. TEXAN BULL THAT CLEARED THE RING. The famous fighting bulls of Spain ■ are among the interests of tho Andalusian plains (says the New York “ Sun ”). The Spanish bull often has i a rather hollow back; its horns are large, rather wide, and turned up and inward—never short, very thick and turned downward, as is usually the case with bulls of other countries. In its early youth the Spanish bull roams in comparative freedom over the plain. It early makes acquaint--1 ance, however, with the garrocbista's pic. Though the latter is merely a polo with no blade, but only n small point, like the shod end of an alpenstock, it is a formidable weapon when cleverly wielded. At the age of about two and a half a crisis arrives in the life of a fighting bull. The ordeal, which every animal must undergo, is one that very few foreigners have witnessed. THE TRY-OUT. In the cool of the late afternoon a party of horsemen gather on a plain, accompanied by a professional picador. Two of the number, armed with long lances, ride up to the herd, round Which is a guardian ring of horsemen, it should be mentioned that the full herd has already been split into two portions by the removal of the belled bullocks to a distance of half a mile. The guards now allow a bull to escape and off the latter goes at once toward his bullock friends; tail in air, scurryj uig over the plain, closely pursued, by the galloping horsemen. I The latter, mdiiferently mounted on ewe necked ponies, do not usually succeed in overhauling their quarry: for a few hundred yards; hut then .the nearest horseman, with his lance in rest, ranges alongside and delivers i prod. The bull turns to one side, letting up the other horseman, who in his turn delivers a thrust and throws the bull over, ■■ ONLY GAME ANIMALS SELECTED. Up gets the bull and again , flees, pursued as before by the horsemen. The whole business is very , like pigsticking, with a much larger and slower quarry. This time the animal makes toward the other horsemen, who in scattered groups are for the present’ spectators and possibly judges of tho sport. Before the bull reaches the latter, however, one of his pursuers ranges alongside once more, when the bull receives a third prod and down he goes again. Thoroughly annoyed, he swings round for the charge, but his immediate adversary has galloped on and is out of reach. He turns bis attention, therefore, to number two, whose, place has now been taken by the provisional picador. This man, with couched lance, awaits the bull’s onset. The latter charges again and yet again, to be received each time on the point of the lance. And so the game proceeds. If tho bull after receiving a plentiful succession of jabs, which merely inflict flesh wounds and do no serious harm, is undismayed and continues to charge as gamely as ever, he is considered to nave pluck and fire enougli to be warthy of the ring. But should he. finding that his charges are fruitless, turn sulky, refuse to charge his opponents and endeavour to flee from them, he is branded as cowardly is fattened, and in due time is converted into beef. j The toreador has not always been I the hero of the bull ring. There was ' once a bull that earned the plaudits of a Spanish arena on more than one occasion by clearing it of his antagonists. Strangely enough, the bull neither ; killed nor injured any man. But he 1 did put to flight every toreador, matador, picador, clmlo or banderillero who dared to enter the ring with him; and, although the crowds came to see him slain, bis conduct proved so valiant that tho people DEMANDED THAT HIS LIFE BE SPARED. I This bull was named Lechuzo. His first appearance in the arena was made ■ at San Lucar. He so suddenly cleared ■ the ring of his enemies that the people rose in admiration and demanded his , reprieve, for despite his bravery he i t would have been treacherously ap- ■ preached and put to death in accord- i ance with the usual practice had not l the people intervened. 1 , A<min at Cordoba, upon the healing • of the wounds inflicted upon him by j the picadors at San Lucar, Lechuzo j drove all his enemies before him and < again his life was spared at the de-j mand of the spectators. | So in time Lechuzo began to be re- 1 garded as invincible, and : finally he , ended his days in peace at the age of , ten years. Some admirers were desir- ■) ous of testifying to his prowess by ( erecting at San Lucar a monument in ( his honour, but nothing came of the 1 proposal* I . Some years ago a herd of . Texas bulla ( were ■ imported from their .native land to Seville to give special ’ attraction to ] a bullfight of more than ordinary im- T portance. Those American bulls fur- 1 nishecl -the Spaniards with some in- \ teresting sport. i j. FEAT OF A TEXAN BULL. . \ The first of the intended victims when confronted in the ring by horse I and picador wholly neglected the horse, i but paid instant and undivided attention to the man. - The bull bellowed t as if from sheer delight at the antici- i pated encounter , and attacked the pio- : •dor furiously, He pressed th« fighter t

so hard that, defence being useless, the Wan sought safety in inglorious flight by scaling the barrier erected between the audience and the ring as a provision of safety. .The picador was ardently and efficiently assisted over tho barrier by the horns of the steer and was followed a t he narrowly escaped with big fife by reaching a convenient ‘ The steer did his best to get at him, but finding this impossible, looked about for other game. The stone seats in the enclosure at beviile were ten feet above the ground, and this height has always been an insurmountable barrier for a bull, but this time things were different, for as 1 soon ns the Texan bull saw the throng to®. }l f ad to> stepped back, and tho next instant Tie was among tliem. Before the people could escape lie had tossed half a dozen of them into the nng, but they were nil rescued by the nng attendants. The stone seats clearea. the steer returned to the ring, and seeing no one else to whom he mio-ht throw the gage of battle, he took the exact centre of the ring and bellowed hj s defiance to the world. Meantime the management had got busy, and a TV ? auKe , r was summoned .rom a nearby barracks and the bull’s! fife was mglonously ended-