They learn how to use their horns in tests of strength and dominance with other bulls. The testing for the bullfight is only of their aggression towards the horse, as regulations forbid their charging a man on the ground before they enter the bullfighting ring. When the cattle reach maturity after two years or so, they are sent to the tienta, or testing.įor the males, this establishes if they are suitable for breeding, the bullfight, or slaughter for meat. Both male and female calves spend their first year of life with their mothers then they are weaned, branded, and kept in single-sex groups. The fighting bull is considered a symbol of Spain as in this Osborne road advertisement.įighting cattle are bred on wide-ranging ranches in Spain's dehesas or in the portuguese Montados, which are often havens for Iberian wildlife as the farming techniques used are extensive. The red coloring is traditional and is believed to both conceal blood stains and provide a suitable light-dark contrast against the arena floor. Ĭattle have dichromatic vision, rendering them red-green colorblind and falsifying the idea that the color red makes them angry they just respond to the movements of the muleta. The so-called "modern foundational bloodlines" are Saltillo, Murube, Parladé and Santa Coloma, all of which are primarily composed of Vistahermosa blood. In the cases of the latter two only the ranches of Miura and Pablo Romero are deeply influenced by them. Of the so-called "foundational breeds," only the bloodlines of Vistahermosa, Vázquez, Gallardo and Cabrera remain today. Mature bulls weigh from 408.2 to 700 kg (900 to 1,543 lb).Īmong fighting cattle there are several "encastes" or subtypes of the breed. The horns are longer than in most other breeds and are present in both males and females. They reach maturity slower than meat breeds as they were not selected to be heavy, having instead a well-muscled "athletic" look, with a prominent morrillo, a complex of muscles over the shoulder and neck which gives the bull its distinctive profile and strength with its horns. Many are colored black or dark brown, but other colorations are normal. Feria de Córdoba 2009įighting bulls are characterized by their aggressive behavior, especially when solitary or unable to flee.
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