On July 5th we went to a bull fight at the Fort Bend County Fair Grounds. It was not like what they do in Spain and Mexico where the kill the bull and it is bloody and gory. I have not ever been to one of those and when I was on my mission in Colombia it was against the mission rules to attend one. So, this was my first bullfight. Instead of killing the bull, the Matador has to pull a flower off the back of the bull. Then they try and get the bull back through the gate area as they do in a rodeo.
The announcer was a bit over the top in explaining about bull fighting to the point of being a bit of a dork. He went off about these bulls being natural born killers, worse than a grizzly bear. He said that these bulls were wild, never seeing a man with walking on two legs before stepping into the bullfight ring. I will take this opportunity to say I believe that is the biggest bunch of crap I have ever heard. I do not gamble but I would put down some big money and bet that men walking on two legs loaded these bulls into a trailer and brought them to the fairgrounds and the bulls saw the people loading them. I would also bet that nobody is going to get into a ring with a wild grizzly bear, lion or tiger like they do the bulls. The dude was full of BS. I will grant you that bullfighting is dangerous but it is not like getting in the ring with a large predator.
The announcer also waxed poetic about how the bullfight is a "ballet dance between the bull and the matador" and the bull was one of the most "beautiful beasts". I thought I was going to gag. Our good friend Kathy, who told us about this event and went with us, did not really have the stomach for when the guy was waxing poetic.
Even though the announcer was a bit of a dork, we still had a blast and it was exciting. Below are a bunch of pictures from the bullfight. I will not comment on each of them as I cannot come-up with something to say for all of them.
Before they got started there was an explanation of some of the bullfighting terms and a demonstration that was done. This is part of the demonstration with the dude running around with the horns. I would feel like a dork if I were the guy that had to run around with the horns. It is probably some sort of an initiation before you can be a real bullfighter. Before you can fight a real bull, you have to run around with these horns making a fool of yourself. Fortunately, Ryan had to go to the bathroom so I missed most of this part.
Then the Matadors came out. Or, as Lori referred to them as, "The Commodores." I kept looking for Lionel Richie among the Commodores, but I was never able to find him.
Now we get into the bull fight pictures. The first pictures we took were blurry until we switched the camera over to sports mode. The images are not as high a resolution in sports mode but they are less blurry. We had our big zoom lens on the camera, but it was still tough to get really close. So the pictures are cropped even further, which reduces the detail. In addition, the fence makes taking the pictures tough because the camera kept wanting to focus on the fence. Given those difficulties, the pictures may be a little blurry at times. Keep in mind that everything is moving fast and getting good pictures was tough, but I think we got some good ones anyway.
The Matador or Torero (or is that Commodore) is starting the show.
In this picture in the background you can see the guys standing behind the sign that says Enterprise, LLC. These are the Picadores or Banderilleros and are part of the entourage. Actually, Picadores ride on horses and stab the bull before the fight, but since they were not stabbing and killing the bulls, they were not necessary. When the bull first comes out these guys tag-team the bull to get him a little bit tired and calmed down. They run behind the wood signs that they are standing behind in the picture for protection. A couple of bulls hit that sign pretty hard. They also stand ready like the rodeo clowns to help the Matador if he gets in trouble with the bull.
When it is happening so fast it is tough to see how close they are actually getting to the bull. The still pictures show that better.
The bulls seem to always go for the cloth. I am not sure why that is. If I were a bull, I would go for the legs.
This is one of the Picadores or Banderilleros stepping out and helping to tire out the bull.
Here we have the bull driving his head into the ground.
The bull is pawing the ground like in the cartoons. He is kicking the dirt back with his front foot in this picture.
The bull is going so fast he is just a blur.
Do you want a piece of me?
Charge!
Olé!
Peek-A-Boo!
Coming back around.
Olé!
This last one the Matador got both ears and a tail. I am not sure it was that much greater, but the last one the Matador got the highest reward.
These are the bulls after the fight. I guess after the bull fight it is ok for the "wild" bulls to see people, although one of the dudes came over and told us to stand back. Really, the bulls behind the fence were not much scarier than going to see them bulls at Uncle Bryant's, but it was probably blowing the mystic to have us stand there and take a picture of the bulls afterwards. Some drunk dude was waving a plastic bag around before we got there and the bulls did charge the fence. The guy probably wanted to get the drunk guy to quit doing that but telling us to back away because it was sooo dangerous was another moment that was over the top. We were not that close to begin with and they are behind a fence. Now, if we were climbing the fence and trying to ride them, I would be concerned. But, standing 20-30 feet away to take a picture really did not feel that threatening. But, then again, the announcer did say these were the most fierce animals on the face of the planet, more dangerous than grizzly bears.
