Blood in the Sand (pt.2)

After a few minutes another cheer goes up.  It is the main man, Pablo.  He is out and making rounds on his horse.  He makes the horse trot sideways as he rounds the ring and waves at the crowd.  The people love him.  The old lady in front of me has her camera out and his snapping a load of pictures.  After he does the rounds and a few tricks, he goes to the opposite side of the ring and sits, poised attentively staring at the entrance from where the bull will come charging.  The crowd cheers and another bull is in the ring.  Like the previous, he makes his rounds, charging various toreros.  As he rounds my way, he charges a few of the fighters behind the wall.  He stops and stares the fighters down.  He lowers his head and starts ramming the wall.  The crowd goes nuts.  Perhaps its revenge, it is payback time for what those lousy fighters had just done.

Trapped

Pablo in action

It is interesting to watch this fighter on horseback; after all, he is the world’s best Rejoneador.  He does almost all of the fight himself, from the lance, to the banderillas, to the final stab; all done from atop of his horse.  He’s suave. The horse is trained to perfection. Often times throughout the fight Pablo rides with no hands, steering the horse with his legs or by yelling commands.  It is something to see, and whenever he has a chance Pablo likes to show off, and do some stunts purely for the ‘wow’ factor.  Pablo charges the bull and the bull charges back.  They go at each other head on and at the last moment the horse is pulled aside and the brush past one another.  The crowd loves this   and Pablo raises his hand to massive cheers.  It’s not always fun and games, as sometimes the bull forces Pablo to make a quick decision, causing his horse to jump and gallop sideways and after breaking away from the confrontation, run to the opposite side of the ring.  This gives both the fighter and bull a chance to rethink the situation.  Pablo and the bull charge one another a bit before one of his assistant hand him a long lance.  He raises it overhead to massive cheering, like some great warrior.  He parades the horse around the ring, waiting for the right moment.  The bull is watching intently as he circles.  Almost in unison, they both go full speed at one another and Pablo raises the long spear above as he rushes toward the bull, as he thrusts it down you can hear the sound of steel into meat.  The crowd cheers.  His lance has a white banner at the tip, and he trails it along so the bull chases it.  He is using this instead of a cape. The dance between man, horse and bull goes round and round and Pablo does all he can to tire the bull. The bull makes his move and sends Pablo and his horse leaping sideways again.  His hat flies off and the crowd screams with delight.  Pablo leans out almost perfectly vertical and pats the bull on his head, a gentle but obvious taunt. His brazen stunt ignites the crowd. Everyone is in a rabid chatter about what they have just witnessed.  Now I understand the fascination of watching a very intense and intimate fight.  Both Pablo and the bull are adrenalized, and it is time for one them to spill his life out onto the dirt for all to see.  Pablo takes his turns with his banderillas and then the final plunge.  He wins, the bull falls and the crowd is ecstatic.

The first fight was traumatic.  Pablo’s was real showmanship and some genuinely tense moments.  He definitely raised everyone’s spirits and the energy level.  It will be hard to top a guy on a gallant horse.  The clean-up crew is in the ring hauling out the dead bull, spreading out the dirt and then the sign guy shows up. I am scanning the floor wildly because my camera just broke. I forget about the fights for a moment and get absorbed in finding the part that has fallen off my camera.  How can this happen?  It's a Nikon!  He holds his sign up so the crowd can see what’s next. He disappears below me and a few seconds later the cheers ignite again as a new bull is running rampant in the ring.

Almost immediately the bull’s horns grab one of the torero’s capes and he leaps over the wall.  The bull drags the cape into the center of the ring and repeated shoves his horns into the cape and into the dirt. ‘Toro, Toro, Toro” the crowd is chanting.  Some are already on their feet!  For the third fight things are already off to a wild start.  The bull charges each fighter, sending them up and over the wall followed by huge cheers from the crowd.  This particular bull does the one thing that sends everyone over the edge. With all the toreros hiding behind the wall and a lone cape in the ring, the bull sets his sights and starts kicking up dust with his hoofs.  It’s like all the stories you’ve heard. It is thrilling to see this.  At least for this very moment, the bull is in full control and no one is willing to tempt him.  The crowd keeps chanting ‘Toro, Toro” and applause breaks out around the whole ring.  When the matador finally makes his way into the center of the ring, both the bull and the audience are keenly focused on any movement across the sand.

 

This matador is on his feet, no horse to gallop away on.  This is the type of matador you want to see, a true professional.  Though not as graceful as the ronjeador, he still commands the utmost respect.  The interplay between he and the bull is obviously more intimate and truly at ground level.  There are some hair raising moments as he is charged and has to dodge the horns, swirling his cape and becoming engulfed in a cloud of dust.  Things move slightly off center to the left of the ring.  Man and bull are now truly face to face.  The two are trying one another’s skill and patience.  As they are swirling in their dueling dance, each close call and scrape gets a loud “Ole!”  They come one after another, in a constant scream form the crowd.  It’s hard to tell who is getting the cheers, the matador or the bull.  Both are doing their best and both are splendid.  The bull trips up and his front legs give.  He falls to his knees.  The matador walks away and gives the bull time to regain his footing.  Staring at one another, the matador closes in and slowly goes to one knee.  They are both panting and looking one another in the eye.  The matador stands and turns his back and walks away.  Everyone goes to their feet and cheers.  When he regains his strength, the bull charges across the ring at the matador and everyone cheers again.

Taking aim for the last stab...

...the final blow and the bull falls

The 'finisher'

I am struck at the dazzling array of color and blood. It is thrilling when the bulls stand majestically and catch their breath; the glistening crimson flow across their muscles, topped with the brightly colored banderillas is quite a sight.  In those intimate moments when the bull and fighter are side by side, and brush by one another, the fighters’ bright capes take on a totally different look when they are flowing through the air now streaked with blood.  It is magnificence with a cost.

This matador did a good job and the crowd is letting him know by the loudness of their cheers. It’s non-stop.  He is worn and sweaty, and walks a victory round around the ring with a few of his toreros.  Someone throws a hat into the ring and the matador halts his step and catches it. They audience goes wild and he rears back, takes aim and sends the hat flying back into the stands.  As he rounds the arena, people are throwing souvenirs, hats, scarves and anything they can get their hands on into the ring.  He stops, waves and throws them back to make them even more frantic.

The matador with an audience member's hat.

I turn back to check on Tonya.  She is distraught and has not been able to cast her gaze into the ring.  She has been trying to sneak peaks through the screen on my camera.  I ask if she is OK, and she says that she is not doing well, but she is sticking it out.  I turn to the annoying boyfriend and look at his girlfriend, “How are you?  You OK?”  She shakes her sweaty head and gives two thumbs up.  I look back to Tonya and pat her on her back.

“Oooh, he’s a big one” I hear a voice say followed by a cheer.  ‘Buena Suerta’ is 490 kilos and is charging into the ring with wild abandon.  He chases all of the toreros out and he too, locks in on a few and starts banging the wall they are hiding behind.  He backs off, and then darts across to try jabbing some other fighters.  This bull is big and mean and not putting up with anyone’s nonsense.  You can sense it from the way he moves and his stature that he is a real badass.  Every torero that tries to make his way into the ring is immediately sent running back.  The crowd loves it but the fighters don’t.  No one can get near him.  The bull is holding his ground without any problems.  Tension is high.  No one can really get close enough to do anything, so they call out the Picador.  The crowd moans its disapproval that man and bull have yet to face off.  The picador comes out with his spear raised.  Not only does the crowd disapprove, but the bull does too.  As the picador is taking aim the bull charges, the picador misses and the bull hits the horse broadside.  The picador is thrown off the horse and all the women gasp.  The crowd screams with fear.  All of the toreros have been kept at bay and no one can get to help the downed picador.  The bull chases him off, then locks in on the horse that is wallowing in the dirt, trying to get back on its feet.  The bull charges full on and starts goring the horse.  It is relentless and jabs and jabs and jabs.  It retreats then head down and in for another stab.  The horse is kicking wildly but the bull has found its weak spot, beneath its padded protection.  All of the toreros have jumped into the ring and are trying frantically to get the bull’s attention.  He doesn’t stop, he keeps stabbing.  The sand is getting muddied with blood from the horse.  Women are screaming and the crowd is on its feet.  A torero grabs the bull’s tail and tries to pull him, but to no avail.  The bull turns and chases him, and back into the horse.  “It’s horrible!  This is horrible!” the women are screaming in front of me. “Get him off! Help the horse!  Get the horse!” people are screaming.  “Help him!”

The picador gets charged...

He is knocked off the and bull goes for the horse

The bull is goring the horse repeatedly. Note torero pulling his tail

...still attacking the horse

The picador remounts his wounded horse.

With all of the fighters in the ring, the bull is finally distracted form the horse.  There is no movement from the horse and many of the women are screaming. Everyone imagines that it is too late and the horse is dead.  Several men jump the wall and get into the ring to help the horse.  There is chaos all around and everyone is stunned from what they’ve just witnessed “This is not normal, this never happens” someone says.  “This is crazy” I hear the annoying boyfriend say out loud.  The crowd starts a different kind of sound as the picador appears.  He comes over the wall and all I hear is “Noooooo!”  I don’t understand what is going on, I can’t see what is happening.  I look to the bull and the fighters, but nothing.  It is a total stand-off.  I look back to the horse and they have gotten the horse to stand, the picador approaches his horse and the crowd gets louder and more defiant, “NOOOOOOO!”  The picador mounts his horse and raises his spear.  The woman in front of mean screams, “Oh my God!  The poor horse is bleeding to death; his legs are covered in blood!  Don’t do it!”  The picador is determined to take revenge on the bull.  His horse is unsteady.  Beneath its armor you can see blood running down its hind legs.  There is blood all in the sand where it was laying getting the bull’s horns repeated stab into its underbelly and hind quarters.  The horse cannot walk a straight line and is stumbling.  ‘He’s going to die!  He’s going to die!  The horse is dying!” someone is screaming.  The crowd is completely confused and is screaming at the picador “Booooo!”  The picador is visibly shaken and upset, and leads his weakened horse out of the ring.  It is too much for some.  Several people are so upset they are leaving.  The woman in front of me is pushing her friend away who is trying to calm her down, “I’m leaving.  I cannot stand this. Its horrible!” she is yelling at her friend almost in tears.  There is disruption all through the crowd and I have lost focus of what is going on in the ring.  People are stepping over people to leave.  I feel a tap on my shoulder and Tonya looks sick.  She is shaking her head and saying out loud “I’m leaving-I can’t see this” I tell her to wait a moment and gather my cameras.  The annoying boyfriend grabs my arm, “She is not doing well. You going to go with her?”  I shake my head to affirm his guess.  The woman in front of me grabs me and asks, “Is she OK?  This is horrible, just horrible.  Its not supposed to be like this, two horses in one night” I lean over and tell her we are going.  As I step down from the seats there are many more that have been shaken by the scene and are leaving or at least turning their backs and trying to get away from the chaos.

Leaving the ring, a view behind the scenes

We walk down the ramp the way we came in and there is a lot of commotion outside.  We walk passed the loading gates and there are the big horses that drag the bulls out.  There is blood everywhere and a guy is trying to hose it all down.  There is something going on further ahead of the horses but I can’t see what it is, but it has people hurrying about behind the scenes.  Tonya won’t stop; she’s several steps ahead of me shaking her head. I am limping, almost hopping to catch up with her.  She cannot get out of the area fast enough.  When I get by her side she looks at me with glassy eyes and fear, shaking her head “I shouldn’t have gone…” she said, “I shouldn’t have gone”

Me?  I still can’t make up my mind.  Death is not a fun thing to watch.