Matadors test bulls for weaknesses during a series of passes with a cape.
Bullfighting has a long history in Spanish culture and an equally long history of worldwide controversy. Those against bullfighting call it a cruel bloodsport that encourages animal suffering. Those in favor of bullfighting consider it an art that must be preserved for future generations. No matter which side of the controversy you embrace, you may be curious about what happens to the bull after the fight.
A Bullfight
A traditional Spanish bullfight takes place in a bullring and is separated into three stages. During the first stage, the matador or bullfighter studies how the bull charges, looking for weakness. Two picadors, each carrying a lance, then enter the ring on horseback and stab the bull in a large muscle on the neck. During stage two, three banderilleros attempt to plant two barbed sticks into the bull's shoulders. The matador re-enters the ring alone in the third stage. After using the cape to perform an intricate series of passes, the matador kills the bull with a sword.
To Market
Bullfighting usually ends with the death of the bull, but it isn't always a quick kill. At times, the matador must make several passes and take multiple sword thrusts before the bull finally dies. Mules are brought in to drag the bull's carcass out of the ring for butchering. The meat is available for sale in the market the next day. On the rare occasion that the bull kills the fighter, another matador enters the ring to kill the bull. Subsequently, the bull's mother is also killed to prevent what is viewed as a bad trait from continuing genetically.
Trophies
How the matador performed in the eyes of the president during the bullfight determines what happens to certain parts of the bull. Depending on the skill of the matador, the president may award him one or both ears, the tail and the hooves as trophies. The audience then waves handkerchiefs and tosses flowers into the ring in the hope that the matador will throw the trophies to the audience.
Freed
Once the matador begins his final series of killing passes, he has only 15 minutes to kill the bull. Occasionally the matador runs out of time and the bull is left alive. However, once a bull has experienced a bullfight, he can never be used in the ring again. The experience makes him too dangerous. Depending on local laws, the bull is either butchered or put out to pasture to be used exclusively as a stud.
Tags: kill bull, long history, series passes, trophies audience, what happens