Bullfight Report As it is

Bullfight Report

As it is late, and I am not at my own computer, I am going to stick to a brief report of last night’s bullfight. I will discuss more general taurine topics later, but here is an account of a specific bullfight. The novice should be able to glean some notion of what the art (not sport) of bullfighting is all about, even though an outline of the nature of the art is beyond the scope of this report. Please keep in mind that what I am describing is a Portuguese bullfight, performed on horseback. Purist aficionados see this as a secondary art to toreo en pie, even though this form is the elder.

Last night was the bullfight of the Modesto Festa and was held in the Praça de Toiros in Stevinson. Following local law, the bullfight was bloodless, and the banderillas were placed using Velcro. The performers were Cavaleiro (Alt) Pedro Franco of Portugal and Eduardo Costa (Praticante) of California. The forcados were from Turlock and (I believe – I get the two groups mixed up, and was talking to another aficionado when they were announced) Tulare, although they may have been from Southern California. I enjoy the forcados, but consider them a much lesser part of the fiesta brava (although in California, they enjoy the highest following of anywhere in the taurine world).

As for the bulls, there was not much to say about them. The first bull was decent, the rest borderline or out and out mansos. The focus was on three of the horses, which were bought from the legendary Rejoneador Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza of Spain.

These horses were incredibly well-trained. Hermoso de Mendoza, who I have had the privilege of seeing twice in Mexico, is known for performing ballets on horseback (albeit in a small ring with a wild bull charging at him). His horses are trained to respond to the subtlest of cues, bowing, dipping, turning, dancing, and outrunning the bull at the slightest nudge on the reigns or pressure of the knees. Under Hermoso de Mendoza’s guidance these horses move in ways that seem to defy physics.

Unfortunately, under the reigns of Franco the horses showed only a glimpse of what they can do. Although Franco is a full-fledged professional cavaleiro, he spends much of the season in California. This is akin to Barry Bonds playing softball in Japan from May to September. Needless to say Franco is not a top-tier performer. I have seen him many times on lesser steeds, and he is adequate, although somewhat dull. Watching him on the Hermoso de Mendoza horses, however, did not help him. Citing the bull, Franco would engage in the same elegant dances as Hermoso de Mendoza, but would then botch the placement of the sticks.

The effect was akin to a performance of a Bach suite in which the performer perfectly ornamented every phrase, but hit essential notes incorrectly. As I said to my neighbor in the stands, “this is like giving the keys to Dad’s Ferrari to the 16 year old and telling him to hold his own at Sear’s Point.”

Franco, inspired by the horses, was attempting to perform at a level far beyond his abilities, and the results were revealing. He misread the bulls, failed to engage the admittedly poor bulls, missed on his placement, and generally failed to dominate the animals.

Costa, who, as a young Californian, has shown tremendous potential in the past, was distracted. He fought one decent faena, making up for missed sticks with a beautiful over the back placement, a la Rodrigo Santos. His last bull was a disaster, and Costa allowed his horse to be pegged at least three times and was eventually unseated. My hope is that he will not be discouraged, as he has shown in the past that he can be a brilliant cavaleiro, probably even equal to California’s cavaleiro (alt) Joseph Correia (in fact, last year at Correia’s alternative ceremony, Costa fought in tandem with Correia in a brilliant faena). California has benefited greatly from having two decent local boys (and the young Sario Cabral who shows promise), and hopefully the remainder of the season will show that Costa is on track with the progress he has made in the last few years.

As far as the forcados, there was one good, clean grab from Turlock. The rest of the evening was less than inspiring, mostly the fault of bad bulls and improper preparation by the cavaleiros (I say this as an admitted non-expert on the forcados, however. Others may disagree and be completely correct).

The orchestra, from Livingston, was excellent. They have a good repertoire and sounded better than ever.