A Rapa das Bestas
terrorizing and torturing for fun
The strength of man against beast is the focus of a centuries-old tradition in Galicia where ‘A Rapa das Bestas’ – ‘Cropping the Beasts’ involves wrestling untamed horses to the ground, and clipping their manes and tails. Foals born in the year are branded.
It takes place throughout the summer in the region, where hundreds of wild horses are rounded up in the mountains of Spain’s most north western autonomous community and taken down to the villages for cropping. Perhaps the most famous event is in Sabucedo, a small village in Pontevedra which holds the Rapa das Bestas over a three-day period at the beginning of July. It differs from other Rapas in that no ropes or other tools are seen - just bare hands and skill to wrestle the untamed horses to the ground.
There’s a legend to the history of the tradition in Sabucedo: that in the mid-16th century, two elderly sisters prayed to Sabucedo’s patron saint, San Lorenzo, to deliver the people of the plague which had struck the village. The village was saved and, in return, the sisters offered a pair of horses which were set free in the mountains – the beginnings of the herds which now live in the wild above the village.
The first record of the Sabucedo Rapa as a festival was at the beginning of the 18th century, when the ‘beasts’ were brought down from the mountains for cropping and the branding of the new foals, an event - celebrated with copious amounts of wine – with a two-fold purpose: the horses’ hygiene, and to keep track of the herds.
It takes place throughout the summer in the region, where hundreds of wild horses are rounded up in the mountains of Spain’s most north western autonomous community and taken down to the villages for cropping. Perhaps the most famous event is in Sabucedo, a small village in Pontevedra which holds the Rapa das Bestas over a three-day period at the beginning of July. It differs from other Rapas in that no ropes or other tools are seen - just bare hands and skill to wrestle the untamed horses to the ground.
There’s a legend to the history of the tradition in Sabucedo: that in the mid-16th century, two elderly sisters prayed to Sabucedo’s patron saint, San Lorenzo, to deliver the people of the plague which had struck the village. The village was saved and, in return, the sisters offered a pair of horses which were set free in the mountains – the beginnings of the herds which now live in the wild above the village.
The first record of the Sabucedo Rapa as a festival was at the beginning of the 18th century, when the ‘beasts’ were brought down from the mountains for cropping and the branding of the new foals, an event - celebrated with copious amounts of wine – with a two-fold purpose: the horses’ hygiene, and to keep track of the herds.
The event in Sabucedo was declared National Tourist Interest in 1963 and International Interest in 2007. It takes place over the first Saturday, Sunday and Monday of July, starting with an early morning mass on the Saturday. Then at around 7am, the herders set off in search of the beasts, more than 600 horses divided into 14 herds which live in the wild across more than 200 km of mountain land. The local population is normally little more than 150 people, but numbers swell every summer, as hundreds descend upon this tiny village to watch the spectacle.
Visitors are allowed to take part in herding the horses to bring them down from the mountain, but it is only the locals who are permitted to take the part of the ‘aloitadores’, the local horse wrestlers whose skill is needed to subdue the beasts for clipping and branding. The patron saint, Lorenzo, is asked for his protection while they perform this task.
The herding can take the best part of the morning, as these noble animals are brought down from the hills to the local corral, a centuries-old stone amphitheatre with space for up to a thousand people. Teenage boys and girls are initiated into the Rapa – supervised by the experienced aloitadores - by separating the foals from the herd, and driving them into a separate corral.
The first curro, or corral, begins with the aloitadores working as a team to bring their chosen horse down. It’s a risky business and can take a number of hours to work through the 200 or so beasts which are clipped on each of the three days of the Rapa. Only the experienced are allowed to take part and there’s even a reference in Camilo José Cela’s ‘Mazurca para dos muertos’, where Spain’s Nobel Laureate speaks of ‘bravery which was only comparable to that of the aloitadores of Sabucedo’.
Each day’s work ends with partying into the night, and at the end of the third ‘curro’ on the Sunday, the horses are herded up to the mountains again, where they are set free until the following year’s Rapa das Bestas.
Source: Typically Spanish
Visitors are allowed to take part in herding the horses to bring them down from the mountain, but it is only the locals who are permitted to take the part of the ‘aloitadores’, the local horse wrestlers whose skill is needed to subdue the beasts for clipping and branding. The patron saint, Lorenzo, is asked for his protection while they perform this task.
The herding can take the best part of the morning, as these noble animals are brought down from the hills to the local corral, a centuries-old stone amphitheatre with space for up to a thousand people. Teenage boys and girls are initiated into the Rapa – supervised by the experienced aloitadores - by separating the foals from the herd, and driving them into a separate corral.
The first curro, or corral, begins with the aloitadores working as a team to bring their chosen horse down. It’s a risky business and can take a number of hours to work through the 200 or so beasts which are clipped on each of the three days of the Rapa. Only the experienced are allowed to take part and there’s even a reference in Camilo José Cela’s ‘Mazurca para dos muertos’, where Spain’s Nobel Laureate speaks of ‘bravery which was only comparable to that of the aloitadores of Sabucedo’.
Each day’s work ends with partying into the night, and at the end of the third ‘curro’ on the Sunday, the horses are herded up to the mountains again, where they are set free until the following year’s Rapa das Bestas.
Source: Typically Spanish
|
|
About the issue
In this ancient horse wrestling festival, people gather some 600-700 untamed, terrified horses in a corral, and men and women of all ages brutally wrestle them to the ground with their bare hands to cut their manes and tales out and brand them.
Townspeople claim they are doing it for the horses since many of these are wild horses; the branding is needed to ensure they are protected.
Not only does the event cause great distress for the animals, if branding is needed, wild horses should be gently handled using humane chutes. The consumption of large quantities of alcohol during such procedure should be avoided!
Cutting of the horses' manes and tails removes the horses' natural defenses from flying insects.
|
|
|
Please take action!
A Rapa das Bestas 2012 will be celebrated from July 5, till July 9, 2012
You can read the program of the 'festivity' here.
Below you will find all relevant email addresses. Please raise your concerns!
You can read the program of the 'festivity' here.
Below you will find all relevant email addresses. Please raise your concerns!
San Lorenzo de Sabucedo is a little town located in the municipality of La Estrada which is located in Pontevedra province in the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwest Spain.
The mail of the mayor: alcaldia@aestrada.com
Phone number: (986) 57 00 30 / Fax: (986) 57 08 36
Culture: cultura@aestrada.com
Phone: (986) 57 36 01
Tourism office: turismo@aestrada.com
Phone: (986) 57 52 75
For more emails of social services, information, etc... please go to: http://www.aestrada.com/index.php/contacta-co-concello
You can also voice your opinion about this tradition and other Spanish blood fiestas such as bullfights, using the contact form for the Spanish Government, by clicking here!
Thank you!
Sample Letter
The following letter had been sent to the above email addresses, and shared with us by our friend S. Woolfe from North Carolina.
Dear Gentleman & Ladies,
I am writing you from America to express my dismay over the inhumane treatment of wild horses during the festival called Rapas Das Bestas in Sabucedo and other towns in Spain.
Before you make light of my concerns, please remember this: I am a potential tourist of your country. I am a lifelong horsewoman, and I have many many friends who are horsemen and horsewomen who are also potential tourists of your country. By looking the other way when it comes to the welfare of your wild horses, you may be ignoring a potential detriment to the success of your tourism industry and who knows, perhaps your economy - because why should I care to purchase Spanish products such as wine if I know that my money might go to people who support Rapas Das Bestas.
I realize that the Rapas Das Bestas is a four hundred year old tradition, but surely you can see that the practice has outlived it's necessity and that creating a spectacle through cruelty to horses, who are sentient beings, is neither civilized nor attractive to tourists. The shearing of manes and tails during the summer months when flies are at their most bothersome to horses has no logical basis whatsoever. Wrestling horses that are frightened and untame risks injury to the animals, not to mention the human participants, although the humans have a choice as to whether to participate or not. I would be more inclined to visit your country to see your wild horses in wild places that are being preserved for the future. As a horsewoman who has worked all her life to understand horses, I am befuddled by the goal of this practice of Shearing of the Beasts -- nothing is being gained by this event, except bruised men and terrified horses. There is nothing beautiful or poetic about it -- Spain's horses are known around the world for their beauty and regal stature - your citizens reduce the great wild Spanish horses to something very sad and pathetic in this festival, and that reflects upon the men and women who participate; these are not people I admire or desire to spend money to immerse myself in their culture.
I will go anywhere in the world where horses are, but until Spain reconsiders the tradition of Rapas Das Bestas, it will remain off my list of places to travel to.
Sincerely,
S. Woolfe
North Carolina, US
A Rapa das Bestas 2012
(pictures from various internet sources)
