Jul

9

Forget the Whisperer, meet the horse WRESTLERS? The incredible battle of …

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By
Paul Milligan


PUBLISHED:

20:50 GMT, 9 July 2012

|

UPDATED:

10:39 GMT, 10 July 2012

The annual Rapa das Bestas festival in Spain is not for the faint-hearted, as it pits man against horse in an incredible wrestling match.

The 400-year old tradition of Rapa das Bestas, which translates as ‘cropping the beasts’, sees locals attempt to wrestle wild horses to the ground, before cropping their manes.  

The horses come from the mountains of Galicia, in the northwestern region of Spain, and are rounded up so that the locals can clip their manes and tails and brand the foals.

Aloitadores struggle with a wild horse during the 400-year-old horse festival in Spain called 'Rapa das bestas'

Aloitadores struggle with a wild horse during the 400-year-old horse festival in Spain called ‘Rapa das bestas’

The festival sees locals from northern Spain wrestle wild horses to the ground in order to cut their manes

The festival sees locals from northern Spain wrestle wild horses to the ground in order to cut their manes

The aloitadores go in packs of three - one who gets on the horse's back, another who takes hold of the neck, and a third to take the tail

The aloitadores go in packs of three – one who gets on the horse’s back, another who takes hold of the neck, and a third to take the tail

The most famous event is the three-day festival held in the village of San Lorenzo de Sabucedo, where the use of nothing but hands, no tools or ropes, is permitted.

The festival has been condemned by animal rights groups, but locals have defended the festival saying it provides an opportunity to see to the needs of animals that are ill or infected by parasites.

It takes three men (known as ‘aloitadores’) to manage each horse: One who gets on the horse’s back; another who takes hold of the neck; and a third to take the tail.

As if the process wasn't a difficult enough test of human strength, the horses in 'Rapa das bestas' are wild and untamed

As if the process wasn’t a difficult enough test of human strength, the horses in ‘Rapa das bestas’ are wild and untamed

The three-day festival takes places every July, and dates back more than 400 years

The three-day festival takes places every July, and dates back more than 400 years

Hundreds of wild horses are rounded up from the mountains to be trimmed and marked. Some more successfully than others.

Hundreds of wild horses are rounded up from the mountains to be trimmed and marked. Some more successfully than others.

They then wrestle the horse to the floor in order to shear its hair to stop it from overheating during the hotter months or brand it if it is a younger horse that has not previously been tagged.

The festival begins on the first Saturday in July, and starts with an early morning mass, prior to the herders heading off at 7am, and goes on into the Monday.

Both locals and tourists are permitted to go in search of the horses and bring them down to the village, although only locals are allowed to be aloitadores.

On the final day the horses are herded back into the mountains, where they are allowed to roam freely for the rest of the year.

The dangerous nature of the event is added to as wild horses often turn on each other and attack, with no regard for who is nearby

The dangerous nature of the event is added to as wild horses often turn on each other and attack, with no regard for who is nearby

After the festival is over the wild horses are returned, trimmed and marked, to the mountains to roam free

After the festival is over the wild horses are returned, trimmed and marked, to the mountains to roam free

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I’m off to the UK for some fox-hunting, after an invitation by a wealthy British friend of mine!

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Robert, Canada (expat), 10/7/2012 5:16 What the hell are you saying???? Most people in Spain do not enjoy it, stop judging us without knowing us!!!! – Maria, Madrid – No point in trying to explain that you agree with animal cruelty on this site Maria. The fact that you come from Spain is enough for them but don’t be too disconcerted, they are the same semi-clad lobsters who fill up Benidorm each year, vomiting all over the pavements, peeing in the street, who try to jump from Balcony to Balcony as a drunken act of bravado and frequently miss!!! The same idiots who bet money each year on the Grand National where horses are FORCED to race with metal in their mouths and whips lashing their backs. Every year horses are shot at the track but to the English it is entertainment. Total Hypocrites. Clean your own houses before scrutinising other’s!!!!!4

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ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! MAKING OUT THIS IS SOME KIND OF FUN- Its DISGUSTING.

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These poor animals look so frightened. The men are beasts. No wonder I sometimes think that animals are better than humans. I suggest three horses to one man, then we’ll see who’s smart.

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THESE MEN ARE PATHETIC

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its distgusting that they still do that, is that man stabbing the horse right through the neck, i fell so sorry for the horses, if i was that horse i would just kick then and its nice that the other horses just watch as he gets stabbed, it’s so wrong thoose men should be stabbed in the neck to see how they like it.

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Totally disgusting animals do have feelings even though they can’t talk.

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Captain Reynolds, Serenity, The Verse, —- May I say in reponse….The character Captain Mal Reynolds from the show Firefly would be the first man down there wrestling wild horses if they required attention. That is all.

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These Spanish men must have small wee-wees if they’re always trying to bully and measure themselves against animals like this. Things like this are always some form of compensation for other things which are lacking.

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Disgusting, do the Spanish have no feelings for animals at all !!

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