Course Landaise

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The Course Landaise is a traditional game in Gascony with wild cattle, which is mainly played in the French departments of Gers , Landes and partly also Gironde .

In this type of bullfight no blood flows, the animal remains unharmed, and it may not even be touched. The participants in this popular game are considered excellent athletes. The Courses Landaises are mostly held at parish celebrations from March to October. The courses in Nogaro , Mont-de-Marsan , Dax and Castelnau-d'Auzan are well known . There are now also national championships.

The Écarteur in action
The sauteur in action

execution

The Landaise course (the name comes from the Les Landes heathland that predominates there ) is carried out with animals from a Spanish breed of cattle. The animals are specially bred and raised on farms called Ganaderia and can weigh between 300 kg and 500 kg (125 cm to 130 cm). They are also trained to defend themselves naturally. Ganaderias can be found in the Landes mainly between Dax and Aire-sur-l'Adour .

Each farm has its own colors and its own team of toreros , the Cuadrilla . All animals have a proper name and are previously classified by observation in battle levels based on the desire to fight. Before the event, they are held in their own boxes, called boxes. A rope is looped around their horns to direct them into certain positions.

During the competition, the animals are removed from their box in a predetermined order by the cordier (the man who holds the rope) and two entraîneurs (the coordinators who maneuver the cattle into a suitable position in front of the torero) onto the other Left side of the arena waiting torero. The torero challenges the animal and incites it to attack. To enable her to do this, the Cordier gives enough free rope.

During this phase, both the audience and sponsors continuously proclaim financial rewards for the courage and audacity of the torero and announce them via loudspeaker between the constantly playing festive music.

Classification of toreros

The toreros are divided into two categories:

  • the Écarteurs who evade the attack of the animal at the very last moment with a deft movement. This is partly done with and without the protection of the rope.
  • the sauteurs , the jumpers, wait for the animal and at the last moment they jump over them. The animal rushes towards the jumper in a straight line. He now jumps over the animal in different ways, sometimes with his feet tied together or with a beret wrapped around his feet .

history

The ancient Greeks already knew a similar game, the bull jump . Games with cattle have also been held in Gascony for several centuries. For example in Saint-Sever , where it was already customary in 1457 to let animals run through the streets of the town on the feast of Saint John . In La Teste-de-Buch there was a tradition of leading the animals into the dunes to be branded. In the sand, the animal is less dangerous because of the loose surface, and there were games that consisted of jumping over the animals.

The Landaise Course was given rules in the 19th century. The torero performed two standard maneuvers, jumping and dodging. In the 19th and 20th centuries, numerous arenas were specially built , mainly in the departments of Landes and Gers, and to a lesser extent Gironde . In the Gironde department , the tradition could hardly hold up. The arenas of La Teste-de-Buch and Arcachon were demolished, and there is no longer a Course Landaise in Bordeaux . There are still some events in Floirac , La Brède and Captieux .

Competitions

Three types of competitions determine the Courses Landaises today:

Course formal

Everything happens in the style according to the old rules. The participants are all specialists and professionals. The competition lasts approximately 2 ¼ hours with a break. It begins with the invasion of the Écarteurs to the music of the Marche Cazérienne . This type of course is mainly found in Chalosse , Tursan , Béarn and Bigorre . A jury determines an overall rating for the cuadrillas that count for the annual national competition.

Concours Landais

Here, too, all participants are professionals, but they take part in an individual competition. Each competition has its own rules, which are registered with the Fédération Française de Course Landaise (FFCL).

Course mixed

The course mixte are events for amateurs. The first part is designed according to the formal rules; the audience can participate in the second part. Many games are organized in the seaside resorts on the Atlantic coast, in which tourists can also take part. Sometimes such events only consist of the playful part. There are events in which two villages or cities compete against each other. Young men jump and run to grab the cockade (a ribbon or badge tied between the horns of the cattle) or just play some sort of rugby game with a wild calf in the field. The horns of the cattle are then mostly defused by attached balls.

Web links

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