I am just wondering what is the name given to the men on horses who spear the bull while being charged by the bull?
are they also called picadors, as i thought picadors were the men who ran at the bull with two short spears and jagged them in the bull's back while exposing their ribcage.
also what are the men in pink who run behind barriers when the bull charges?

The colorful jagged spears are banderillas: the guys who plant them are banderilleros.
Sometimes, novilleros will do their own banderillas - I think it may be an economy move: they can't afford a full quadrilla

The picadores are on horseback with long, metal tipped wooden lances.

The picador is the fat man on the padded horse who jabbs the bull in the lump of it's shoulder to drain it of blood and srength. This is done so that the bull will lower his head being tired and weak so that the matador can fight him with the muleta (the triangular shaped smaller cloth) instead of the capote(cape) which is bigger and safer. You can't fight a fresh bull with the muleta.

The picador is the most hated man in the ring. He is hated because he saps the bull of his strength and charging power sometimes to excess. The crowd understands the need to an extent but when the picador goes too far or drains for too long, the crowd protests calling him "asesino" or "sinvergüenza". They want the bull to remain at least strong enough to put up a good fight. What many don't understand(Spaniards included) is that the picador acts entirely at the orders of the matador. He will keep draining as long as the matador directs him to and stop immediately when told to by the matador. It's the matador's bull, and his show.

Also, there is a proper way for the picador to do his duty. The bull should be made to charge the picador from a distance enough to give the horse a good wallup. The lance must hit exactly in the proper spot. That lump is not such an easy target at speed. Then ,and most importantly, the lance must never, never be removed and replaced into another hole in the bull's back. One charge should make one wound. He may twist it, but not remove and replace it making a fresh wound. This will be seen by the crowd and the hissing and insults will begin. They do it quite often and it's why they are hated.


ALthough he is a bit of a vilain, a good picador who has a reputation and does the job right will be applauded. Especially if he is knocked down.

Those pads are something relatively new by the way. In the old days the horses were old nags and they had no pads. They all died of course. Then the horse meat was sent to the butchers and sold to the poor.

TO the previous poster: It isn't just novilleros who put thier own banderillas in. A novillero will do it more often because he wants to make a name for himself and get his "alternativa" or graduate to full grown bulls and be a matador.

A full matador will sometimes do it himself if he has a reputation for doing it well. When he does do it he expected to do a great job. He also uses a more dressy banderilla. I used to live in Madrid just by the bullring and would go at every chance. Back then there was a matador named "El monerito do Maraccai" He was the most fantastic performer I've ever seen with banderillas. I was once sick as a dog and when to the fight anyway to see him do it. He never failed. He wasn't worth much else though.

Hope this helps.

Cantamal

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: Antonio ]

Cantamal writes:
That's 'el Morenito de Marracai,' I believe. We saw him at las Ventas and he had a decent faena. I think he may be Colombiano. Your other two Spanish words are: sinverguenza and asasino.

Thanks. I'm glad to hear that he's still around. It was about 18 years ago when I saw him. But, if Curro Romero is still going then what the hell.

Did he do the banderillas himself when you saw him?


Thanks for correcting my Spanish too. I'm very rusty. If you don't use it ya loose it they say.