The Grabbing of Beasts

We drove into the wooded hills yesterday late afternoon for an event called A Rapa Das Bestas or the grabbing of beasts. For those of you who have watched Gypsy Wedding you may think this is some sort of dating for desperate people. However it's an annual tradition with country folk which involves rounding up the wild horses and cutting their hair. Some communities also brand the horses to ensure that if they stray into other land, the owners know about them. Yesterday was just cutting manes and I was grateful for this. There is a huge wooded pen and a viewing area around the top. Friends of the farmers sit on top of the wooded pen and shout pleasantries (insults) that would put the cast of Shameless to inevitable shame.

There is a primitive bar and seating area which was "quite clean for rural standards" and as we were leaving, some chaps were boiling pulpo (octopus) and serving it in the local style. The children were riding around on the backs of horses and ponies with no helmet or safety gear and the horse-park had some beautiful horses tied up to trees whilst their owners were wrestling their wild cousins to the floor.

Back to the pen. It's hot and flies dance all over the horses. The lads start cheering then one jumps on the back of a horse, pulling its mane and slapping it on the backside. God knows what his dating technique is like! Then all the lads muscle in and attempt to get the 'beast' to the ground. One mare was so tough that they had to pull her tail and her back leg but once she was on the ground she was quite calm. An old fella came round with buckets of water keeping the horses cool. People from urban UK will no doubt think this is a cruel activity, and as I discussed with my host, there probably are more efficient ways to trim them. However this is a Galician tradition and we have traditions in all communities. These people are continuing to nurture their tradition and I, for one, applaud them.