Ecuador - Chickens and Bulls

By Brent

Festival above Pintag

I think this is something you would never see in the US, mostly because PETA probably wouldn't approve of most of the festivities. We had heard there was something going on with bulls in a town above Pintag during our first weekend on the horse ranch.

We set off over the hacienda gate and hired a taxi to the festival. Apparently the driver told interesting stories, but the guys were all riding in the bed of the pick-up, so only the girls heard them.

After he dropped us off at the rodeo, we walked around for a while until we found a good spot to sit on the fence and enjoy the festival.

There was a ring of stands you could pay to sit in, and then you'd be out of the sun, but we just found an open spot on the fence instead.

The local leatherworker (makes chaps, saddles, etc.) had brought his kids along, so they were riding their horses before the bulls showed up.

One of the first events was chicken lassoing. They dig a small hole in the middle of the ring and bury a chicken so only its head is sticking up above the ground. Next, any kids on horseback who are about the right age (5-12) are given lassos and try to catch the chicken's neck and pull it out of the hole.

Burying the chicken.

After the kids catch their prize (probably the next night's dinner), the adults get to try.

The difference is that the adults don't get to use a rope. They have to ride by, lean off the horse, grab the chicken by the neck, and then pull themselves back onto the horse, all while continuing to ride.

That process involves getting rather close to the chicken hole, and sometimes the horses step on the chicken. In one case, it killed the chicken; in others, it simply injured/scared it.

Daniel tried unsuccessfully to grab the chicken, but we're pretty sure he was just happy to be on a horse.

At some point there was a small marching band that walked around the ring before the bulls came out. I would have loved to be in the room while the organizers were planning this:

"I think we need to have a marching band! Do we have instruments available?"

"We have some really bad ones that barely work..."

"Perfect! Do we have old men to play them?"

"I guess, but they're all tone-deaf..."

"Not important! We need something else... How about people to give out treats?"

"We've got a lot of oranges, but-"

"Wonderful! Here's what we're going to do. Go out into the village and round up all the old ladies who aren't busy this weekend. Then give them a wrap that you'd use to carry a baby. We'll fill the wraps with oranges, and after they walk around the ring once, they'll start lobbing fruit at people!"

"Okay, I guess we can do that-"

"Then it's settled! I'll see you at the festival!"

So some old guys who played terribly walked around (not marched, because that requires people to be in step with each other, and rum tends to inhibit your ability to walk in a straight line while playing instruments, let alone march in time with other people) while women carrying orange babies tossed fruit to us. Dana and I both got three, and they were fantastic!

Here are a handful of the women passing out the oranges to the crowd. It was awesome.

Dana celebrating her three victories over the toddler she continually shoved out of the way to get to the oranges.

After the parade, the kids played bullfight in the ring while we waited for the actual bulls to show up.

They eventually did.

Then this started. As far as we could tell, anyone who wanted to could bring a cape and run into the ring. Some of the people kind of looked like they knew what they were doing, others would drop their capes and run away if the bull looked at them too long. If I had been forced into the ring, I would've been in the latter category because bull horns are pointy and they're attached to large, angry objects.

After the bull stopped chasing people's capes they'd be lassoed and herded back to the truck so a new bull could be brought out. The owner of the most entertaining bull was declared the winner at the end of the day, but we didn't stay that long.

My seat for the ride home.

It was a very unique festival, and it was super interesting to see. Eventually we had to head back though, so we jumped in the back of a beer truck and rode to the city before hiking to the hacienda and enjoying a relaxing evening.