BULLFIGHTS AND HORSES.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.1 SIR,—In the review of Blood and Sand : a Novel, in your issue of July 19th, the writer closes his comments with the words : " But the blindfold horses, without a possibility of retaliation, are used as mere material for slaughter, in order that the bull may tire himself by goring masses of unresisting flesh." A distinguished Spanish bullfighter, lunching with me in Madrid —he killed his one hundred and first bull the next day— explained the necessity of the use of the horse at these contests. Unless the bull is tempted time and again to lower his head and make a rush and gore, it is impossible for the matador to play his part and send his sword into the small opening between the shoulders and thence to the heart. This matador deplored the horse part of the business quite as vigorously as did I. "I wish there were some other way," he said repeatedly. It is not "in order that the bull may tire himself," but that the bull, by satisfying his ferocity against the horse, may then expose his one vulnerable spot to the sword of his slayer. The difference between the Spaniards and ourselves is that they prefer the bullfight plus the sickening sight of the gored horse, while we prefer unanimously no bullfight at all at the expense of such cruelty.—I am, Sir, &c.,
[We cannot see why horses are necessary even so. It is surely not pretended that a bull will refuse to try to toss an inanimate thing. In the ring the bull actually spends most of its time goring a coloured cloth. Why should not the picadors, still padded and armoured like Tweedledum, sit upon stuffed horses ? This, if not too injurious to the dignity of the ring, would lend a pleasant touch of comedy to the show. It would also be good business for taxidermists.—En.. Spectator.]
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