Camargue Racing Season Resumes Amidst Growing Attacks: Bull Breeders Remain Resilient

The Camargue racing season has resumed since the beginning of March in Hérault and Gard, but also Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône. In these four departments, the number of herds remains stable. Despite the growing attacks from animalists, the bull breeding community maintains faith in the profession, especially as the number of spectators is clearly increasing.

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In the Cougourlier marsh, in Saint-Gilles, in the Gard, the cocardiers of the herd which bears the same name graze peacefully, seeming to savor their last moments of tranquility. This weekend, in Saint-Chaptes, between Nîmes and Alès, they will find the men in white on the arena track (the raseteurs) and the noise of the crowd coming to cheer them.

The season resumed at the beginning of March and will continue until November with some 850 official Camargue races, spread across the four departments of Hérault, Gard, Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône.

Their owner, Bernard Gorlier, bull breeder for 21 years in Petite Camargue, will participate with his animals in around forty of them, during this 2024 season.

This Gardois, who is also the president of the Milhaud bullfighting club, is also impatiently awaiting May 3, the date on which one of his best bulls will participate in the Avenir trophy in the Milhaud arenas, in the presence of one of the best razers of the moment, Johachim Cadenas.

He claims to have only one god: the bull, an animal that he worships for its intelligence and nobility.

The real cockardier, he takes pleasure in the race. The proof: our best bull, he comes out of the meadow by himself to get into the cattle truck, no need to push him. The track is a game for them. A game that is not dangerous for them. It is dangerous for the men in white, who stand in front of them.

Bernard Gorlier, Gard manadier

To manage his herd of 130 bulls, Bernard Gorlier benefits from the support of around ten volunteer herdsmen, without whom nothing would be possible.

One of them, Alain Lebrun, nicknamed Gastaboï, became an apprentice goalkeeper very early, at the age of 11. A passion that has never failed him.

Alain Lebrun, volunteer herdsman in Saint-Laurent-d’Aigouze in Gard, passionately immersed in the world of bulls and horses since his childhood. • © FTV

Today, aged 71, he makes a fairly harsh judgment on the evolution of Camargue races, regretting a drift towards the “spectacular”. “I like the bull bull who anticipates the movement, who knows what the team in front of him wants to do and who puts the men in danger. Make sure that the bull jumps in the air and falls behind the barrier, it’s dangerous. He risks getting hurt and jumping on the bull. Pushing to have races like that doesn’t reward the bull’s intelligence. What’s a shame is that the public wants this now: spectacular”, regrets this enthusiast who also campaigns for the bulls to rest in their natural environment for many months, before returning to the noise and hustle and bustle of the cities.

A Camargue race with a raseteur in full action. • © FTV France 3

In the meantime, the current recipe works pretty well. According to Nicolas Triol, president of the Fédération Française de Course Camarguaise (FFCC), the attendance rate in the arenas over the last two years has increased significantly. “We recorded 50,000 more spectators last year, as many as between 2019 and 2022. This success is partly linked to better organization of the season,” he explains.

“The races are better distributed in the towns and villages. There are a maximum of nine at the same time, whereas previously, there could be up to 14 races on the same day. And then, there is also the “Card” effect. Young” which works well. This system, set up by the federation, allows teenagers to come and see a race for 2 euros. The first races of this 2024 season brought together 3,500 people in Lunel and 2,500 in Mauguio. We are in a good dynamic“, rejoices Nicolas Triol.

Overall, between sales and buyouts of livestock, the number of herds remains stable: around 140 in the four southern departments where cattle breeding is practiced.

The herds most in difficulty are those which only perform street performances: the bandides and the abrivades where the bulls gallop through the streets, supervised by horsemen.

The FFCC has around fifteen. Living solely on the tradition of spectacle is proving more and more difficult because accidents with spectators are frequent and insurers are raising prices, when they are not denouncing contracts.

“There, accidents are often unpredictable and more serious than on the track. Specialized herds who only practice this are in danger, because French legislation considers that the owner of the animal is responsible for everything. On the other hand, in Spain, the distribution of risk is much more balanced between the municipality which organizes the festival and the breeder. We should move towards this type of legislation, but until French law changes, these festivities risk disappearing.“, deplores the president of the federation.

2024-04-12 04:52:13
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