Enamored of the white Camargue horses though I was, I was intrigued by the black bulls as well.  They are close relatives of the aurochs, a prehistoric cattle breed that became extinct in the 17th Century.  Like the horses, the wild bulls adapted to the Rhône delta’s marshlands.  Today, almost all of the bulls belong to manadiers, that is, bull ranchers.

Camargue bulls’ horns point up, making them slightly less likely to gore anyone than their Iberian counterparts bred for the bullring. The Spanish bulls have downturned horns.

 

The bulls are born with pale coats that become black at maturity.
 

          The ranchers grow rice and other wetland crops, but their focus is on raising bulls that perform well in the spectacle called La Course Camarguaise, The Camargue Race.  It is a traditional  Provençal sport with many local supporters.

         The Laurent’s provided us with refreshments in a cool, spacious event center after our group returned from the wagon tour of their ranch.  There we watched brief videos of the bull shows.  Daring, or demented, young men would enter an arena and approach a bull, one that had been selected for its speed and aggression.  Then the contestants, called raseteurs, would attempt to pluck ribbons from the heads of the bulls chasing them.  The ribbons were affixed between the bulls' horns.  The contestants would hold little metal combs to help them dislodge the ribbons.  The raseteurs had to come perilously close to the bulls and simultaneously avoid being gored.  Successful or not, the contestants all had to run to safety behind the barricades, as the bulls inevitably charged.  The race reminded me of the bull leapers depicted on ancient Cretan ceramic vessels. 

       Our hosts emphasized that the bull was never hurt in a show, though runners could be injured.  Bulls that had kept anyone from snatching the ribbons from their heads were the stars of the show circuit, and it was their names that appeared on posters. The Manade Laurent had numerous trophies on display, won by their bulls, as well as memorabilia accumulated over the four generations that they had operated the ranch.

This poster featured some of the manade’s many champions.

Accustomed to tourists’ whims, Madame Laurent agreed to pose with HL and me.

The great-grandson of the original Laurent manadier was working in the family business.

       Many of the Camargue bulls  lacked the temperament for the show.  The manade's personnel were attuned to the animals in their charge, and forced no unwilling  animal to participate.  Fortunately for the enterprise, there were plenty of combative young bulls, ones that the riders were careful to keep at some distance from our wagon.  And I liked hearing that even champion bulls that tired of the shows could enjoy a comfortable retirement with their fellow veterans of the arena.

         I have not exhausted the subject, but the same, I suspect, cannot be said of your patience as readers.