Pulling bull contests - district of Guéry

Landscape - Anse-Bertrand

Highly recognized custom in Anse-Bertrand, they are now much-anticipated events for everyone, including tourists who attend to watch demonstrations and rub shoulders with the rural population. Trios drivers, bull, and a heavier cart have to climb a slope of 100 to 180 m in record time. In a particularly friendly atmosphere. The Ansois come to encourage their pennant team "Titans of the North" who challenge the challengers of neighboring municipalities. Begun in the 1970s by the “Association pour la sauvegarde des bœufs créoles“, the pratice developped at the end of the cane season, when the animals were no longer needed to pull the carts that transported the cane to factories. The bulls are the subject of attentive care and sustained training: morning scrum, difficult course on the beach, sea bathing, friction, escaping on the roads, supervised feeding. On competition days, you can sometimes see up to one hundred strong and imposing animals from the Basse Terre, Grande Terre and Marie-Galante clubs. The test consisted of driving a team of two bulls on an approximately 100 m steep slope with an average load of 1.5 tonnes of rock. The team is driven by a driver assisted by two assistants to stall the cart. The victory is played on speed and the load transported, the latter varies between 1300 and 1700 kilos, depending on the category.
The number of lashes is limited to 12, and if the driver exceeds this limit, the hitch is stopped, only the distance traveled is taken into account. The crew leaving the course is eliminated from the competition. The course is timed by a referee (6mn max). The bulls are classified in 5 categories according to their weight: minimal category for the oxen from 570 to 670 kg, cadet for the cattle between 671 and 720 kg, category C for those of 721 and 770 kg, category B for the oxen of more than 770 kg and category A, also called Elite, refers to oxen that have already earned points in previous competitions. The towed load varies according to the category and can go up to 2 tons. The strongest and most resilient breed is the more vigorous Creole cross breed, which is most often found in the upper category, recognizable by its hump.
A real village is organized and each space is well defined, the course, the safety zones, the stands of drinks and catering, the shaded spaces allowing the champions to patiently wait their turn, the zones of preparation of the teams ... The contests usually take place at the end of the cane season, from July to February.
The victory went to the crew who took the least time to climb the course using the least amount of lashing. On some competitions, the winnings for the winner can reach several thousand euros. Of course, these events give rise to negotiations for the sale of the best animals. In March 2013 the SPA denounced to the Minister of the Overseas this sport because it believes that the animals undergo a real ordeal… wait for more