SABUCEDO, THE WRESTLES AND THE HORSES “A RAPA DAS BESTAS” “Strong Saturday expedition to the woodland with parish residents to gather the horses. This fiesta dates back to the 15th century and is held every year in the first week of July. It comprises a noble confrontation between man and horse.At the celebration, young people from Sabucedo and the surrounding area ( Pontevedra province, Region of Galicia, northwest of Spain) head for the mountains at dawn. Their aim is to find wild horses living in the area, bring them back to the village and cut their manes (A Rapa das Bestas). When night falls, they all come together to enjoy food, music and wine. Each year, The Rapa das Bestas festival in Sabucedo attracts more and more visitors on account of the spectacular, noble nature of this battle between man and beast. The young men divide up into groups and head for the mountains in search of horses. When they find them, they surround them and drive them back to the village. Finally, they get them all together and begin cutting their manes. For this, two "aloitadores" (wrestlers, the young men who do the cutting) place themselves at the head of the animal, and one more at the tail. First, one of those at the head tries to mount the horse while the one behind tries to imbalance it. Then, the second "aloitador" at the head tries to do the same, forcing the first one to get off. These are the complicated manoeuvres used to cut the animal's hair in a real body-to-body fight. Of all the "curros"(a stone enclosure) or rapas das bestas (wild horse mane-cutting festivals) that take place in Galicia each summer, Sabucedo is noteworthy for having preserved the purity of its traditions. It is the only curro in which the aloitadores face the horses on their own, without ropes or sticks, holding them still while their manes are cut. Each year, young people from the parish take part in an ancient tradition they are born into, a way of understanding life in communion with the wild horses. They learn the code from an early age, based on the actions and collaboration of three aloitadores, enabling them to undertake the noble and hazardous struggle with the animals and overcome their resistance.In Sabucedo, the mane cutting always took place in a stone enclosure “curro” in the centre of town. Several years ago, it was moved to a new masonry curro, where it is followed by a large crowd. The fame of the Rapa de Sabucedo, an ancient tradition with a strong ritual element, has attracted the attention of anthropologists and scholars from around the world. The festival is held under the protection of St. Lawrence – some of the wild horses belong to the saint, in other words, to the parish, and it is these horses whose manes are cut at the festival – to whom the town commends itself at the dawn mass on Saturday. Locals and visitors then go out into the woodland areas, with provisions to keep up their strength, to look for the horses and lead them to the curro. This is truly a unique ethnographic experience, strong…………strong saturday expedition to the woodland with parish residents to gather the horses.” Turismo A Estrada rapadasbestas.gal