Excerpt from the book Sports the Olympics Forgot This book describes 40 sports that ought to be played but aren’t, because I made them up.
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The rules are straightforward. Lots are drawn to decide which puller gets which bull in the contest. If the bull tosses the puller then the bull pull must recommence at the place where the tossing occurred. At least one of the puller’s feet must be in contact with the ground at all times – this is to prevent the puller taking advantage of a charging bull and hitching a ride by holding on to its horns. The only parts of the bull that the puller can hold are the horns; pulling the bull’s tail results in instant disqualification.
What typically happens is that the bull is released into a small area cordoned off with wooden fences – the puller enters the area and engages with the bull by slapping it on the head. Once this occurs the puller has five minutes to bring the bull to the start line. Usually a certain amount of staring goes on between bull and puller before the latter grips one of the former’s horns and attempts to wrestle the animal to the ground to show it who’s boss. Once this happens it’s slightly easier to pull the bull around.
Some of the strong bull pullers such as Andoni Perurena from Navarre don’t bother with the wrestling technique; they just grab the bull by the horns and shake the animal’s head around so the bull can feel how strong the person is and acts more meekly as a result. This works with some bulls but others are antagonized into trying to toss their puller and this when some goring can occur.
Julian Worker Fiction Writing 