“I would describe freestyle bullfighting as the most intense minute in sports today. It’s the ultimate showdown of man versus beast,” said stock contractor Trever Hamsher of Hamsher Fighting Bulls in Prairie City, Oregon.

Traditional bullfighting is well known in Spain and parts of Mexico as a mix of grace and brutality. Think of the matador—dressed in the classic extravagantly embroidered suit. His objective is to avoid and slay a highly aggravated charging bull.

Remove the barbaric slaying objective and replace the fancy matador garb with something more in line with a courageous rodeo clown, and it begins to look like freestyle bullfighting.

“Freestyle bullfighters earn up to 100 points. Fifty points for the bull—aggression and willingness to stay hooked up and engaged on the target. Bullfighters can earn up to fifty points by jumping over or outmaneuvering the bull. Some of the guys do back flips or front flips over the bull,” said Hamsher.

Hamsher knows freestyle bullfighting well. From the age of 10 to 25, he participated in the sport, until he was forced into retirement due to injury. The intensity factor requires zero exaggeration. A powerful, aggressive bull is unleashed in the arena to face a brave, or some would say insane, freestyle bullfighter.

The bullfighter must possess the elusiveness of a professional running back, the toughness of a bullrider, and the audacity to challenge a horned beast, who will stomp into the arena at over 1,000 pounds. With near misses, undeniable style, and shocking collisions, the sport is not for the faint of heart. Members of the audience can peek safely through their fingers, if necessary, as the adrenaline pumps through the arena.

“The bulls have been bred for hundreds of years,” said Hamsher. “Their breed is toro bravo. They’re the same ones they would use in a traditional bullfight in Spain or Mexico.”

In the arena, freestyle bullfighters make their own luck. Cowboy hats are tight on their heads, shoelaces are double-knotted, and for approximately one minute, the sole focus of the athlete is to evade one of Hamsher’s Mexican or Spanish fighting bulls.

Successful bullfighters endure a mandatory forty-second period and can continue for an additional twenty seconds to earn more points. A bullfighter can call the fight at any time with a tip of the hat or signal to the judges, in which case a team of rodeo clowns rushes in to distract and corral the raging beast. For the viewing crowd, the buzz continues until both bull and bullfighter have exited the arena.

After 15 years of bullfighting, Hamsher feels blessed to still be involved in the sport. Freestyle bullfighting is hard on the body but offers a level of intensity and stimulation that is unmatched.

This year will mark the first time freestyle bullfighting will take place at the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo. See it on Sunday, August 4 at 1 pm in the fairgrounds’ Juniper Arena. In the inaugural event, some bullfighters will perform brilliantly—leaping, juking, and diving out of harm’s way onto the leaderboard. Others may misstep or mistime and endure the bruises and damage of filed-down bull horns, hooves, and brute strength as a result.

The true winners may well be on the high side of the partition—sweaty-palmed, wide-eyed, cheering and fanning themselves with their fair guides as the exhilarating spectacle of freestyle bullfighting carries on. ❦