Miura bull

For the Lamborghini automobile, see Lamborghini Miura.
A Miura bull charges at matador El Fundi at the Seville bullring

A Miura bull is a Spanish fighting bull bred from the lineage of the Miura Cattle Ranch (Spanish: Ganadería Miura), located in the province of Seville, Spain. The ranch originally belonged to Don Eduardo Miura Fernández, and is known for producing large and difficult fighting bulls. A Miura bull debuted in Madrid on April 30, 1849.

The Miura line traces its roots to five historic Spanish bull breeds, namely the Gallardo, Cabrera, Navarra, Veragua, and Vistahermosa-Parladé.[1]

The Miura ranch is located at the Zahariche estate, a few miles from the village of Lora del Río, in the province of Seville. The estate, which has been occupied by the Miuras since 1842, encompasses over 600 hectares, and several hundred bulls, oxen, cows and calves live on its lands. The stud farm employs twelve people, including eight Andalusian vaqueros. The ranch is presided over by Eduardo and Antonio Miura, sons of the late Eduardo. According to Eduardo Miura, the ranch aims to "breed for quality, not quantity".

The Miura breed was created in 1842 by Juan Miura, using 220 Gil de Herrera cows, and 200 José Luis Alvareda cows and bulls, all coming from the Gallardo family of El Puerto de Santa María. In 1850, the Cabrera line was added using cows from Jerónima Núñez de Prado, and two Vistahermosa bulls were brought in 1860. The bullfighter Rafael Molina Sánchez donated a Navarro bull, and the Duke of Veragua contributed a castaño ojinegro. Also known to have been involved are a bull from Conde de la Corte, and the bull named "Bandillero", a Parladé belonging to the Marquess of Tamarón.


Reputation

The Miura operation so impressed Italian manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini that he named a car after the ranch.

In his book Death in the Afternoon, Ernest Hemingway wrote:

There are certain strains of bull with a marked ability to learn from what goes on in the arena ... faster than the actual fight progresses which makes it more difficult from one minute to the next to control them ... these bulls are raised by Don Eduardo Miura's sons from old fighting stock...

Bulls from the Miura lineage have a reputation for being large, fierce, and cunning.[2] It is said to be especially dangerous for a matador to turn his back on a Miura.[3] Miura bulls have been referred to as individualists, each bull seemingly possessing a strong personal character.[4]

The name Miura is best known outside the world of bullfighting thanks to Ferruccio Lamborghini's sports car maker, Lamborghini, and its classic Miura sports car. A number of Lamborghini cars have been named for Miura bulls and the world of bullfighting in general; it was a visit to the Miura ranch that inspired Ferruccio Lamborghini, a Taurus himself, to make a bull the symbol of his industrial empire.

Famous bulls

The brand of the Miura ranch

Notes

  1. mundotoro.com
  2. "Animals: Pamplona's Encierros". Time. July 11, 1932. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  3. "PLAIN PEOPLE: The Best Is Dead". Time. September 8, 1947. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  4. Villiers-Wardell, p. 117
  5. Cossío, Los Toros, tomo3: "El toro bravo II", ISBN 978-84-670-2531-6, Espasa Calpe, 2007, Spanien, p 584.
  6. geocities.com

References

Books

Temporary list of references

37°35′47″N 5°28′41″W / 37.59637°N 5.47804°W / 37.59637; -5.47804Coordinates: 37°35′47″N 5°28′41″W / 37.59637°N 5.47804°W / 37.59637; -5.47804

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