THE HISTORY OF THE COURSE LANDAISE:
“The Gascons’ passion for cow racing has a long history.
From the Middle Ages, the people of Gascony loved bullfighting games. We are then far from the Landes race as we know it today.
Cows, oxen and bulls allowed young people in search of sensations to face the horns while challenging the civil and religious authorities who severely condemn these practices deemed anarchic and pagan.
It was during the 19th century that two events brought the Course Landaise into modernity. First of all, it is the obligation to practice it in a delimited and closed place, surrounded by bleachers, and no longer freely in the street as was the case until then.
Then, the discovery of Spanish bullfighting in France, in the heart of the 19th century, marked the arrival of Spanish cattle, the birth of the first ganaderos, the first cuadrillas…”
THE COURSE LANDAISE, A SOUTH-WEST FESTIVE TRADITION.
The landaise race is a sporting and cultural practice characteristic of the south-west of France which brings together, face to face, a man and a wild cow in a dedicated space, the arenas. The art of dodging is practiced here at a high level by a game of gaps or jumps, to which respond the liveliness and intelligence of the courier (cow).
Beyond the unique spectacle represented by the Course Landaise, it is one of the most original expressions of Gascon culture. Associated with local festivals, it is expressed each year in intergenerational and integrative settings.
MAISADOUR COMMITTED TO LOCAL GANADERIAS
A historic partner of the Fédération de la Course Landaise, Maïsadour has been supporting local culture and this unique spectacle for more than 20 years.
Supporting the Federation is, for the Group, a means of supporting Landes culture and heritage.
But the partnership does not stop there! SOAL, a company in the animal nutrition sector, is the main supplier of food for the races, these cows with salient muscles and Olympic form. Because, as we know, quality food guarantees the good health of animals !
