OXEN´S HISTORY
For centuries oxen have been used as working animals in Basque “caserios” (traditional farm houses) because those animals are better suited to the terrain than mules or horses.
The origin of these events could be in stone quarry´s, where the stones were pulled by oxen on site. As in others rural sports, their work evolved to become a sporting competition.
The oxen "Stone Pull" is a local sport, where a yoke, or a team of oxen, is guided by two ploughmen (akulari in Basque language, carretero in Spanish, also used in local language). Oxen have to pull a stone weighing 1.800 kg across a 28 metre path of smooth stones 28 meters of irregular land. The oxen team who pull the stone further in 30 minutes will win.
It´s very important the oxen team´s weight, because if their weight exceeds 1.100 kg the stone will receive an a aditional weight of 1.5 Kg for each extra Kg that oxen have.
The "Stone Pull" using oxen or Idi probak, in the local language, is a sport quite widespread in the regions of País Vasco, Cantabria, Navarra and Castilla y León, but also it is very common to see the "Stone Pull" using mules, donkeys, horses or even humans too.
In former times, oxen owners used their animals to bet huge amounts of money, land and cattle. Nowadays, owners enter exhibitions in local festivities or in regional competitions where they continue betting a lot of money.
The origin of these events could be in stone quarry´s, where the stones were pulled by oxen on site. As in others rural sports, their work evolved to become a sporting competition.
The oxen "Stone Pull" is a local sport, where a yoke, or a team of oxen, is guided by two ploughmen (akulari in Basque language, carretero in Spanish, also used in local language). Oxen have to pull a stone weighing 1.800 kg across a 28 metre path of smooth stones 28 meters of irregular land. The oxen team who pull the stone further in 30 minutes will win.
It´s very important the oxen team´s weight, because if their weight exceeds 1.100 kg the stone will receive an a aditional weight of 1.5 Kg for each extra Kg that oxen have.
The "Stone Pull" using oxen or Idi probak, in the local language, is a sport quite widespread in the regions of País Vasco, Cantabria, Navarra and Castilla y León, but also it is very common to see the "Stone Pull" using mules, donkeys, horses or even humans too.
In former times, oxen owners used their animals to bet huge amounts of money, land and cattle. Nowadays, owners enter exhibitions in local festivities or in regional competitions where they continue betting a lot of money.