By CJ Lotz

Hunters in Spain are taking up spears and chasing down wild boars on horseback, just like the Romans used to do it.

The country now has a Pigsticking International Club, and the activity has been officially included in Spanish hunting regulations since last summer.

Hunters stalk pigs all day before dispatching them from horseback with nine-foot spears.

Rural communities see both business potential and a nod to their country’s roots. Pigsticking has a long history in the country—images of it are seen in cave paintings thousands of years old.

Animal rights activists in Spain have historically fought against another ancient Spanish tradition, bull fighting, and are now taking on pigsticking.

Enthusiasts respond to allegations of cruelty by arguing that brutality is part of nature.

"You cannot understand how nature works if you don't see what's going on," one supporter said. "It's very important that children know how the eagle eats the mouse, and the fox eats the eagle, and it goes on. It's nature, and it's life."

Photo by adkorte on Flickr

Comments (2)

from hengst wrote 5 weeks 22 hours ago

Yep, some pretty big boars in Spain, but isn't that more of a peccary (like javelina) pictured here?

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from HogBlog wrote 5 weeks 22 min ago

Looks like a VERY well-fed eurasian boar to me.

I'd love to give this horseback hunting a go. I've heard stories about the guys in Carolina who would give you a pitchfork and a mule and send you into the swamp... but somehow I think the Spaniards have a better arrangement in mind.

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from hengst wrote 5 weeks 1 day ago

Yep, some pretty big boars in Spain, but isn't that more of a peccary (like javelina) pictured here?

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from HogBlog wrote 5 weeks 4 hours ago

Looks like a VERY well-fed eurasian boar to me.

I'd love to give this horseback hunting a go. I've heard stories about the guys in Carolina who would give you a pitchfork and a mule and send you into the swamp... but somehow I think the Spaniards have a better arrangement in mind.

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