Bulls' horns, like cats' whiskers, help the animals navigate, so a sudden change impairs the bull's coordination. Shaving is illegal, so the horns are sometimes inspected by a veterinarian after a fight. But in 1997, the Confederation of Bullfighting Professionals, including Spain's 230 matadors, went on strike in opposition to these veterinary inspections. In a typical event, the bull enters the arena and is approached by men who exhaust and frustrate him by running him in circles and tricking him into collisions. When the bull is tired and out of breath, he is approached by picadors.
Picadors are men on blindfolded horses who drive lances into the bull's back and neck muscles.
They twist and gouge the lances to ensure a significant amount of blood loss. Then come the banderilleros on foot who proceed to distract and dart around the bull while plunging more lances into him. When the bull has weakened from blood loss, these banderilleros run the bull in more circles until he is dizzy and stops chasing. Finally, the matador appears and after provoking a few exhausted charges from the dying animal, tries to kill the bull with his sword. The dagger is supposed to cut the spinal cord, but even this can be blundered, leaving the bull fully conscious but paralyzed as he is chained by his horns and dragged from the arena.