These are fights to test the cows that, if approved, will become the mothers of the brave bulls. The cows are not hurt during the fight and there is no blood to be seen, nor are they killed.

These tientas are one of the principal tasks in rearing bulls. They are carried out to discover the character traits of the cows - in a very summarized way, if they are brave or not. Only if the cow is extremely brave, it is selected for breeding, usually just one in five. Cows can only be tested once in their lives, for after their first encounter with the cape (the pink and yellow "capote") and the cloth (the red "muleta") they remember the trick. The artistic aim of bullfighting is to turn the wildness of the bull into a gracious set of pairing movements with the bull. If the cow or bull has been fought before, upon remembering the "trick", they will charge directly to the fighter, turning the making of the fight gracious practically impossible.

The tienta consists in three parts: first there cow is let into the ring and runs around itself. In this part the breeder (ganadero), records the brio, strength and responsiveness of the cow to calls from the bases (burladeros). The second part of the fight consists in calling the cow to charge against the horse, which is protected by a padded coat. According to many specialized details of how the cow charges for the horse, the breeder can interpret the braveness of the cow, and infer its subsequent behaviour in the third part of the test, the fight with the man on foot. The cow is graded in each of the three parts and then finally a decision as to whether select or not is taken, which is registered in the book.

During a Tienta, there can be just one or more cows tested. The testing of a cow takes from a minimum of 15 minutes to a maximum of 35 minutes. For people who do not know anything about bullfighting, to

correctly appreciate this event it is necessary for them to understand "what is going on". If one does not know or is not told anything about it, after the first cow, it all seems like repetition, which in analogy would be to say that all wines are the same. Before the fight, the breeder will tell the group which cow will be tested, its name, number, the name and grading of the father and the mother, and what was most remarkable about them, and he will make telling comments about the development of the Tienta as it proceeds. This way the group can lear about the work in progress and appreciate better what takes place.-

To participate in a Tienta is one of the most unforgettable experiences one can assist to. The proximity to the charging animal is enthralling, and seeing the animal behave in its own ground, at the farm, on the same foot level as you are, accross a wooden fence (if they would ever stop you could almost touch them) is as authentic as anything gets.