Idi Probak

I write these lines from Durango in Bizkaia, I hope I get to witness one of the rural sports' events mentioned in this article appeared at EITb:

Fiestas and traditions

Stone dragging, competition among oxen

08/05/2006

Stone dragging is only maintained in some rural areas of the Basque Country and it must be celebrated on special squares, called probaderos.

The ‘idi probak’, or events of oxen dragging stones, are one of the typical varieties of Basque Rural Sport. Their origin should be searched in the bets made by different farmhouses in order to settle which one had the best pair of oxen. In this type of events, two oxen joined by a yoke, by turns, must drag a huge stone the maximum number of times in a given time. In the case of Gatika, the stone weighs 1,780 kilos and the oxen must slide it along the probadero during half an hour.

Stone dragging is only maintained in some rural areas of the Basque Country and it must be celebrated on special squares, called probaderos, whose floor is formed by round boulders to make the movement easier. Besides the animals’ strength, the ability of the boyero (the ox herd, who guides the oxen) and the arreadores (who help the oxen by pulling the stone from behind) that accompany him is also important in order to balance the oxen’s rhythm and to guide them correctly while they come and go.

The ‘idi probak’, with a simple mechanism, arouse passion especially in the veteran baserritarras, who bet on one or another pair of oxen in a very lively atmosphere. This variety has a long-lasting tradition in Gatika, which has been vibrating with the oxen for 64 years.

.... ... .