See, I didn't know that. That makes it worse.
A bunch of guys on horseback come in and stab the shit out of the bull at the back of its neck. The idea is to cut the trapezius so the bull can't hold its head up properly. That way the matador can get the sword in.
I think there's two kinds of picadors. Ones that jab it with a lance that they reuse and ones that throw barbed spears that stay in the bull and flop around to fuck it up. You can see two hanging out of the bull in the photo, but that thing got stabbed way more than twice before the matador even entered the ring.
It's bullshit. Hell, I could fight a prime Tyson if my buddies stabbed him half to death before I made a grand entrance.