09/11/08 Talls bulls; short corrals

Everybody knows oil and water just don't mix under natural circumstances. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you about two other items that don't complement each other. Ok! Oil and water don't mix; well neither does tall, young bulls and old short corrals. Due to scheduling conflicts the stock contractor for our fair rodeo had to lease an extra set of bucking bulls. Just like any good team these bulls were a mixture of old campaigners, some young bulls and a few rookies. Now our holding pens have seen a lot of bulls in their thirty-plus years of existence and have even held rookie bulls in their place, but these youngsters were short fused and very athletic. Even though the bulls were "schooled" in two or three run-throughs before the rodeo to teach them how to get out of the arena, they didn't do their homework and didn't get a passing grade at rodeo time. I thought it was stage fright that accounted for them not following the lead of the veteran bulls when loading in the chutes. Well, it wasn't stage fright because they did perform and threw riders everyway but the right way. I believe the problem was ill-tempered dispositions and a total disrespect for the establishment and old weak corrals. When they finally left the arena and into the catch pen, they just kept jumping and mashing corrals. I don't know why the last corral held them; maybe it was the calming effect of the bucking horses in that pen. There is a silver lining  when the rodeo committee asks for funds for the new corrals, I think the rest of the fair board will understand this year. I'm Jeff Keane.