Bulls Stomp The Pit

The "Ty Murray Invitational" in Albuquerque seems like it was a long time ago, but after I attended the event, I headed in to the desert southwest for two weeks, so my blog is a bit late.  It was a fantastic vacation, but it all started in Albuquerque and it was ALL about the bulls!

My first stop Friday evening was at the bull pens outside of The Pit.  This is SWEET THANG, owned by TC Bucking Bulls.  SWEET THANG is anything but sweet!  Look at that face!  He was fired up in the pens!  He could not stand having people around, and I even suggested to another bull fan that they move away from his pen because he was so agitated.  SWEET THANG took all of his aggression out on Shane Proctor Friday night!  He's a younger bull, and I think I will keep my eye on him...he's got potential to be a great one!

TAP OUT and I had a little chat.  I was giving him instructions to buck hard. ;)  Little did I know TAP OUT's owner was standing next to me, and we had quite a nice conversation.  TAP OUT did buck hard and was invited back to buck on Sunday as well!

The Pit is a unique venue due to the fact that the arena is actually below ground level.  It is an extremely small arena for bull riding so the fans are up close and personal!  There is one way to get things in and out of the arena and that is by this tunnel.  I was fascinated by how small the space was and how the bulls had to be lined up, in pens, in an angled hall.  Of course, me being me, I was concerned for their footing, as they're on an incline, but they all seemed to be fine!

Ty Murray addressed the crowd each of the 3 days.  The Pit was packed to capacity and the crowd was vocal.  Ty expressed his appreciation to all the fans for making this a great and longstanding event.

And then the fun began!  Friday's round produced 18 rides and some spectacular wrecks.  It was one of the best nights of bull riding ever.  But even with the high number of rides, the bulls still provided some entertainment just being themselves!

One of my "muscle shots" from the event.  Not sure who the bull is but what a great example of how strong and muscular these animal athletes are!

Friday night, NY Giants Tight End, Bear Pascoe took a turn at being the arena safety man.  Evidently Bear is a cowboy at heart and a participant in the PBR's Back Seat Bucker program.  Bear handled his rope well, but I'm not sure Coach Coughlin and the Giants Owners would be happy that Bear is in the arena with 2000 pound bulls!

Flint likes to throw his hat to distract the bulls.  Bulls like to stomp on things.....you get the idea! ;)

Humpz and Hornz/Sis & Stan Bucking Bull's WOLF PUP sent Jordan Hupp up on to the rail after bucking him off.  WOLF PUP earned 43 points for his effort...great bull!

Took this picture of The Pit as I was leaving Friday night.  You can see how small the dirt space is, and the shark cage is at the end of the floor.  When those bulls decide to run around, there is not much room for the arena safety man to work.  James DeBord did a terrific job protecting the cowboys, bulls and his horses!

The absolute highlight of the weekend was a visit to Bull Housing, thanks to John Berger!  I was delighted to have some time with the bulls!  Here SMACKDOWN is playing in the dirt, and LINCOLN ELECTRIC'S BRING IT joins in.  SMACKDOWN had quite a hole dug for himself and was rubbing his head in the dirt.  I could have stayed there for hours just watching these bulls play!

Chad Berger's great bull, YELLOW JACKET JR. was enjoying his breakfast.  YJJ still had his wooly winter coat coming down from North Dakota.  YJJ has been bucking 5+ years and still produces 90 point rides of the cowboys can ride him.

A visit with BUSHWACKER is always a special treat!!!  However, the champ is not really a "people bull" so getting him to pay me a little attention was difficult.  Most of the visit he stayed in the corner of his pen with his butt to me! So funny!  Finally, he trotted over to the other side and almost looked at me head on.  He's fabulous and he knows it!

SMACKDOWN and BRING IT got some time in the exercise pen, and on their way back I was fortunate to be standing in the alley back to their pen.  Both of them stopped by the empty feed dish to see if there was one morsel of food left!  Interesting fact about SMACKDOWN: because of his horns, he is unable to move his right ear, due to  the horn on his right side sits flat against his head.

And what an awesome treat to have reigning World Champion bull ASTEROID in Albuquerque too!  I was more excited about having ASTEROID and BUSHWACKER together at this event than anything else!  Once again, ASTEROID bucked his way in to my heart by allowing me to scratch his back.  A moment I treasure!

While shooting footage for the "Pure PBR", Ty Murray is looking over Paige Stout's shoulder.  I was excited to see Paige at the event and proud of another young lady getting in to stock contracting.  Her bulls, WALTER PEPPER and JACK WAGON were both impressive in Round 2.

Just a little fun on a Saturday night!  That's easy for me to say.....I was nine rows up!

THE GAME CHANGER really spun quite tight in to the corner, but Douglas Duncan made a great ride and placed second in the round Saturday with a 88.5 point score.

The Clones were out and about Saturday night. ANOTHER ONE and Sean Willingham combined for 87.75 points, placing in a tie for 3rd Saturday.  The other two clones at the event bucked off their riders, looking great!

Here is the line-up for the Championship Round on Sunday...an insanely great pen of bulls!  I was most excited to see BUSHWACKER and ASTEROID go up against eachother, but all 10 bulls were outstanding!

Had to share this funny moment...the PBR cameraman was trying to get a shot of BUSHWACKER, and the bull was having none of it!  He stood there so still, you'd think he was made of stone!  Eventually, the cameraman walked away without even a slight turn of the bull's head!

MICK E MOUSE was rank!  He bucked off Chase Outlaw and was awarded 45.75 points!

Cowboy Emilio Resende had his hands full...or should I say, lap full...of JW HUGHES's EXCAVATION!  Emilio was given a reride and bucked off SHEPHERD HILLS TRAPPER, who also left Emilio tasting some dirt!

Circle T Ranch's DAVID'S DREAM had another outstanding trip, bucking off Jordan Hupp.  The bull was marked 45.75 points.  He is an impressive bucker!

 

It was a fantastic event, and if you can ever get to Albuquerque and attend this event, do it!  The arena was packed, the crowd was knowledgeable and vocal, the bulls were terrific and it reflected in the cowboy's performance.  I sure hope I'll be able to get back to this event in the future!





All photographs by Susan Hanrahan, with exception of one (Thanks Hubby!)