ALBUQUERQUE PBR

Thursday morning last, I was at the airport well before the sun was anywhere near the horizon, and the big bird took me from the "land of ice and snow" and dropped me off in the "Land of Enchantment"!  I was one HAPPY girl!  It takes pretty much no convincing to get me on a plane to New Mexico but the promise of some of the rankest bulls the PBR has to offer, had me in a frenzy.  So please, sit back, relax and enjoy this "flight" of my adventure in Albuquerque.

RED MAN enjoying a good time, playing in the dirt at Bull Housing.  What a special treat to see the bulls relaxing and being taken care of.  They are so fun to watch, especially when the dirt is flying!

The absolute highlight of the trip was a visit with Champion bull, BUSHWACKER and his owner, stock contractor Julio Moreno.   Bushwacker looked great, as he enjoyed his breakfast Friday morning.

An extra special moment was the opportunity to see the Champ get loaded in his trailer for the Bull Weigh-In.  I can't quite explain the emotion I felt as he ran right at me.  He is a magnificent bull!  It was so fun to watch him stop and dig in the sand, then let out a big ol' bellow!

The Pit in Albuquerque is a very unique venue.  There is one tunnel only for loading and unloading all the equipment and the bulls.  Once the arena floor is set up, the bull pens are brought in.  There is a single file line of pens down the left side of the tunnel, for the bulls being brought in as the event progresses.  The other side of the tunnel is an alley way for the bulls to run up, back to the outside pens and the trucks.  On Saturday night, we watched the bull, JET AIRLINER get turned around in his pen, charge the bull behind him, and completely move the panels in the tunnel.  I though for a moment that bull is going to jump right out of there!  The back pen guys and some stock contractors hurried over and got the panels back in place and JET AIRLINER safely in to his place in the back pens.  That bull was mean! and he wanted some action.  WOW! scary moments!!

The event got underway Friday night and the bull power completely dominated the cowboys!  Ryan Dirteater, a crowd favorite, bucked off FUNKY TOWN, bull score 43.25 points.

It was fun to be able to see the back pens, as well as the arena from my seat.  Here, stock contractor Gene Owen is working to get MEGATON settled in his pen.  Megaton was not exactly cooperating, so Gene and the guys in the back pens had their hands full!

Douglas Duncan had a great ride aboard BLONDE BOMBER.  It was one of only five rides Friday night.  Douglas tied with Silvano Alves for first place with 87 points.  Blonde Bomber received 42.5 points for his effort.

The bull power was incredible Friday night.  Jordan Hupp is launched by SUCKER PUNCH in Round 1.  The bull was scored 42 points.

Australian David Scott Mason bucks off his reride bull, LITTLE STICK, 42 points.  I was laughing when I looked at the photo because it looks like Bull Fighter Jesse Byrne is trying to climb on Little Stick's back!

The final attempt, Friday night, was by Valdiron de Oliviera aboard PRETTY BOY FLOYD, as a reride bull.  The bull was way more than Valdiron could handle, and trotted out with a buck-off and 43 points.

The Pit was packed Saturday night, and the evening started off with the introduction of BUSHWACKER!  I had a chill go up my spine, and tears in my eyes as Bushwacker made his usual lap in the arena, and butt to the crowd pose!  There are a precious few of these moments left, and I was fortunate to witness one in ABQ!

It was not a good weekend for the Australian cowboys.  Lachlan Richardson went 0-3, as many of the cowboys did.  Here, WRANGLER got the best of Lachlan, and provided a great snot-shot!  42.5 points bull score.

During the event, CYBER CAT wanted to check things out in the back pens.  He popped up for a few seconds to look around.  Scared the crap out of those people waiting for intermission activities!  Provided me with a good laugh!

New-comer Brady Sims had a great ride aboard APOLLO'S DREAM in Round 2 for 85 points, 41.75 pt bull score.  One of my very favorite bulls from the beginning was APOLLO.  How awesome to get to see two of his sons buck this weekend!  APOLLO STRIPES bucked on Sunday.

(1 of 2) Gage Gay started a great ride on CORPUS RED Saturday night.  It had all the makings of a 90+ point ride until Gage hit the bull's horn and what followed was very scary!

(2 of 2) After Gage came off of the bull, CORPUS RED came around and hooked both Gage and bull fighter Jesse Byrne.  Here Gage is completely upsidedown in the air, as Jesse gets hit in the back of the head.  Thank God neither of them were seriously hurt!  This bull has huge horns and was wanting to hook anything he could find!

 

Bull domination continued on Sunday.  The bulls allowed only 8 rides in Round 3.  Jordan Hupp was launched by BREAKDOWN as the bull was completely off the ground.  42.5 point bull score.

FIRE & SMOKE, recently purchased by Chad Berger & Dakota Rodeo, had a great out, bucking off Brady Sims for a 43.75 point bull score.  This is a mean, extremely athletic bull.  I am excited to see more of this bull!

Bull Fighter, Lyndel Runyon, doing a great job of distracting APOLLO STRIPES after the bull bucked off Josh Birks.  This is the other APOLLO son I mentioned earlier.  One of the things I love about following the bulls is seeing the next generations making it on to the big tour.  Apollo was a contender for Bucking Bull of the Year in 2009 before an injury ended his run.

Crowd favorite and New Mexico born LJ Jenkins bucked off of FULLY LOADED in Round 3.  43 point bull score.  LJ had to doctor out of the Championship Round after a rough landing.

The Championship Round Bull Line-up was about as rank as it could be.  Amazingly enough, there were 5 rides in the Championship Round but Brady Sims was not one of them.  SHEPHERD HILLS TESTED was in great form as he ejected Sims.  44.75 point bull score.

Native American Invitee, Guytin Tsosie, got the crowd in to a frenzy over a magnificent ride on DAVID'S DREAM.  Guytin scored 88.75 points, 43.75 pt bull score.  I was thrilled to hear that Guytin is being given a special opportunity to be at the next 3 BFTS events.  This young man has a lot of talent, and it will be exciting to see how he does against some of the rankest bulls in the world.

There was much anticipation as BUSHWACKER was loaded.  He easily dismissed Markus Mariluch in under 3 seconds and was awarded the High Bull Score of the weekend with 46 points.  Bushwacker looked like he didn't work too hard...he was just that good!

Ryan Dirteater gave it all he had aboard I'M A GANGSTER TOO, but this bull was just too steep and powerful for Ryan on Sunday. 45.25 point bull score.

I was excited to see HONEY HUSH buck in person in ABQ.  This is a big, powerful bull!  He easily threw Matt Triplett off and was awarded 45.25 points.

STONE SOBER...what can I say??? INCREDIBLE!! He is so athletic...so powerful...jumps so high and is a bit wild...and Douglas Duncan almost rode him for 8 seconds!  Had Douglas not lost his rope...it would have been a huge score! 

The winning ride came aboard RANGO, as Marco Eguchi won both the Championship Round and the event with his 92.25 point score, 45.75 point bull score.  Both bull and rider gave it their all!

Just a few thoughts in closing:
The bull power was incredible!  I truly think this was the best pen of bulls I've seen assemble since Las Vegas.  We did miss the likes of K-C's MISSISSIPPI HIPPY, Chad Berger's SMACKDOWN and Circle T's ASTEROID, but the bulls were insanely great!! 
The Pit is an incredible venue to watch bull riding in.  The crowd is huge and loud and knowledgeable.  The arena is small and anything can happen.  If you can ever get there to see this event...do it!
Injuries are wreaking havoc on the cowboys very early in the year...it's still only March and many of the guys are seriously banged up!
Arena announcer, Brandon Bates, was on his "A" game in ABQ!  I was so pleased to hear him call the fact that Silvano Alves was taking sooooo long in the chutes Saturday night; explaining why a ride was scored lower that Chase Outlaw's round winning ride while the crowd was booing loudly.  Brandon said...go ahead and boo, I can take it!  And, Brandon also defended the Judge's decision to uphold a no score for Valdiron, who claimed he didn't nod...when in fact you could see him nod on the replay.  Sometimes you need a voice of reason and Brandon was it Saturday night!
This bull fan was blessed to be in the presence of greatness in ABQ, both in Bull Housing and in the arena, with BUSHWACKER.  Emotional I will be in Las Vegas when he and Smackdown will be retired.  The end of the era is coming for these magnificent bulls and it will be heart-breaking.  But until then, I will enjoy each and every second of these bovines, as I did in Albuquerque!





All Photographs by Susan Hanrahan