beckster aka Tatertits Wrote:fattmatt1 Wrote:Nussie_T Wrote:Hi Matt!!!
Hi T.
Hey Matt, How much Equestrian stuff did you see? I actually got to catch Hickstead jump. The top 4 riders and horses changing up. It was pretty cool.
(Hickstead is probably the number 1 jumper horse in the world and he is from Canada)
One of the best bulls ever was Canadian.Outlaw.
He was 1,800 pounds, horns that reached a foot and a half on each side, a gentle giant who spent his life outsmarting anyone who attempted to climb on his back. He went out of the shoot 74 times and only once was he ridden - his name . . . Outlaw.
Five years after his death Outlaw has been selected as the bull, which will be made into a bronze statue and placed in downtown Calgary in the spring of 2010.
Outlaw was born in 1997 and started his bucking career at Lakeland College rodeos in Vermilion. The Jackson's sold Outlaw to the Calgary Stampede as a bucking bull in 1999 and Outlaw became a bull that made even the toughest riders cringe. His career ended in 2004 after he received internal injuries from other bulls when placed out in a pasture.
In talking with Winston Bruce, who worked for the Calgary Stampede from 1969 to just a few years ago, he described Outlaw and his personality in the shoot.
“I think there were many good things about this bull. He just had a good attitude about life. He was easy to work around, he was aware of what was happening around him and I think he was a real smart bucking bull,” said Bruce in a telephone interview.
“He developed a secure pattern - he would spin to the left all the time. I think his power and the fact that he would kick really high was what made him so difficult to ride. He was also smart enough that if he spun to the left for a while and he was still on him he would turn and come around to the right. He had power and intelligence.”
Justin Volz was the only rider to ever stay on Outlaw for eight seconds. He drew him at the Calgary Stamped for the $50,000 bonus round in 2003 and received 93 points for his ride. Outlaw also competed in the Canadian Finals Rodeo and Pro Bull Riding circuits.
One of the highlights of Outlaw’s career was on July 9, 2004 when he rang the closing bell, which was placed around his neck, to make the closing of the New York Stock Exchange. He was the first animal ever to close off the stock exchange and was also one of his last times out of the shoot as he died a month later.