Manitoba_Rancher
Well-known member
Cowboys riding for a cause
By DARRELL NESBITT
Believing a man's greatest possession is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than aiding a fellow man, cowboys will be riding for a cause at 'The Brad Dunn Bull Bash' in Brandon on Friday, Aug. 29.
Funds generated from the event, which will bring forth competitors from as far west as Alberta are earmarked for Brad Dunn – a Manitoba bullfighter – who is recovering from a serious injury sustained at the Twin Lakes Ranch Ministeries Bull Riding & Bullfighting School in Moose Jaw, SK back in May.
Often mistaken for rodeo clowns, there is nothing funny about the serious nature of a bullfighter's job to protect and serve. They both may wear grease paint but the similarities end there, as upon risking their life for the safety of a rider, bullfighters are known as heroes in the bull riding fraternity.
Growing up around cattle and knowing how to read them, the 26-year-old Carman resident figured he'd be good at fighting bulls. Upon being named the Twin Lakes champion bullfighter in May 2007, it spurred on working within the Heartland Rodeo Association (HRA), the MRCA/CCA, and the MHSRA. Looking up to bullfighters, Raymond Goodman (pro, manager of Calgary Stampede Ranch), Eddie Phillips of East Selkirk and Craig Stevens of Bengough, SK, Brad found his calling in the rodeo world.
Preparing for another season of dancing with thunder, Brad once again enrolled at Twin Lakes where prior to the accident on the final day he was once again declared champion.
The accident
Free-styling a bull (a passion of his), Brad was going for the third turn when the bull didn't take his fake. Hooked about his lower waist, he was tossed into the air, and landed flat, stomach down on the ground. Pulling his left arm under himself to try to get up, he realized he couldn't move.
"There are a lot of rumours going around, but the actual accident wasn't really scary or gory," said his wife Dusty, a 2004 MHSRA graduate. "Brad was rushed to Regina General Hospital where he underwent surgery to repair as best possible, his broken C5 vertebrae."
After hearing about the accident, Chris Coulson and his partner Kim Martin of Five Star Bucking Bulls, located northwest of Brandon near Rivers, immediately wanted to help in anyway possible. The idea of a bull-a-rama materialized as being the perfect way to raise funds for Brad's rehabilitation.
"I'm not sorry I chose to fight bulls. I'm fully aware of what can happen when you get in the arena with those bulls. It's not something you really think about until it happens," said Brad.
While his vertebrae was shattered, the spinal cord was just damaged and bruised versus cut or severed, so while the surgeon couldn't guarantee medically he would walk again, he also believed in miracles.
After spending over three weeks in Regina, Brad was flown to Winnipeg and his currently in the Health Sciences Centre Rehab Hospital working on getting back to normal. Dusty explained that he has regained nearly all use of his arms, his hands are slowly coming back to working function, and while he can't yet move his legs, he does have feeling in them and his feet. Able to sit at the edge of a bed and keep his balance, she went on to say her husband is in very good spirits.
"I believe that God is healing me and will continue to heal me until I'm fully recovered. I will walk again." And as for fighting bulls again, "If God wants me to fight bulls again, I will fight bulls."
Worth supporting
With Brad and Dusty (nee Wiebe) both very well known and respected within the Manitoba rodeo community, organizers feel the Bull Bash is definitely worth supporting.
Slated for the Westoba Credit Union Agriculture Centre of Excellence within the Keystone Centre at 7:30 p.m., Coulson stated they are aiming to fill six junior ($50 entry/$300 added) and 30 open ($100 entry/$1,000 added) spots, with a mixed caliber of riders busting out of the chutes, from a long and short go perspective. Tickets (1,000 available) for the evening that will also include celebrity cow riding and calcutta are available from Ticketmaster or Cowtown in Brandon as of Aug. 1. Prices are adults $10, kids (8 & under) $5 and toddlers (3 & under) free.
For those who want to enter or seeking information can call Chris, (204) 725-0654 or email [email protected].
"Kim and I are blessed to have such dedicated committee members - Mike Heckert, Suzanne Kish, Dallas Mennie, Lacey Marshall, Kyle Williamson, Andrea Farquhar, Bob Scott, Alicia Dyck, Brett McRae, and Chelsey Horn - and personnel lending their time to make the bull-a-rama and benefit social/silent auction to follow at a Brandon business a success," added Coulson.
In the true essence of being a cowboy, the evening will put forth two facets of the sport of bull riding – competition and camaraderie.
By DARRELL NESBITT
Believing a man's greatest possession is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than aiding a fellow man, cowboys will be riding for a cause at 'The Brad Dunn Bull Bash' in Brandon on Friday, Aug. 29.
Funds generated from the event, which will bring forth competitors from as far west as Alberta are earmarked for Brad Dunn – a Manitoba bullfighter – who is recovering from a serious injury sustained at the Twin Lakes Ranch Ministeries Bull Riding & Bullfighting School in Moose Jaw, SK back in May.
Often mistaken for rodeo clowns, there is nothing funny about the serious nature of a bullfighter's job to protect and serve. They both may wear grease paint but the similarities end there, as upon risking their life for the safety of a rider, bullfighters are known as heroes in the bull riding fraternity.
Growing up around cattle and knowing how to read them, the 26-year-old Carman resident figured he'd be good at fighting bulls. Upon being named the Twin Lakes champion bullfighter in May 2007, it spurred on working within the Heartland Rodeo Association (HRA), the MRCA/CCA, and the MHSRA. Looking up to bullfighters, Raymond Goodman (pro, manager of Calgary Stampede Ranch), Eddie Phillips of East Selkirk and Craig Stevens of Bengough, SK, Brad found his calling in the rodeo world.
Preparing for another season of dancing with thunder, Brad once again enrolled at Twin Lakes where prior to the accident on the final day he was once again declared champion.
The accident
Free-styling a bull (a passion of his), Brad was going for the third turn when the bull didn't take his fake. Hooked about his lower waist, he was tossed into the air, and landed flat, stomach down on the ground. Pulling his left arm under himself to try to get up, he realized he couldn't move.
"There are a lot of rumours going around, but the actual accident wasn't really scary or gory," said his wife Dusty, a 2004 MHSRA graduate. "Brad was rushed to Regina General Hospital where he underwent surgery to repair as best possible, his broken C5 vertebrae."
After hearing about the accident, Chris Coulson and his partner Kim Martin of Five Star Bucking Bulls, located northwest of Brandon near Rivers, immediately wanted to help in anyway possible. The idea of a bull-a-rama materialized as being the perfect way to raise funds for Brad's rehabilitation.
"I'm not sorry I chose to fight bulls. I'm fully aware of what can happen when you get in the arena with those bulls. It's not something you really think about until it happens," said Brad.
While his vertebrae was shattered, the spinal cord was just damaged and bruised versus cut or severed, so while the surgeon couldn't guarantee medically he would walk again, he also believed in miracles.
After spending over three weeks in Regina, Brad was flown to Winnipeg and his currently in the Health Sciences Centre Rehab Hospital working on getting back to normal. Dusty explained that he has regained nearly all use of his arms, his hands are slowly coming back to working function, and while he can't yet move his legs, he does have feeling in them and his feet. Able to sit at the edge of a bed and keep his balance, she went on to say her husband is in very good spirits.
"I believe that God is healing me and will continue to heal me until I'm fully recovered. I will walk again." And as for fighting bulls again, "If God wants me to fight bulls again, I will fight bulls."
Worth supporting
With Brad and Dusty (nee Wiebe) both very well known and respected within the Manitoba rodeo community, organizers feel the Bull Bash is definitely worth supporting.
Slated for the Westoba Credit Union Agriculture Centre of Excellence within the Keystone Centre at 7:30 p.m., Coulson stated they are aiming to fill six junior ($50 entry/$300 added) and 30 open ($100 entry/$1,000 added) spots, with a mixed caliber of riders busting out of the chutes, from a long and short go perspective. Tickets (1,000 available) for the evening that will also include celebrity cow riding and calcutta are available from Ticketmaster or Cowtown in Brandon as of Aug. 1. Prices are adults $10, kids (8 & under) $5 and toddlers (3 & under) free.
For those who want to enter or seeking information can call Chris, (204) 725-0654 or email [email protected].
"Kim and I are blessed to have such dedicated committee members - Mike Heckert, Suzanne Kish, Dallas Mennie, Lacey Marshall, Kyle Williamson, Andrea Farquhar, Bob Scott, Alicia Dyck, Brett McRae, and Chelsey Horn - and personnel lending their time to make the bull-a-rama and benefit social/silent auction to follow at a Brandon business a success," added Coulson.
In the true essence of being a cowboy, the evening will put forth two facets of the sport of bull riding – competition and camaraderie.
