Mutton bustin' -- rodeo for little kids

After the wonderful expose on cockfighting on the front page of the Wall Street Journal a week ago (see
http://www.dawnwatch.com/7-05_Animal_Media_Alerts.htm#ROOSTER) how disappointing to see another front page story about a cruel sport, this time written as a fluff piece. The Thursday, July 21, Wall Street Journal included a front page story on "Mutton Bustin," which is rodeo for little kids. It is headed, "At 6, Koby Blunt Is Retiring at the Top In Mutton Bustin.'" Perhaps the most disturbing segment is that in which we learn that the higher the animal's distress, the higher the score:

"The rider must stay on the animal for six seconds, at which point the judges award half the points for the style of the rider and half for the aggressive qualities of the sheep. Some sheep refuse to leave the starting chute. Some go for a leisurely stroll in the arena. But some leave the chute in a fury, trying to get rid of the weight on their backs. 'If the sheep runs out and starts bunny-hopping, you'll have a nice score,' says Koby."

Here we have the precursor of the adult "games" at which undercover activists have videoed the use of electric prods to make the bulls buck as they leave the chute. Visit SHARK's website http://www.RodeoCruelty.com to learn more about rodeo, including mutton bustin and the danger it poses to children.

I will paste the journal article below. It is unlikely that the Journal is intentionally promoting animal cruelty, so polite but educational letters to the editor will probably be the most effective and most likely to be published. The Wall Street Journal takes letters at:
wsj.ltrs [at] wsj.com. Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

I send thanks to Vegan Outreach's Joe Espinosa for making sure we saw the article.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

Here is the piece:

At 6, Koby Blunt
Is Retiring at the Top
In Mutton Bustin'

The 'Goodest Sheep Rider,'
Fearless in Competition,
Isn't Keen About Clowns
By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL July 21, 2005; Page A1

WINCHESTER, Idaho -- Koby Blunt gently lowered himself into the rodeo chute, climbing down the white fencing until he straddled his opponent: 250 pounds of bleating ovine.

He wedged his right hand under the riding rope wrapped around the sheep's chest, squeezed his legs tight around its shaggy flanks and positioned his boots, spurs at the ready. He lifted his left arm into the air and instructed his assistants: "I'm ready, boys, let him out."

When that gate flew open at the Winchester Open Rodeo earlier this month, it was a bittersweet moment in Koby Blunt's career. The rodeo was one of the last times Koby will compete in mutton bustin', the event he has dominated in Washington state and the Idaho panhandle. He can't compete after this season because he hit retirement age on July 6: 6 years old.

"I'm the goodest sheep rider in the whole world," Koby says. Then he catches himself and adds: "Except Jesus."

Wannabe rodeo stars start small. They ride sheep. Like bull riders, mutton busters are scored on a scale of 100 points. The rider must stay on the animal for six seconds, at which point the judges award half the points for the style of the rider and half for the aggressive qualities of the sheep. Some sheep refuse to leave the starting chute. Some go for a leisurely stroll in the arena. But some leave the chute in a fury, trying to get rid of the weight on their backs. "If the sheep runs out and starts bunny-hopping, you'll have a nice score," says Koby.

In most rodeos, mutton busters can't compete after they turn 6 or weigh 50 pounds, whichever comes first. When they get too big, they have to move on, usually to calf riding, which leads to steer riding, which leads to junior bull riding, and finally ends with senior bull riding -- eight seconds of chaos on the back of an angry 2,000-pound mass of muscle, horn and hoof. Tony Mendes, No. 6 in the Professional Bull Riders Inc. standings, started his career on sheepback at age 3. His career winnings now total more than $600,000.

Koby Blunt has started along that path. His parents are raising their four boys -- ranging from 22-month-old Dawson to 10-year-old Caleb -- to ride in rodeos the same way other parents encourage their kids to play soccer or join the Scouts. Nine-year-old DePaul is a champion barrel racer and pole bender, both events that require nerve and agility on horseback.

The Blunt boys live with their parents in an old trailer on their grandparents' 4.5-acre compound on the outskirts of Clarkston, Wash. Inside is a glass-and-wood case containing the dozens of oval, silver belt-buckles they've won at rodeos and a collection of trophies with tiny golden sheep on top. Koby, who started busting mutton at 4, won the Washington state championship last year -- one of 21 rodeo championships he has won. When he ends his mutton bustin' this season, he'll move on to calf riding and roping.

Outside the trailer, the Blunts keep horses -- miniature and full-size -- calves, steers, a turkey, a chicken, a big goat and a humped, 660-pound Brahma bull with stubby horns.

The boys rarely play their videogames, spending their days instead riding and roping in corrals and a practice ring. Their father, Paul, a 37-year-old guard at a juvenile jail, and mother, Kopper, a 31-year-old juvenile-probation officer, believe the boys learn responsibility by feeding and watering the animals each morning. And they learn to pick themselves up when they fall.

It's a rustic life that leaves a few bruises. In one favorite game, the boys bean each other with fresh-picked walnuts. "The rule is you can't cry if someone hits you," explains DePaul.

Koby Blunt rides a sheep in the Winchester Open Rodeo, one of his last mutton rides before he must retire from the sport at age 6.

Koby was on the Brahma bull a couple weeks ago when he ran into a cord that was accidentally stretched across the entrance to the starting chute. He was knocked to the ground and left with a pink scar across his throat. "I got clotheslined," he explains, flashing his baby-teeth grin.

On summer weekends, it's all about rodeos. Paul and Kopper load the horses into a trailer and drive the boys as far as four hours away for competitions, where Koby's signature event is mutton bustin'.

"That kid has no fear," says Jason Ewing, a 31-year-old calf roper who gave up on bull riding after he was gored in the throat and stamped on in the groin and back.

The one phobia Koby has had to overcome is a fear of rodeo clowns. For much of his early career, he ran away when the clowns came to help him off the sheep. These days, he insists, the clowns don't bother him much, at least not as much as department-store Santas and Easter Bunnies.

The clowns don't take it personally. "Every time we go near him, he shies away," says Colt Hager, a 19-year-old with painted white cheeks and a red nose. But "as soon as [the makeup] comes off, we're best buddies."

The old hands say Koby's stellar record as a sheep rider bodes well for a career riding bigger stock. His success is due in large part to his terrific balance, and to the strong legs he has developed riding miniature horses bareback. The combination makes him hard to dislodge once he's on top of a sheep and allows him to ride with one hand in the air, just like the pro bull riders whose autographs adorn his favorite cowboy hat. Nearly all the other young mutton busters grab as much wool as they can with both hands and hold on for dear life until the six-second horn blows. Some even lie down on the sheep's back and wrap their arms around its neck. Riding one-handed earns Koby style points the other mutton busters can never achieve.

When Koby arrived in Winchester (population 308) July 3 for its annual rodeo, he stood out, too, because he and his brother were the only black cowboys competing. Paul Blunt, who is black, moved to the area from Texas to accept a baseball scholarship at Lewis-Clark State College, where he met Kopper, who is white.

But mostly Koby attracted attention because of his reputation as a top-notch cowboy in the "Little People" division. "You riding sheep?" one teenage cowboy asked when he spotted Koby.

"Yeah," Koby replied.

"You gonna spur the hair off it?"

"Yeah," Koby replied.

The first contestants had ridden a day earlier, and the top rider scored a 72. Koby, wearing jeans and a crisp white buttoned shirt embroidered with blue and red stars, was confident as he inspected the five mop-colored sheep curled up in a holding pen, chewing methodically. "I want the black-faced one," Koby said. "His name is Rocket. He's fast like a son of a gun."

Koby lugged his gear bag to the chute area, where an older cowboy helped him hang his rope -- which he'd later cinch around the sheep's chest during the ride -- on a high rail. For the next three hours, Koby laboriously rubbed rosin into the rope to make it less likely to slip around the sheep's body.

The first mutton buster of the day tumbled off less than 10 feet into his ride. One hit the dirt before leaving the chute. A boy named Cody stayed on for the full six seconds, but clutched the sheep with both hands. One rider lost his nerve and had to be lifted back out of the chute by a grownup.

When Koby's turn came, his father and grandfather climbed into the chute, steadying the unhappy sheep as they tightened Koby's rope. When Koby gave the word, a burly rodeo hand pulled the gate open.

The sheep bolted out, swerving slightly as it crossed the arena. Koby gripped tight with his gloved right hand, but held his left arm out stiff, like a football halfback. His chaps, decorated with blue crucifixes and leather fringe, flapped wildly as he dug his silver spurs deep into the sheep's woolly flanks. Koby's head wobbled with every step.

"Look at that hand in the air! Is he going to be famous or what?" the announcer bellowed over the PA system as the horn signaled the end of the required six seconds. "There's a cowboy for you -- oh, man."

But Koby didn't hear the horn and kept riding. At the far side of the arena, the sheep suddenly dodged to the left, jerking Koby to his right. He slid around the sheep's side, scraping his straw cowboy hat against the fence and eventually slipping underneath the animal's belly as it spun in a tight circle. Even so, Koby kept his left arm outstretched until the sheep finally stepped on his protective vest and the rodeo clowns yanked him to safety.

"What are they going to score it?" the announcer exulted. "Eighty points? Whoa!" It was the highest score any cowboy got all weekend, even the bull riders, and earned Koby two $20 bills and another silver belt-buckle.

Koby swaggered to the side of the arena, glancing back nervously at the clowns.

Write to Michael M. Phillips at michael.phillips [at] wsj.com (END OF ARTICLE)

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