Bull

Yesterday evening a 9-year-old Alberta boy was stomped to death by a bull he was attempting to ride. He was one of about ten other kids who were practicing bull-riding under adult supervision at an agriplex. For protection, Braedan Chamberlain and the other children wore chest protectors and helmets, but the bull Braedan was riding bucked him off and stepped on his stomach, below the chest protector. Braedon died in the agriplex minutes later.
I was watching adult bullriders on TV this afternoon, and as always one thought bubbled up in my mind over and over again: This is so stupid. You guys are going to get killed. They'll tell you it's all worth it for the adrenaline rush, the roaring crowds, the rodeo groupies, the cash awards, the fame. And for them, maybe it is. They're grown men and if they want to get gored or smushed or brain-damaged, that's their decision. (Pretty unfair for the bull, though. I'm not an animal-rights person really, but watching cowboys stomping on the bull's heads to get them even more pissed off before they're let out of the chute seems wrong.) But putting a nine-year-old child on a bull is so much worse than stupid. It's practically criminal. Wait until they're in their late teens, then let them decide if they want to take the risks involved with sitting on a massive, wildly kicking animal for recreation. Kids don't have the coordination and the muscles and the conditioned reflexes to deal with a bucking steer, or any animal for that matter. You should see a toddler after he falls off a sheep in one of those "mutton races" that everyone thinks are so cute. Not pretty.