Not in this family!!!

Asteroid.  Hammer.  Fire and Smoke.  What do all of those words have in common?  They are popular PBR bulls and also names of the bulls on our farm.  So our boys love the PBR or anything to do with the rodeo.  They are even getting their little sister interested in it as well.  “Asteroid” is David’s favorite PBR bull, whereas Ethan loves “Bushwacker”.  I favor “Mississippi Hippie” myself!  Each year we go to the rodeo that comes to our town and the kids go crazy over it. 

So when David started talking about riding one of our animals, I emphatically said, “NO WAY!”  I am determined that none of my children will become bull riders.  I have seen the videos on YouTube and that does not make this mother excited at their interest in bull riding.  I am quite sure this is just a phase and not something I ever have to worry about.

However, one day David came in all excited.  The child was beaming like he won the lottery.  He could barely talk he was so excited.  “I RODE SHINY!” he said like it was Christmas.  Well, I was floored at that revelation.  Further discussion led to the whole story.  His father, my dear husband, who knows that this would cause his darling wife to have a heart attack, put David on Shiny’s back.

Shiny is the oldest cow on our farm, also known as #18 to Dave and me before David named her.  She was born when I was early in my pregnancy with David.  I remember this because we had three calves all born within a couple of days and all three were rejected by their mother.  This was when we were taking care of Dave’s grandfather’s farm, before we took over the herd, and researched and changed the genetics.  These three calves were quite rambunctious and Dave struggled by himself to bottle feed them as they all wanted to be fed first and tried to steal each other’s milk.  I was bundled up as it was the middle of winter and therefore had plenty of padding; however, their high-spirited nature led Dave to not allow me to help with the feedings.  In hindsight, it was the best idea, but at that time I had just gotten off of six weeks of bedrest and was eager to help out on the farm again.

So being hand-raised and pampered by Dave and me, and well-loved by our little ones, Shiny is a lifer on the farm.  She will one day die of old age instead of being butchered.  Shiny has always come over to greet us when we enter the pasture and loves a good rub.  She had always been a good mother, which is why she has had the opportunity to stay this long, and now the close connection with the kids has solidified her fate.  So later upon seeing the picture Dave took of David sitting atop of Shiny, while shocking, did not worry me in the least as I believe she would guard our children from danger.

I am pretty certain this is the extent of David’s PBR career as Shiny just stood there when David was put on her back and there is no other cow on the farm Dave would put him on.  And that’s okay for this mom!

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