Party Bus, a 3-year-old bull bred as a bullwhip, competed in his first and final rodeo.
The party bus (named after his father’s Short Bus) made national headlines at its first rodeo last weekend when it jumped a fence at a crowded central Oregon arena and hurtled through a concession area, injuring three people.
The cow had made a mistake and had no intention of harming anyone, its owner said, adding that it had never seen a party bus surrounded by so many people before.
“He just ran out of the arena, which thankfully happens a lot but it doesn’t happen very often. I never thought he’d do something like that,” the bull’s owner, Mike Corey, told The Associated Press.
Video taken by attendees at Saturday’s Sisters Rodeo shows the party bus jumping a fence, racing through a concession area and throwing a woman into the air around a corner.
After charging through the rodeo grounds, the bull ran back to the stockyards, where “rodeo livestock specialists responded quickly to safely contain the bull,” the Sisters Rodeo Association said in a statement.
Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District Fire Chief Thad Olsen told The Associated Press that the bull’s daring getaway lasted just 30 seconds.
“It could have been a lot worse. We’re lucky that only three people suffered relatively minor injuries,” he said.
Olsen said one person suffered a broken arm and the other sustained head and neck injuries.
The woman who was thrown into the air suffered the least injuries of all.
Corey said he was disappointed that the bull’s first rodeo ended up being his last.
Mr Corey said Party Bus was bred from an award-winning bull and trained to go on rampages using a remote-controlled dummy.
But while he hopes the bull will be given another chance, he said he won’t force it.
Corley says the party bus has been “condemned,” meaning the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association will never allow him to compete in a rodeo again. He will spend the rest of his life on Corley’s ranch in eastern Washington, siring more calves that Corley hopes will become “superstar athletes” with a chance at future rodeo glory.
“He’s a wonderful animal,” he said.
“His daughters and sons will be great assets to the future of rodeo.”
