Grandpa & the Rodeo Bulls

This is a favorite family story, and it's about a very special person. Grandpa Sagers. Unfortunately, Grandpa Sagers is no longer with us, but his impact on our lives is still felt today. I didn't know him extremely well, but Clayton and I always enjoyed spending the occasional night at Grandma & Grandpa's house, or going over for dinner. I loved hearing his stories about their mission in Africa, going to big band dances at Saltaire, and of course, his stories about the farm. Grandpa Sagers was very conscientious and hard-working when it came to the cows. He very rarely went on vacation because he was worried that something might happen to the cows while he was away. He farmed and took care of the cows until he had a series of strokes back in, oh, maybe 2004-ish? I don't remember the exact date. But he worked very hard every day until he was no longer able to do so. Grandpa was pretty tall, and apparently hit his head on various objects while working, so he went about doing his farm work wearing a hard hat, which protected his head from bumps and bruises. One of his young grandsons, when asked in school to draw a picture of a farmer, drew a picture of his Grandpa Sagers with his hard hat on. The teacher tried to inform the child that farmers don't wear hard hats, but the child insisted, "My Grandpa is a farmer and this is the kind of hat that he always wears!" He was very strong-willed and stubborn, which is a trait that was passed on to just about all of his many descendents. One of my ABSOLUTE favorite Grandpa Sagers stories took place when Grandpa was having an argument with Uncle Larry. It just makes me giggle every time I hear it. I'll have to share it with you some other time.

But the story I'd like to tell you today is the story of Grandpa and the rodeo bulls. Once upon a time, several rodeo bulls broke down some fences and got into our field, and started mingling with our cows. You've all seen a rodeo, right? Rodeo livestock is sometimes called "rough stock", which is pretty self-explanatory. Rough stock are rough, wild, and unpredictable. Grandpa rode out on his faithful steed, Trinket, to sort out the rodeo bulls and drive them back to where they belonged.

Here's Trinket in her later years. She was a tough little cow pony in her day.

Anyway, back to the story. Trinket and Grandpa were sorting out the bulls, when one of the bulls decided that he had had enough of them. The bull charged Trinket, and actually knocked her off her feet. Grandpa fell off the horse and was still on the ground when the bull decided to come after him. If you're on the ground, having recently been knocked off your horse and an angry bull comes after you, you're in no position to bargain. You're lucky if you can scramble to your feet quickly enough to try to run away before he gets ya.

As luck would have it, on this day Grandpa also had his trusty dog, Grizz, with him. Grizz saw what was happening, saw his master on the ground about to be trampled, and Grizz took charge. He ran at the bull before it could get to Grandpa, bit the bull on the nose, and held on until Grandpa could get up and get back to his horse. Grizz saved Grandpa's life, or at least saved him from some pretty severe injuries.

I don't have a picture of Grizz but I'm told that he looked a lot like this dog:

Thanks Grizz, for saving Grandpa!

And here's a picture of the man himself.

We love you, Grandpa Sagers!