Student aims to keep the bulls at bay
Childhood dream fulfilled for OSU junior involved in bullfighting
Sherry O'Keef
Issue date: 10/23/06 Section: News
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He's also a third-year cadet with the Army ROTC program at OSU.
Twigg describes bullfighting as one of his childhood dreams, and every weekend he gets to live that dream.
Travelling with the Howell Rodeo Company, Twigg isn't an average weekend bullfighter.
Saturday night, he fought bulls at the Boo Boogie Bash, where he said his job was "cowboy protection."
Twigg enters a danger zone when he is in the arena with a bull. His job is to distract the bull when a cowboy is bucked off.
It is a natural inclination for a bull to gore an object, such as a cowboy on the ground, when he is irritated, Twigg said.
Another part of the rodeo is a segment called "Bull Poker," an event where four poker players sit at a table in the middle of the arena with an angry, loose bull.
The bull has nothing to focus on but the table of men. The last poker player left in his chair is the winner.
Twigg entertained the audience with his free-style antics as he diverted the bull from injuring the poker players.
He ran to face the bull and turned the beast's attention to him. It soon became a dangerous and death-defying game when Twigg charged, dodged the bull and then jumped over the bull.
"You have to be able read his mannerisms and anticipate where and what he is going to do in order to protect the cowboy by reading him," Twigg said.
Twigg said his interest in bullfighting began as a child, growing up on his family dairy farm where he learned to think like a bull.
"I just wanted to do something more exciting and dangerous, so I went to Wild Eye Ranch in Lebanon for my bullfighting training," Twigg said.
Twigg said bullfighting gives him an adrenaline rush that surpasses the skydiving he has done with the Army.
"There is a lot of communication between the bullfighters and cowboys and we have to know what is going on before the bull charges out of the chute. You have to anticipate and be able to read the situation to protect the cowboy," he said. "I just like the adrenaline rush and the danger. I love it. It is indescribable."
Twigg went to Sankey Rodeo School in Jerome, Idaho for a three-day training session where he was placed in front of bulls.
Twigg cautions that it takes months of practice to become a bullfighter.
The next rodeo that Twigg is schedule for is "Thanksgiving Thunder," Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Benton County Fairgrounds.
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