CARSTAIRS — Anyone who has ever wondered what stepping into the boots of a bullfighter feels like need look no further than a farm ranch southwest of town.
Brett Monea, ranked among the best professional bullfighters in Canada, recently launched the Ultimate Rodeo Bullfighting Experience, a program geared towards not only offering people a sneak peak at the life of a bullfighter, but also educating them as well as developing the next generation.
“We launched the very first experience in July. We had the second one in September,” he said, adding the third is lined up for the afternoon of Oct. 24.
Participants learn about the sport, including training that involves simulations with dummies to get around cattle and develop a better understanding of the animal’s behaviour, he said.
Alongside Kynan (pronounced Kee-nan) Vine, a former professional bull rider who now works as the Calgary Stampede’s western events manager, Monea had dreamed about delivering the program for a couple of years.
“There’s really only a handful or so that actually want to be professional bullfighters, or aspire to be that. But how do you get it more to the masses?” he said during a phone interview.
“Then him and I come up with the experience, where we offer opportunities for people to explore bullfighting in a safe way.”
Typically busy nearly every weekend during the rodeo season, he said the pandemic inadvertently opened the door to pursue his dream.
“That’s what I’ve trained for (over 19 years), and sitting home healthy has been a lot more challenging than coming back from say a broken leg or recovering from a knee surgery,” he said.
“Because of COVID and the lack of rodeos that were going on, gave us an opportunity to finally launch this and get it going. With adversity comes opportunity, and this gave us a chance to really get this ranch going and to safely offer experiences that people don’t really ever get to experience.”
The friends, who have known one another since high school, are also joined by bullfighters Ty Prescott, a regular bullfighter on the elite Canadian Monster Energy Tour, Connor Larrivee, and Travis James.
“It’s kind of an adrenaline-filled day. We’re building (skills) with safety and manoeuvers and videos,” said Monea.
“We do offer the opportunity to fight live cattle at the end of the day if you choose to and we deem you fit to fight...they engage an animal that is suited for them and their capability at the time,” he said.
However, the instructors typically discourage people from fighting, he added.
“But in the end, if they meet the requirements, and that’s what they choose and they’re fit to fight, of course we’ll let ’em fight.”
Although kids aren’t put into the arena, he said younger participants nevertheless are given a live show for an up-close experience “so they get an in-house personal take on what we do as professionals.”
Participants come from all walks of life, from ex-NHL players like Noah Welch, who played on the USA men’s Olympic team, to lawyers from Calgary and even a 16-year-old female from Three Hills who aspires to become a bullfighter, he said.
“We’ve had farm kids with a similar story to me. So, just a wide range of people that always wondered about it,” he said.
“There’s such a huge gap between the rural and urban populations. Maybe we can bridge that gap.”
Part of his wider goal is to eventually start a school called the Brett Monea Bullfighting Academy.
“I got a lotta big plans, of what my wife and I want to do at this facility of ours, the Rafter U-7 Wellness Centre we call it.”
He also wants to take the experience to the next level for participants who further want to pursue the sport. Monea hopes to host what he calls version 2.0 in tandem with a traditional bullfighting school this December in Ponoka.
“If all the stars align, that’s what’s gonna happen.”
Visit rafterU7.ca for more information.
Adrenaline pumping
Growing up on a pure bred, red Angus farm west of Wetaskiwin, Monea, who now lives on a 150-acre property southwest of Carstairs, became familiar at an early age with everything involved in raising replacement heifers.
“I remember being raised around cattle. When an ordinary momma cow kind of stands her ground at ya, it’s that adrenaline that’s pumping through your body, that’s kind of the first thing,” he said when asked about his earliest memories of bullfighting, adding he also grew up team roping.
“I always wanted to be part of the rough stock side of rodeo,” he said, recollecting memories of watching in admiration as Canadian Finals Rodeo contestants walked out with their coats.
“And I always thought, ‘Man, one day, I’m gonna have one of those coats!’”
Since some of his friends “dabbled in bull riding,” they decided to build some bucket chutes, he said.
“We’d get on cows or whatever we had — a lot of friends in a rural community of course had livestock,” he said, adding a friend’s mom eventually suggested going to a bullfighting school.
“That was back in 2001, is when I went to my very first bullfighting school.”
But the seed had been germinating since his childhood and adolescent years spent raising cattle.
“I’d say bull fighting found me just as much as I found it. I love working cattle, and it’s just something that fit I guess.”
Asked what his favourite aspect of the discipline is, he said, “The internal challenge is what I love most about the sport.”
While Monea said he of course also holds in his heart a fondness for not only the animals but the community as well, his passion stems largely from pushing himself to do something most people wouldn’t even consider.
Monea has fought bulls in rodeos throughout the province, starting from the practice pens and working his way up through amateur finals before obtaining his permit for a Canadian Professional Rodeo Association card, which paved the way for him to compete in more Professional Bull Riding Canada events.
“And the next thing you know, I’m at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, I’m at the Calgary Stampede, I’m at Saskatoon fighting the PBR Canada finals protecting bull riders, Innisfail, Wainwright — all the major rodeos and big bull riding events in Canada, I’ve done.”
Responding to the concerns about the welfare of rodeo livestock expressed by animal rights advocate, he said participants are educated on how the cattle are treated.
“Just like race horses are bred to run, these animals are really bred to buck,” he said.
“My favourite part of the sport is challenging myself, and honestly the animals themselves. I love the animals, and I don’t want to mistreat these animals.”
