With only two of 16 committed bull riders having shown up, organizers of the first annual Â鶹´«Ã½AVern Prairie Bullnanza had a problem.
It was soon rectified when seven local men agreed to ride bulls for the first time in their lives to rescue Saturday's event in Torquay.
"We only ended up with two of the riders coming and we had seven of the hometown guys who wanted to ride, so that was very good of them," said Torquay Recreation Board member Jason Durr.
"None of them had ever rode before. A lot of people were pretty impressed."
He said some of the no-shows probably went to a bull riding event in Stoughton instead.
"Our stock contractor and secretary weren't too happy," Durr added.
Results from the event were not available at press time.
Tanner Allemand of Shaunavon was one of the two out-of-town cowboys.
Still, Durr said, the event was boosted by the crowd that showed up and the dance held afterward with Estevan's Chris Henderson.
"I was really impressed with how many people came out to support it, and really grateful that they did."
He said the board doesn't know yet how the event did financially.
The board is hoping to put on the event again next year.
"We're going to talk about it already. Hopefully we'll get more bull riders."
