I don't know why, but it just reminded me of Mini and her farm.
Buffalo full of tricks turning heads in Alberta
By Cigdem Iltan, Edmonton Journal May 24, 2010
EDMONTON — Two years away from his official debut as Alberta’s ambassador for bison, Bailey D. Buffalo Jr. is already turning heads on Highway 16.
The 700-kilogram animal is known for stopping traffic near Spruce Grove, west of Edmonton, when Jim Sautner takes his pet buffalo out in the family’s customized Pontiac Parisienne on a dirt road parallel to the highway.
Jim cut the roof off the car and removed the windshield last year so Bailey Jr. could fit in the front seat.
Jim and his wife Linda weren’t sure if Bailey Jr. would ever live up to his namesake, Bailey D. Buffalo, the Sautners’ first tamed buffalo who could two-step, watch television in the family’s living room and once posed for pictures with the Queen.
Most people attributed a birth defect, not a man’s gift of connecting with animals, to Bailey Sr.’s ability to perform tricks and obey commands better than some dogs.
“A lot of buffalo people said that Bailey was maybe oxygen deprived or something (happened) at birth and he wasn’t quite normal — he had been a one in a never and it could never happen again,” Linda said.
Jim, who raised and trained Bailey, didn’t get the credit he deserved, she said.
When Bailey’s life ended two years ago at the age of eight after an accident, Jim sank into depression, Linda said.
“It was really the end of Jim’s world when Bailey Sr. died,” she said. “I was surprised at the depth of despair. Everywhere he went he was known as Bailey the buffalo’s owner and that part of him was missing.”
A neighbour’s cow buffalo died while giving birth to a bull calf three weeks after Bailey died. The Sautners brought the calf to their home in Spruce Grove and saw an opportunity to test themselves. Could they train another buffalo?
Jim began training Bailey Sr. when he was nine months old. With Bailey Jr., he started from Day 1.
“When we got Bailey Jr., that was the first time I saw (Jim) smile in three weeks,” Linda said.
Right away, the Sautners noticed the baby bison’s calm demeanour and ease around strangers.
All the other calves at Bailey Jr.’s first Calgary Stampede were agitated by the commotion.
“This little guy just walked in and lay down and was totally at home,” Jim said.
Any doubts the Sautners had about Bailey Jr.’s future as a trained show animal have disappeared in the last few months, as Bailey Jr. has learned a few tricks even Bailey Sr. couldn’t do, such as cruising in the Parisienne with Jim, and the family dog Charlie Brown.
Bailey Jr.’s first time in the car was far from smooth, but he calmed down after Jim soothed him with his low voice.
The passenger door of the Parisienne is dented from where Bailey’s hoofs caught the side of the car as he hurdles into his seat.
“The first time I put it into gear and into motion he had a little panic attack . . . now, he loves it,” Jim said.
Jim and Linda are now in the market for a six-door limousine, as Bailey Jr. will be too big for the sedan by the end of the summer, Jim said. He expects Bailey to grow to his father’s size — about 1,000 kilograms.
Jim has also trained Bailey Jr. to let him ride him under saddle, something the Sautners never achieved with Bailey Sr.
“We are amazed, we are just so delighted. He has exceeded our expectations,” Linda said.
None of Bailey’s feats comes without countless hours of patience, and sometimes, pain. Bailey doesn’t always realize his strength when playing with Jim.
Jim has been tempted to quit after a couple of close calls, but the potential he sees in Bailey always encourages him to keep trying, he said.
Next up for Bailey Jr. is a lesson in the buffalo two step. Jim will teach him to hop back and forth with his tail in the air in time to Cadillac Ranch, just as Bailey Sr. did.
“I’m hoping to be able to do the same thing and prove that you can basically train almost any buffalo,” Jim said.
Once Bailey Jr. has acquired a complete repertoire of tricks, the Sautners plan on taking him beyond local parades and stampedes to Europe and Asia.
“It’d be really tremendous if it’d be first buffalo on the Great Wall of China,” Jim said.
“We have a lot of good plans for him.”
Edmonton Journal
ciltan@thejournal.canwest.com
Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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Tue 25 May 2010, 9:12 am
