"The bucking stock, bulls and horses, are chosen because they have that disposition, and some of the rodeo stock contractors actually raise their own herds, using breeding stock from animals that have proved successful in the rodeo ring" Monty explained. "But normally, bulls of the beef breeds have pretty placid natures. For some reason, dairy bulls are much more dangerous and there have been cases where they've killed farmers. So these fellows should be quiet and easy to handle. Still, I don't think I'd want to try riding one," he laughed.
Then he turned serious. "Somebody screwed up," he said with a slight scowl. "They should have put all five of my bulls in the same pen so they're easier to load. I'm going to have to check all the pens with Brangus bulls to find the other two."
Laura volunteered "I can check in one direction while you look in another, if you tell me what to look for. Are your other ones black, too?"
"Yes," Monty replied, "but there are also some black Angus here, too. The Brangus have a hump on the top of their shoulders that the Angus don't have - that came from cross-breeding with the Brahma cattle. There should be a list on the gate, and it will have my name on it if it's one of mine. Why don't you take the pens toward the buildings and I'll go the other way. And thanks for the help, Laura - that will speed things up."
Laura started striding briskly along the lane between the sets of pipe corrals, looking from left to right for black bulls with a slight hump above their shoulders - and scanning the ground ahead of her too, remembering Monty's warning. Lights placed high on tall poles at intervals provided light, quite bright right under the fixtures but dim in the areas between poles. However, it was sufficient for Laura to distinguish not only colors but also to differentiate, with a touch of pride in her new-found knowledge, between the Angus with smooth backs and the Brangus. She stopped at any pens with Brangus and scanned the names, but didn't see Monty's on the first few she checked. But after she had completed a check of one row and moved on to the next pathway between pens, she did find a pen with one solitary Brangus, and the name on the slip stapled to the wooden gatepost was Monty's.
"Monty," she called, "I found one over here!"
"There should be two more besides the three in the first pen, so if you just wait there, I'll try to find the last one - I haven't seen one yet."