Across the Atlantic and into the Ring
By Piper Whelan
Bulls play a major role in David Sandilands’ everyday
life. Today, for example, he discusses his life as a
cattle producer while sitting on the tailgate of a truck
just next to the arena at the Airdrie, Alberta rodeo
grounds, among contestants and officials. But raising
cattle isn’t his only interaction with livestock—
Sandilands is also an in-demand professional
bullfighter who travels across Canada each summer on
the rodeo circuit.
Born and raised
near Lockerby, in
the southern part of
Scotland, Sandilands
and his family came
to Canada in 1991.
Back in Scotland,
his parents made
their living by
raising dairy cattle.
“Over there we were
milking about 120 head, and we kept a small herd of
pedigree Limousins too, about 30 or 40,” Sandilands
recalls. “Just more of an interest thing.” This interest
that was shared among his family became a way of life
for Sandilands, who now owns and runs DJS Limousin
at Esterhazy, Saskatchewan. Today he runs a 300 head
commercial herd, as well as 50 fullblood Limousins.
Having Limousin cattle around his whole life
influenced Sandilands to stick with this familiar breed
for his own beef herd. “All my life I’ve had Limousin,”
Sandilands explains. “I don’t feel as if there’s anything
that can touch them, really, for meat yield.” His
reflections on this choice suggest an instinct for what
he is doing. “... It’s just natural for me, it’s something I
want to do.”
With the experience of living on a cattle operation in a
different country and access to his family’s knowledge
that came from raising cattle in Scotland, Sandilands
clearly stands out from the average Canadian beef
producer. His heritage is one of the influencing factors
in deciding to use Limousin genetics from Scotland
and other parts of the United Kingdom for his own
fullblood breeding program. “I’ve been trying to get
as much genetics brought over from there as I can,”
Sandilands states. “I found a bull a few years back,
Glenrock Marquis—Semex was selling him— so I
thought I’d use him for a while, [and] got pretty good
results,” he says, noting that this bull sired one of his
current herdsires, DJS Swat. When his focus shifted
to building his female herd, Sandilands continued
with his trans-Atlantic approach by purchasing sexed
semen from the Crawford Brothers Limousin herd in
Northern Ireland. The sexed semen in question came
from the Crawford Brothers’ notable and renowned
herdsire Sauvignon, who hadn’t sired any Canadian
calves until Sandilands introduced his genetics into
his breeding program. “... I had pretty good luck the
first year I AI’d to him, I got 10 heifers and 1 bull calf,
I guess there’s a bit of a chance that 99% heifers and
1% bulls,” he explains. “And actually that bull is still
on the farm now, he’s my main herd sire this year and
we’re hoping to get good things out of him.”
When the conversation shifts to his other occupation,
Sandilands speaks enthusiastically about being a pro
bullfighter. According to him, travelling to rodeos
and protecting bull
riders from the
hazards of the sport
wouldn’t have been
a job possibility
had his family
not immigrated
to Canada.
“They don’t have
anything like
rodeos in Scotland,
so it was a huge
thing for me to jump into it,” he explains, “but I was
always athletic and rough and tough and always
around cattle, and it was something I really wanted
to do.” Before diverting his attention to bullfighting
while studying at Lakeland College in Vermillion,
Alberta, Sandilands pursued rodeo as a young
competitor himself. “I got on a steer once in Swan
River, Manitoba, and I never looked back. It was the
atmosphere, the family atmosphere and everything,
and going down the road ... I wasn’t very good at
riding bulls, and I went to college, and one day
Limousin Voice Summer 2012 36
someone suggested I try fighting bulls, and that was
16 years ago now and I never looked back since then
either.” Being a bullfighter has taken Sandilands to
rodeos across Canada, with this summer being no
different, as he explains. “I’ve been to the Canadian
Finals Rodeo in Edmonton three times now. Next
week I’ll be at the Calgary Stampede, it’ll be my sixth
turn there, and it’s been awesome.”
In case you’re
wondering, this
bullfighter is no
rodeo clown,
nor does he
dress like one.
With the rise in
popularity of
bull riding as a
stand-alone
sport, the
traditional
clown outfit has
been mainly
replaced by
ones that reflect
the athleticism
of the job, so
you won’t see
Sandilands
dressed in
the outfits of old in today’s rodeo arenas. “We’ve
gone to the athletic outfit, we don’t wear makeup
anymore,” Sandilands says with a laugh. One thing
that hasn’t changed in bullfighting, however, is the
need to understand livestock behaviour to properly
get the job done. As he has spent his life around cattle,
Sandilands has an advantage in bullfighting simply
because of his experience with and around livestock.
“To be a bullfighter, or anyone in rodeo, you have to
understand livestock. You have to know what they’re
going to do or have an idea of how they act. It’s a lot
harder for a kid to come out of, say, Calgary who’s
never seen a cow and become a bullfighter,” he states.
“I can watch leads, and you know how they act in the
back pen, you know how they’re going to act outside.”
It’s quite common today for young cattle producers
to have a second job away from the farm, which can
allow them to follow another passion in addition to
raising cattle. The balance that Sandilands maintains
between raising cattle and bullfighting proves that
young breeders can make that scenario work, with
success and positive experiences. For example, one
of the strategies Sandilands uses to maintain balance
between his two occupations is the calving schedule
he sets up for his herd, allowing for his cattle to be out
to pasture before he’s off on the Spring and Summer
rodeo circuit. “I get a lot of flack from different
breeders in the country, especially the commercial
guys, [asking] why am I calving in February? Well
that’s a big reason why I calve in February, we have
barns, we’re pretty well set up for February calving
and I can get them calved, get them out to grass and
then hit the rodeo trail in the summer,” Sandilands
explains. “Lately I’ve been doing a lot of flying back
and forth, my rodeos have worked out pretty good
so I can get home and get on the hay bind if I have
to. So it’s a pretty easy balance.” His family plays an
important role in keeping things running on their
operation while Sandilands is away at rodeos. “And I
have pretty good support at home too, with the family
there, it’s a family farm, so there’s always someone
who can take care of the cows.”
As a cattle producer, Sandilands plans on continuing
his herd building initiatives, with the future of his
beef operation in mind. His main focus in this effort
is to breed for an increasingly Limousin commercial
herd. “I have a pretty good Angus based commercial
herd and I breed everything pretty much to fullblood
Limousin, and it’s getting to be more and more
fullblood,” Sandilands explains. “There’s more Limo
genetics in that herd, so that’s going to get to be a
pretty red herd in the next few years, so I’ll keep going
that way.” In reference to his fullblood Limousin herd,
Sandilands is focused on breeding quality cattle for
future success. “I’m looking to start selling some bulls
and getting my herd to fifty with some of the best
females I can put together and start having sales,” he
says.
With an energetic approach in pursuing his two
passions, Sandilands is living a life that’s refreshing
and shows that young breeders today have the ability
to pursue both their love for raising cattle and the
other things they find joy in to make a successful and
rewarding life out of it. Simply put, Sandilands states
with a smile how this has worked out for him— “It’s
been great for me.”
Limousin Voice Summer 2012 37