Take the beauty of circus lithographs and woodcuts with a grain of salt.

FRANK CURRY said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

08 April, 2011 19:41

Larry Louree said...

Has this been done by anybody else, since then?

It sure would take some really sturdy props to make it work, wouldn't it?

I would suspect that this isn't a natural activity for the bull, and it would take a lot of work and trust between the trainer and the bull to make it happen.

10 April, 2011 11:39

Buckles said...

I once trained three small elephants for Sid Kellner and one did an exceptionally good head stand.
So good that in fact one day in the practice ring she went completely over forward like the elephant in the drawing.
She rolled rather slowly at first into a sitting position but the centrifugal force resulted in her slamming her jaw on the ground.
Scared Hell out of both of us.

I don't think the somersalt rigging was this simple. I was told there was some sort of trip mechanism to get the elephant started and gunnels on the ramp so she wouldn't roll off to the side while descending.

10 April, 2011 12:23

Larry Louree said...

It would have scared the heck out of me to have that happen too!

Did she have any reluctance doing the trick again, without the roll over?

I can see how the right rig with the gunnels and such to help her roll and keep her from falling off the rig would be the key to this, but I'm sure it was a challenge (and lot's of patience) on trainer and bull to get this to work.

11 April, 2011 22:34

tanglefoot said...

I had the same thing happen when training a head stand. Its awesome baby and I rehashed it like an idiot. I am embarrased to relate. Tanglefoot

12 April, 2011 07:46

As a timid anonymous nitwit(the circus/circus interest industry has a boat load, take your pick) suggested that I "keep my comments on my own blog, and stay off of Buckles" I will respond to this thread here:

Frank and Larry,
In an effort to be as verbose as possible, I am going to suggest you are looking at an artist's fantasy. Much of circus history is relayed through "jackpots". Not "court stenography" by any stretch, but a way to tell the tale none the less. Much the way Eph's death was attributed to a knife wound, later corrected to tuberculosis. If you understand an elephant's physique/body structure with a high, narrow, arched back, think short neck, and straight shoulder, you would realized this behavior is impossible. Even if we were to believe the story of a ramp, consider how heavy it would have to be to with stand the crashing, and believe me they would crash, of a 3-5 ton elephant slamming down on it. Buckles said someone told him that he heard(didn't see) the ramp had a "trip mechanization" in which to start the elephant(you gotta wonder if it was Roland Butler who told Buckles that?) Even if you were able to apply enough force/pressure/ass whipping to scare the elephant enough to somersault within a few tumbles it would most likely cripple itself for life. It doesn't have the physical ability to "spring" off of it's front feet, or tuck it's head as a primate/human does. It can only fall over, CRASH onto the "ramp" and can not rotate it's hips back ward to aright itself. You are looking at nothing more then a simple "up and over"(hind leg stand into a head stand) which was given the circus ballyhoo glitter treatment in an effort to sell tickets. You have to wonder why it was never done since, and I have been around some great elephant trainers. Buckles and Johnny relayed some great stories, and if you have trained animals long enough, eventually you will see one of them spontaneously do the most ignorant thing imaginable with no prompting. I wonder how many times Buckles, Johnny and others have seen something like that and thought "man, if I could get them to do that on cue, I could make a fortune" never to see the action again, no matter how much you beg, plead, and treat. My love of animals comes from an acceptance of what they are, and what each species is physically capable off. Tiger's can't fly(they just called Dave McMillians tigers the Flying Tigers because they moved fast and quick) and elephants can't somersault unless it is "drawn" on a lithograph.

Wade Burck