Whistle-Nut walks the top of the Nuckolls County Fair Rodeo arena fence like a tight wire with a portion of the grandstand audience in the background. During the rodeo intermission, an interior ring of pens were set in place, an iron extra-long teeter totter placed and a Mexican Fighting bull released into the pen. Issac Meyer, Superior, rode one end as Whistle-Nut rode the other to avoid being gored by the bull.
Members of the Nuckolls County Fair rodeo audience screamed as Issac Meyer, Superior, rode a bull teeter totter with Whistle-Nut, the clown, during intermission. A Mexican fighting bull attempted to gore first one and then the other as the pair barely rose above the bull's horns within an interior arena set up special for the event.
Whistle-Nut rode Ole, a retired rodeo bull, around the main areana early in the evening. The pair travel the world. Monday and Tuesday evenings they were at the Nuckolls County Rodeo.
Prior to the rodeo, a few curious, observant children petted Ole and, with the help of Tyler Williams, climbed into the saddle for a bull ride. (Williams, from Nora, and Whistle-Nut were college friends.)
Ole, a rodeo bull out of the line of Little Yellow Jacket, was doomed for slaughter after not dumping two bull riders in the primary bull training trials. Whilstle-Nut (aka Jason Dent), an accomplished bull rider, overheard the conversation and purchased Ole.
"His registered paper work cost me more than the bull," Whistle-Nut said. "But it has been worth it."
Little Yellow Jacket was a three-time professional bull riders (PBA) world champion (2002, 2003 and 2004). With intensity, Little Yellow Jacket bucked, kicked and changed directions. At the end of his career he had a 83.53 percent buck off rate with a 2.66 second average.
"He was the first rodeo bull to sell for more than a million dollars," Whistle-Nut said.
With Little Yellow Jacket blood, Whisle-Nut considered Ole a treasure. After three years of additional training, Ole became a therapy bull nine years ago.
The pair have traveled to Canada, Hawaii, more than 20 states and soon plan to perform in Australia.
Ole, a 2,000 pound double-bred wranger rivets bucking bull has gone everywhere from nursing homes, churches and saloons.
Whistle-Nut's life long passion was to be a cowboy. He was a bull rider.
"After I trained Ole, I asked for pay to perform with Ole at the rodeo and everyone said 'no'.
"Finally, someone said ok, if you will be our clown.
"I didn't want to be a clown. When I died, I wanted the epithet on my gravestone to say 'He was a cowboy', he said.
Cowboy turned clown was hard to swallow for a time.
"But I was wrong," he continued. "The clown represents every aspect of rodeo. The clown has to know geography, the schedule, to be a star athlete, an entertainer and to talk.
"It is the clown who sends the crowd home with something to talk about," he said.
Most of the time Whisle-Nut travels the rodeo circuit with Ole and a Mexican fighting bull.
"The Mexican fighting bull is wicked and mean," Whistle-Nut said. "He'll be used with the teeter totter there along side the trailer."
As he spoke, he put on his clown makeup in the storage part of the livestock trailer using a mirror and having a bit of help from his family who joined him from Southern Iowa, Monday evening - Holly, his wife, and three children: Gatlyn (6), Letti (3) and Kimber (16 months).
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