page 1 of 1

Bucking For Glory

The Legend Magazine - 07/01/2007
by Heather M. Martinez

The viewing public has always had a bit of fascination with the sport of bull riding. From the rugged cowboys who ride them to the 1600 lb. beasts themselves, there is something uniquely American about the sport of bull riding.

Of course, as recent years have proven, bull riding has become an international phenomenon. As the sport grows, so do the numbers of people involved in all aspects of it. It seems that these days, nearly everyone is just itching to get a piece of the action.

Southwest Kansans are no exception. A fast-growing trend has evolved in that for many, getting involved means being a breeder of the bucking bovine beast. With a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, some are even making it big, with their bulls reaching the ultimate pinnacle of bucking on television.

However, the road to seeing your own bull bucking off the big boys on the Professional Bull Riders or Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuits is a long one. It takes years of thankless hard work and dedication, often with little pay-off in the end. But for many, it's a gamble they are willing to take – all for the love of the sport of bull riding.

Following A Passion
Bryan Smith, Ulysses, KS., knows all to well about the highs and lows of the bucking bull business. A former bull rider himself, Smith got involved in raising the bovine athletes for one simple reason – he loves bull riding.

"We used to do it for fun – never with the thought of making money or being famous," Smith shared. "All we tried to do was make a couple hundred bucks over what we put into them, for the fun of it."

Smith started buying bulls so he and his friends would have something to practice on. Raised on the family ranch, Smith already had cows, so it was a natural progression into raising his own bulls. Then, his business started to take off.

"Somewhere along the road, I started turning out some really good bulls," Smith said. "I kept the best of those calves and eventually I transferred from a commercial cow herd to a bucking bull herd. I wanted to improve things and get better."

Led by his passion, Smith was dedicated to producing quality bulls that as a bull rider, he'd want to ride himself. When the PBR, an association dedicated solely to bull riding, began to take off, Smith, like many other bucking bull breeders, was in the right place at the right time.

"In the late '90s, the business started taking a form and it became profitable to raise something rank," Smith explained. "That's when the PBR came on the scene, and that's when there was a demand for televised bulls."

Suddenly, the bulls were as much the stars of the show as the cowboys, and the need for an organized system was evident. That's when American Bucking Bull Inc. – better known as the ABBI – came on the scene.

The ABBI established a DNA registry for the animal athletes in bull riding. The organization started out small, but has seen exponential growth that has coincided with the growth of the PBR. The ABBI keeps track of bull bloodlines, much like the American Quarter Horse Association tracks and registers Quarter Horse bloodlines. In a very short time frame of three years the ABBI has expanded to its database to 38,000 plus registered animals.

Through the efforts of the ABBI, young bucking bulls start out in a similar fashion to young horses – by proving themselves in Futurities and Classic competitions around the nation. The best of the best have a chance to win big bucks – and move on to the professional and most prestigious ranks of bull riding.

Now that breeding bucking bulls has become more of a commonplace, people from all walks of life have become involved. Dr. Mark Pick, a Chiropractor from Dodge City, KS., is one of the many who have decided to capitalize on the popularity of bull riding and become involved by breeding his own bucking bulls. What began as a hobby has now become a full-blown business.

"I've been around rodeo cowboys and stock contractors for years," Pick explained. "When the stock contractors started talking so much about bloodlines, I got pretty interested. I decided to get involved myself, and it's become a pretty good business for me. It's definitely something I enjoy."

A Long Road
Bull riding futurities focus solely on the talents and abilities of the bucking bull. In fact, instead of actual bull riders, the bulls are "ridden" by a dummy that simulates a rider being on it's back.

The ABBI Futurity system is the "coming out party" of the bull riding world. The 2-year-old bulls compete in the Futurity, which showcases early athleticism and talent. The young bulls buck for six seconds with a 30 lb. dummy on their back. Once the six seconds are up, the "rider" is released through a remote control. The young bulls are not only proving their talent – which is often a product of their pedigree – but also learning exactly how to buck. The powerhouse bulls seen on television may look like they were born to buck – and indeed they were – but it is also a product of years of hard work and careful training.

The ABBI Futurity system gives the young bulls a chance to learn to buck as well as for their owners to learn how the bull operates. Just as every young athlete learning a sport learns it differently, so a young bull develops his own unique style and attitude.

In order to compete in an ABBI Futurity, a bull must have both parents registered with the ABBI, as well as being registered themselves. In order to be registered, the breeder or contractor is required to fill out a form, pay an annual $125 breeder fee and submit a test card with a blood sample from the bull to be registered. That sample is then sent to a facility in California to be tested and verified that the submitted pedigree is accurate.

For breeders, getting a bull ready for a Futurity is hard work, but the pay off is exploding in green dollars. One such Futurity is the American Heritage Futurity held each June in Ardmore, OK. 2006 was its first year and the winning bull earned $50,000. On target this year is a scheduled pay out of $75,000 to the winning bull with places paid through 20th.

First of all, the bull must be in top shape. The bulls are, after all, animal athletes. Just as humans have to work and condition their muscles to perform at the top of their game, animals require the same kind of preparation. Obviously, the bulls can't go to the treadmill or weight room, so it is up to the owners and trainers to simulate the same kind of workout. Often, this is done with walkers, similar contraptions to horse walkers, with the same basic idea. The bulls must also be conditioned to stand in the chutes. While rank bulls are considered a good draw at any top bull riding competition, a bull that won't stand in a chute is more dangerous than exciting.

"Many people don't realize that bulls have to be trained from standing in the chute to exiting the arena," explained Muriel Bonsall, a breeder from Minneola, KS. "We give them the opportunity to learn that the chute is a place to relax and be still, but this is something that takes a lot of patience."

Like a 2-year-old child confined to a playpen, young bulls often do not like to be confined to a chute, so teaching them to stand still in one can be a long, tedious, and often frustrating, process. In addition, the young bull must learn to look for the center out-gate and exit quickly going back toward where he came from. It takes time, patience, and repetition. One may have a great prospect bull but if he can't perform from start to finish during a live TV broadcast he might never be invited back.

There are other factors to consider when raising a bucking bull as well. Just like any other athlete, the diet plays an important role in a bull's success. Though these bovine beasts look like giants, a good breeder and trainer will carefully monitor to make sure the animal bulks up in muscle, not fat.

In Southwest Kansas, a place known for it's unpredictable winters and long, hot summers, raising bucking bulls can be a daunting task.

"Sometimes our winter weather can be really harsh," Smith explained. "It's hard on them. I lost four yearling bulls this year and five of my embryo calves. It's a tough place to make a go of it in Southwest Kansas, but for me, it's worth it."

One factor that makes it particularly tough on breeders in the area is that in order to be competitive with the other bulls in the Futurity and later on in the Classic competition (for 3- and 4-year-old bulls), bulls must be born as close to the first of January as possible. For Southwest Kansans, who would normally calve out commercial cattle herds later in the Spring, this can be one of the most challenging aspects of all.

"I used to calve out in May, but that puts me at a five month disadvantage," Smith said. "You're playing against a pretty hard hand."

After Futurity competition, bulls that show potential can move on to Classic competitions for 3 and 4 year old bulls, where they are matched with real bull riders. As the ages move up, so do the stakes. The Classic competitions are held in conjunction with PBR events such as the Discovery Tour, the Enterprise Tour, the Challenger Tour and the prestigious Built Ford Tough Tour. The Classic events are held generally on Friday nights of these Tours and are not the bulls fans usually see on television. In fact, bulls that have appeared in the PBR World Finals, the Built Ford Tough Series (outside of BFT Classic events), the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and the PRCA Wrangler Tour or Extreme Bulls televised events, are not allowed to compete in the ABBI Classic competition.

Just as each Tour level gets tougher for the riders, they also get tougher for the bulls. Breeders or contractors pay from $700 to $1,500 to buck their bulls in a Classic event, and each year, the top 50 money-earning bulls are invited to buck at the ABBI World Bucking Bull Classic Finals at Enid, OK. September 26th and 27th. The top 20 bulls from the Classic Finals will be showcased on Versus TV October 26th and October 28th as long rounds of the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.

At the Futurity level, the top 100 point-earning bulls are taken to the ABBI Bionic Bull Futurity Finals in Enid, OK. in late September. Traveling onto Las Vegas the top 20 point bulls advance to buck October 29th for the short round of their Finals. Points are awarded from a system that judges five categories – buck, kick, spin, degree of difficulty and intensity – on a scale of zero to five, with intervals of a quarter of point in between. Scores from four judges are tallied together, with the maximum being 25 points per judge.

Both Futurity and Classic competition pays out big money to the winners. In 2006, the winning Finals Futurity bull won $50,000 for his owners, the top bucking Classic Finals bull, God's Gift, owned by Kish Bucking Bulls, brought home $204,000. Guaranteed to 2007 winners at the Futurity Finals level is $100,000.00 and to the Classic Finals winner is $250,000.00. With that kind of money up for grabs, it's easy to see why so many are eager to try their hand at raising their own legend in the making.

A Growing Trend
While the bucking bull business is as much a gamble as rolling your dice on a roulette table in Las Vegas, more and more people are becoming involved by being breeders. What has led to this phenomenal growth? For one, the superior marketing efforts of the PBR and the ABBI, which work closely together to promote both bull riders and the bovine athletes that challenge them. One of the long-term goals of the ABBI is for the winning Classic bull to be paid one million dollars at the Finals.

"Our goal is not to just cover bull riding but to cover the personalities, whether it's the guys or the bulls they're riding," explained PBR announcer and television commentator Justin McKee. "Fans appreciate good animal athletes. And people are hungry for something All-American. Bull riding is rough and tough, no excuses – if you believe in God, country, family and all the good stuff our country was founded on, you'll probably find something you like about bull riding."

Raising bucking bulls is simply one way for people to get involved in that dream. And despite the hard work it takes to get a bull from futurity competition to the televised short rounds, there are just as many folks, who like Smith, Pick, and the Bonsalls, who are willing to go the extra miles it takes for a shot at the big-time.
"You'd like to raise a kid that's going to be on a state championship sports team," McKee said. "When you breed an animal, raise it from a calf, buck it when it's young, that becomes a part of you. It's been fairly lucrative, but foremost, it's a great way to be involved in the PBR. You meet people you have a lot of commonalities with. It's an opportunity to become involved, be successful and hopefully raise a legend."
Still, the chances of actually raising a bull that will survive the harsh Kansas weather, compete first in futurities and then in Classic competition and eventually move on to being a regular on the PBR circuit are slim. Just as the Michael Jordans of the world are few and far between, so are the truly exceptional bucking bulls that make the cut in top-level PBR competition. The Bonsall's feel blessed to have a bull in his Rookie season at this level; 761 MudFlap. He is a son of 790 Mossy Oak Mudslinger 2006 Bull of the Year and out of a Grandaughter of Oscars Velvet.

"Only the truly great ones will survive," Smith explained. "They get tired and need to take a rest period, just like any other athlete. There's all levels of the bull business. You can raise bulls for any level of bull riding, from Little Britches all the way up to the superstars of the PBR. But there might be one in a group of 30 that are good enough for PBR, so it's a pretty tough business."

Despite the difficult aspects of the bucking bull business, an uphill battle has never been much of a problem for the hearty people of Southwest Kansas. As usual, they are meeting the challenge head-on, full steam ahead, just as the many pioneers before them did. So the next time you watch bull riding on television, pay particular attention to the bull. He may just have his roots deep in heart of Southwest Kansas.
For more information you can contact Bryan Smith - www.crosslazys.com or Sandie Bonsall - www.bonsallbuckingbulls.com.

« Back to Articles