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749 Rooster

Buckin' Stock Magazine - 12/07/2006
by Angie Gentry

749 Rooster
by Angie Gentry

When Ronnie Roach started the Rafter 7r, selectively breeding cattle for bucking ability was nearly unheard of. Over twenty years later, bred to buck programs are the norm, and bulls like 749 Rooster are proving that breeding for bucking ability produces a higher percentage of great bucking bulls.
Rooster was born to two superstar parents on the Rafter 7r Ranch nearly 11 years ago. His sire was the legendary 161 White Sports Coat and his dam was CP 1 Kung Fu. His parents were both highly prolific producers with reputations for throwing hot calves that bucked.
Brady Roach recalled Rooster's early years. "When he was a long two-year-old you could tell there was something about him. He looked like he was going to be something special," Roach said.
Roach hauled Rooster to local bull ridings until he was three. At that time, Dee Latham hauled him for a year. "When he was four, going on five, we bred to him quite a bit," Roach said. "Dad started hauling him and bucking him and going a little bit to the PBR events."
During his five-year career in the PBR, Rooster was selected for the PBR Finals four times. In 52 career outs he was only ridden twice and both rides were in the nineties, including a 94-point ride by Chris Shivers at the 2002 PBR World Finals.
Roach said the most remarkable thing about Rooster's bucking ability was his speed. "It didn't take him two or three jumps to find his spot. He was right there and as soon as the gate latch rattled he was going full speed. It never ceased to amaze me, even the last couple of times I bucked him," Roach said.
In May of 2005, Rooster was injured and subsequently retired from bucking. "I won't ever buck him again but he gets around just fine," Roach said. "We turned him out on cows this year and he never got sore or anything. When it happened we all agreed it was probably for the best because we could stick him out on cows and leave him alone. We hadn't been able to breed to that bull like we had wanted to for three or four years just because of bucking him. We only got two or three calves by him the last two or three years," he explained.
Despite a limited number of offspring, there have been a high percentage of Rooster sons who have been successful in the arena. That list includes PBR Finals bulls such as, 98 Foul Play, Shark, Kid Rooster, Chicken Hawk, and Thrillville.
Other PBR and PRCA bulls sired by Rooster include Rooster's Follie, Snark, Blues Clues and Cooper's Comet.
For Rooster's oldest calves being only eight years old, he's got a pretty long list of accomplished buckers. "I haven't seen anything out of him that doesn't try to buck," Roach said.
The first calves by Rooster were actually not born at the Rafter 7r. When Shawn Ramirez decided to start his breeding program, he went to one of the industry authorities for advice. "I was just getting into the bull business and I bought some heifers from Bennie Beutler and needed something to breed them to," Ramirez said. Ronnie Roach and Ramirez were talking about what bull to breed Ramirez's heifers to when Ronnie pointed at two bulls in the arena and told Ramirez to choose one to breed his cows to and he could take the bull home. There was an older bull and a yearling. The older bull was 161 White Sports Coat and the smaller, 749 Rooster. Since 161 had been known to roam when no cows were in heat and the fences at Ramirez's leased pasture were less than ideal, he chose 749 Rooster and he is grateful for the opportunity Ronnie gave him to this day.
From that first calf crop came Blues Clues, JCB's 829 Gandalf, and Ramirez's herd sire, 830 Rage. Ramirez said his Rooster grandbabies are looking good too. "830's calves are coming five and I have every single calf that hit the ground out of him. I sold Thrillville to Paradise Farms and he's a Rooster son. I only bred to him one year and those calves are good too," Ramirez said.
Mark Hebert owns Shark and Kid Rooster, along with several other Rooster sons, including Classic bulls Sweet Temptation and Jack Frost. "They're fixing to go into the PBR's. We've got a Rooster grandson that we took to the classics as a three-year-old named 703 Bitter End. He bucked at the Built Ford Tough Finals this year as a three-year-old," Hebert said.
In addition to his many Rooster sons, Hebert has several Rooster daughters. Most Rooster daughters are not old enough to have calves bucking yet, but Roach and Ramirez said they have had a few and been very pleased. "Every indication I'm getting right now tells me the females are going to be good," Roach said.
According to Hebert, Rooster passes on many of his traits, including some behavioral attributes. "Rooster used to kick real bad in the chute and all of his calves do the same thing. Rooster would bang on the front slant in the chute and his calves do that too. He passes on all his characteristics. I think it takes a very special person to handle the Rooster sons. They're not bulls that make bulls at a young age because they're so hot. They take a year longer to make but they last three years longer. There's a lot of longevity in Rooster bulls," he said.
Ramirez said he has also had hot calves by Rooster and agrees that they do take a little longer to mature but are well worth the wait. "It's pretty tough to go on the two-year-old circuit with them since it's so hard to get them settled down by then," he said.
With Rooster being retired to full-time breeding bull status, there's no telling how many successful Rooster calves we will see coming up the ranks in the next few years. Those familiar with Rooster and his bloodline believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Hebert said, "I think we'll see a lot of good Rooster calves and a lot of calves that come from Rooster daughters and sons. I think he'll prove to be one of the most prolific sires we've seen."

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