White Water Skoal

Buckin' Stock Magazine - 01/08/2004
by Angie Gentry

White Water Skoal was one of the rankest bucking bulls going down the road in the mid 1990's. Today, his calves are carrying on his legacy as they continue to prove successful at professional events, futurities and derbies.
White Water Skoal was purchased by Flying U Rodeo as a late two-year-old. Cotton Rosser's son-in-law, Julio Moreno recalled the circumstances surrounding the bull's purchase.
Apparently, White Water developed a fondness for fence jumping at an early age. After being culled for that reason, the young bull was taken to the sale barn, along with two other young bulls. "At the sale, there was a guy who buys cattle for my father-in-law, Cotton Rosser. He bought all three of them. We bought them for killer price, about thirty cents per pound," Moreno said.
This pen of three bulls was number 97 through 99. The first was 97 White Water Skoal, a son of Oscar's Velvet. The 98 bull was later named Dodge Durango and qualified for the finals before having his career cut short due to injury.
According to Moreno, he first bucked White Water several weeks later. "With a flank, he jumped over our fence. He cleared a six-foot fence," Moreno said. He added that he couldn't get the bull caught because he was out in the pasture after dark. "He stayed over night with a flank on him because we couldn't find him."
This pattern of fence jumping continued for quite some time, Moreno said. "He jumped the fence a lot in his younger days. He jumped out three years in a row at Reno. Once you put a rope on him, though, you could do whatever you wanted."
Moreno said White Water Skoal got his start at smaller rodeos. "In the meantime, I put him on some cows," he said.
White Water proved quite successful in the arena, making seven trips to the National Finals Rodeo and qualifying for the PBR Finals.
Included in his long list of accolades is Sierra Circuit Bull of the Year in 1998 and 1999. White Water Skoal was also third-place Bull of the Year in the PRCA in 1999. "They won go-rounds on him at the NFR and PBR Finals," Moreno added.
Moreno said White Water's consistency was amazing. "He'd go that same pattern every time. He was going to go right there to the left. He was that trip 99 percent of the time. He came out and went to the left and went back to the right once," Moreno said.
Several years later, the sons of White Water were proving themselves as well, Moreno said. "I think it was 1999, he had three of his sons go to the NFR along side of him." These bulls were Water Gate, White Wall and White Rock, according to Moreno. "I think all three of them went to the PBR Finals with him also."
Perhaps the best-known White Water son is 2001 Buckers Gold Standard Futurity Champion, Satan's Own. Satan's Own has qualified for both the NFR and the PBR Finals.
The list of White Water sons is growing rapidly but includes such names as Water Patrol, Crown of Thorns, L908 Wild Bill, Black Bart and Josey Wales.
While many great White Water sons have come from Moreno's breeding program, Steve and Julie Ravenscroft of Hyannis, Nebraska have also had success with White Water as a sire.
"White Water was the first bucking bull I used just on some crossbred cows," Steve Ravenscroft said.
According to Ravenscroft, a friend of his who fought bulls at the Houston rodeo recommended White Water as a sire. "That fall is when him and three of his sons bucked at the NFR together. We knew we had bred to a good bull."
From the first cross Ravenscrofts did with White Water came Satan's Own, as well several other successful bucking bulls. The following year, Ravenscrofts crossed White Water on a different set of cows, producing such buckers as Crown of Thorns and Salt Water.
Ravenscroft said he is very pleased with White Water as a sire and continues to use him in the Ravenscroft Ranch breeding program. "We've got a little bit of semen on White Water. The only thing we use White Water semen on is flushes on proven cows. It's getting short of supply and expensive," he said.
According to Ravenscroft, White Water's calves do carry one of his less desirable characteristics. "They like to jump fences," he said. "I think anybody that's ever had a son or daughter of White Water Skoal knows they can jump. They're very athletic."
He added, "White Water Skoal has really clicked with the kind of cows we started with. We based our whole program on White Water Skoal."
According to Julie Ravenscroft, PBR bulls Black Bart and Josey Wales are White Water sons that came from the Ravenscroft Ranch. Another was L908 Wild Bill, who was injured early on and is currently being used as a breeding bull. "He was the best one and he got injured so now he's just a breeding bull," Julie said.
She added that Ravenscroft Ranch has several younger bulls out of White Water who are already proving themselves in the arena. "We've got Satan's Ghost, a full brother to Satan's Own. He's just a three-year-old but he's going to be a good bull. We also have line bred White Water Skoal bulls that will do really good. One of them was Spit Shine, who was in the top 20 for the ABBI futurities last year."
"Pretty much everything on the ranch has White Water in it," she said. "All of our calves do. Not all of our females, but most of them – about 75 percent – have White Water in them. We can't say enough good things about him."
According to Moreno, the story of White Water has only just begun. He said he has 72 head of bulls between the ages of one and four that are sons of White Water. "Right now, his best herd is the two's and the three's," Moreno said.
Moreno added that White Water females are athletic producers as well. "His heifers are awesome bucking heifers."
According to Moreno, "I have some semen left but I only have about 15 or 16 of his daughters."
Sadley, White Water Skoal passed away in December of 2004. He was 15 years old at the time of his death. Although Moreno believes the best of White Water's offspring are yet to come, White Water Skoal certainly has a good start on becoming a legendary sire of exceptional bucking bulls.

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