329 Houdini

Buckin' Stock Magazine - 03/07/2006
by Angie Gentry

No other bull has been suggested as a Spotlight Bull more than 329 Houdini. The number of impressive offspring out of this modern day legend is growing rapidly. What is perhaps even more impressive, some say, is that the hundred thousand dollar man is just getting started.
Houdini was born, like so many outstanding Plummer cattle, on the Rafter 7r in Oklahoma in 1991. He was a son of the great 161 White Sports Coat out of CP cow 6.
Brady Roach recalled the athletic ability of the young Houdini. "We knew that he was going to be good, we just didn't know how good. He had a lot of electricity to him. H was real fast and had real good action. That bull had a lot of energy and a lot of gas," he said.
When Houdini was two years old he was sold to Mitch Terrell of Anson, Texas. According to Terrell, "Ronnie had been telling me he was going to sell me a bull. A mutual friend of ours was there when Ronnie bucked Houdini. I called Ronnie after that and we negotiated a deal."
Terrell explained that he bought the bull to haul and to breed cows to. According to Terrell, Houdini was a good bucking bull in addition to being a great sire. "He just spun right outside the gate and had a lot of electricity to him," Terrell recalled.
In his early years, Terrell said, Houdini went to some junior rodeos. "After I purchased Houdini from Ronnie, I was bucking him at a junior rodeo and a kid hung up to him for a long time. Ended up, they had to mug the bull to stop him," Terrell said. "After that, I sent him back to Ronnie just to turn out. I wanted to let him forget about the experience he had. Ronnie kicked him out and bred some cows to him," Terrell said.
Roach said they turned Houdini out on a small number of cows and heifers. Three bulls that came out of that calf crop were Straight Jacket, High Five and Parrott. According to Roach, that calf crop also yielded some producing heifers. In fact, he said, Chaos is out of one of those Houdini daughters. Roach added that Rooster's Follie's dam is also a daughter of Houdini.
When Terrell brought Houdini back to Texas he hauled him to several open rodeos, as well as a few PBR events, where he did well, Terrell said.
Terrell said he bred Houdini to his cows while he owned him and was very pleased with his offspring. "He had a real high percentage of buckers. I even bred him to a Holstein one time and got a good rodeo bull," he said.
Soon, a different Rafter 7r bull caught Terrell's eye. "At the time, I was trying to work a deal with Ronnie to buy Rooster," he said. Terrell's friend Monty Samford had inquired about purchasing 329 before and had leased the bull to breed to.
Samford said Houdini was retired from bucking and became a full time herd sire. He added that he has always been extremely satisfied with the calves out of Houdini. "You could breed Houdini to a fence post and he'd throw something that bucks," Samford said.
Samford cited several bulls that can contribute their bucking ability to Houdini genes. Freak on a Leash and Boobie Dance of Jerry Nelson's are both Houdini sons, as well as PBR Finals qualifiers.
Other big names include Mighty Tricky, Captain Hook, Barracuda and Snap Jack. All four bulls were from the same calf crop and three of them went to the NFR in their three-year-old year, Samford said.
Full brothers Night Life and Wild Life are both sons of Houdini. Both bulls are strong competitors on the PBR tour. Night Life is a multiple-time PBR Finals qualifier. Wild Life was the 2004 Mo Betta Derby Champion. According to Samford, he is expecting 13 calves out of the dam to Wild Life and Night Life's mother and Houdini. All calves will be full siblings to Wild Life and Night Life.
Sadly, Samford said, many Houdini calves have sustained injury before reaching competition age. However, he advised that one bull to look for on the ABBI circuit this year is 602 Come and Get It of Thomas Taylor's. According to Samford, 602 is a son of Houdini out of a Wilfong cow and shows a lot of promise.
Samford said a lot of things about Houdini made him a good sire but he believed the most important factor was genetics. He added that the bull had good conformation. "That bull's conformation was great but it wasn't as good as White Sports Coat's," Samford said. "His front end was a whole lot bigger. His front end was massive."
Samford added that Houdini also had a very unique personality. "That bull had a personality like Johnny Carson," he said.
According to Samford, these same traits can be seen in many of Houdini's calves. "You can see it in a lot of them, " he said. "Those calves just seem to have personality to them."
Samford said he believes the best is yet to come from Houdini. He explained that, when he owned the bull, he was bred to a limited number of cows. Since that time, Houdini semen has been sold and the bull has been exposed to more cows. "You're just starting to see what Houdini can throw this year. After this year, you're going to see an explosion of Houdini," he said.
According to Samford, the decision to sell Houdini was not an easy one. "The only reason I sold him is because I had him bred about as deep as I could breed," Samford said.
Houdini was sold to the partnership of Gene Baker and Lyndal Hurst for a record one hundred thousand dollars. Hurst, whom no longer shares interest in the bull, said, "He was and still is one of the top sires ever. I have several calves coming up out of Houdini and they're all really good."
According to Baker, who currently owns Houdini, "After 2002, when Lightning Jack won the Buckers Futurity, I became interested in the Houdini bloodlines and we pursued trying to buy him," Baker said. Lightning Jack was a son of Houdini.
The 2002 Texas Breeders Classic Futurity Champion, 101 Hot Shot, was a grandson of Houdini out of Short Stack.
Cowboy Crash, who captured the Buckers Futurity Champion title in 2004, was out of a Houdini daughter, making him a Houdini grandson.
This year's Oklahoma City ABBI Futurity Champion was Dr. Houdini, a son of Houdini.
Baker added that several other Houdini calves have had multiple top ten finishes at both the futurity and derby level.
Baker said he continues to breed to Houdini because of the bull's consistency to sire superior athletes. "I'm surprised if his calves don't buck," Baker said. "Whereas with other bulls, I'm more surprised if they do buck."
He said the reason Houdini has been successful as a sire is a combination of genetics and build. "I like the way the bull is built and I like the way his calves are built. They're built with just the right amount of flesh and bone. You have to give credit to Ronnie Roach for breeding him," Baker said.
Baker agreed with Samford that the best from Houdini is yet to come. "Houdini's been around a while but I think the next five years you're going to see a lot of them. I think he's just now getting started," he said. "There's some in the PBR now but when they start surfacing, you're really going to see something. I think a lot of his calves will turn out to be top producers too."
According to Terrell, he is currently using Straight Jacket, a Houdini son, to breed to. "When my brother Mark and I purchased Straight Jacket, I called Ronnie to ask him what he thought. Ronnie raised him but he didn't own him at the time. All I needed to hear was when Ronnie said if we didn't buy him, he would. He thought the bull would be another Houdini, as far as being a producer," he said.
According to Terrell, it looks like Ronnie may have been right. "The calves out of Straight Jacket have been really good," he said. "The calves we've bucked out of him we've been really satisfied with."
In addition to producing several outstanding offspring to carry on his genetics, Houdini was cloned in 2002. Only time will tell if the next Houdini will be as successful as the original.

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