 | After a career like no other, some of the major players are turned out to pasture. They may only have worked a year or two, or maybe their career spans a decade or more. Either way, they are an important part of the family team. They are looked after in retirement. Bulls, like all rodeo rough stock are considered to be elite athletes in their own right. Thousands of pounds of muscle and bone. Each admired and respected by cowboys who ride them. Stock contractors covet them. Fans follow their career and statistics. |
A bull's rodeo career, on average, spans six to ten years. He will have been coddled and looked after as any professional athlete would. When they retire, the pampering regime continues. Turned out to pasture, so to speak, to live out the rest of their life.
Many are given a new purpose by becoming one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of bulls included in breeding programs. A world wide business that promotes the continued growth of premium rodeo stock.
The program includes bulls with reputations and impressive résumés. The more statistics that include bucking off a large percentage of the cowboys who have tried to ride them, the more their value rises. It’s not uncommon for sizeable amounts of money to be paid for straws of semen taken from a bull with a respected rodeo history.
They are Hall of Fame inductees and lyrics are written about them. Rodeo announcers and colour commentators around the world include comparisons to these famous, athletic sires.
After the final nod for the gate, and they have left the rodeo arena for the last time, the legendary ones continue to be acknowledged. Even in retirement, their accomplishments or their notoriety of being bad boys keeps their names in the limelight.
Many are given a new purpose by becoming one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of bulls included in breeding programs. A world wide business that promotes the continued growth of premium rodeo stock.
The program includes bulls with reputations and impressive résumés. The more statistics that include bucking off a large percentage of the cowboys who have tried to ride them, the more their value rises. It’s not uncommon for sizeable amounts of money to be paid for straws of semen taken from a bull with a respected rodeo history.
They are Hall of Fame inductees and lyrics are written about them. Rodeo announcers and colour commentators around the world include comparisons to these famous, athletic sires.
After the final nod for the gate, and they have left the rodeo arena for the last time, the legendary ones continue to be acknowledged. Even in retirement, their accomplishments or their notoriety of being bad boys keeps their names in the limelight.
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