Bunches of y'all wanted to know about our bucking stock. There were many, many questions in regards to it so I wanted to be able to take my time and answer them all at once. I got the husband home today so he is available for any clarifications if need be! But, like he reminds me daily, I know EVERYTHING.
Our History:
So many years back, we started dabbling in the bucking bull business. The husband was a professional bullrider but after three shoulder surgeries and a much needed forth, which has never happened, he retired. In order to remain in the sport, we took to raisin' a few bulls. We would just buy, sell and trade in order to increase our herd. The husband had his own fencing business at the time so he would trade fence with stock contractors for bloodline heifers. We knew we couldn't go wrong with quality heifers. Plus we are lucky enough to know people with good bulls that would allow us to breed to them.
In 2002, at Jerry Nelson's bull sale, we had the highest selling bull. He later qualified for the PBR finals. His success was shortlived, however, he broke his leg and was put down.
Our Stock:
We rely heavily on genetics for our breeding program, specifically quality females. If mama and daddy buck, then odds are baby will buck too. When calves are about 6 months old, we load em up and take em to the arena for their first buckin'. This is our first chance to see if they've gotten what it takes to stay on the ranch. The video below shows how we do it.
The box on the back of the calf weighs approximately 8 lbs. It simulates weight on the calf's back and has a remote control to release it and the flank strap (which is located around the calf's flank. It does not go around any boy bits or cause pain.) The box does NOT shock them or cause any pain either.
So once we see how they do, we make a judgement call whether to keep them or send them to the sale. If the bulls show potential, we usually will keep them for 6 more months and re-buck em. We don't re-buck heifers. They get put out to pasture to grow or sold to contractors. Our precentage of keepers is currently around 70-80%.
As for the training question, you don't train bulls to buck. Either they do or they don't. We just hope ours do. It all goes back to the genetics really. If they want to buck, they will and believe me, you can't make one buck. If it doesn't want to, it won't.
The only "training" we do is working them in the chutes. We spend a lot of time trying to calm them down around people and getting them used to being hauled. You want to be able to handle them. I get in trouble by the husband for really calming them down. Like eat out of my hand calm. He doesn't like that!
What we strive for currently is keeping all of our "special" heifers and increasing the quality of our herd. We sell most of our bulls to other stock contractors for them to haul. We would prefer to keep our bulls and haul them ourselves, which we have done in the past, however, it is very time consuming and expensive. It is very rewarding to see them grow and do well whether it be with us or someone else.
So did that answer most of the questions regarding this subject?
**On a different note, I lost a follower yesterday. What happened? What did I do? How can I win you back? Was it something I said? **
Momma and baby are doing just fine! I love babies!
I think he's grown just a little! 
I filled them with Red Velvet cake mix, the Husband's favorite.
