It isn't every day that a teenager can say he is $10,000 richer because he didn't listen to his father. 16-year-old Rex Samford won the Ardmore Junior Futurity with a bull and training regimen that went against his father's advice. “I told him I thought he should bring a different bull,” chuckled dad Monty Samford after the fact, “but he was adamant about the one he had chosen. I guess he knew what he was doing!”

-22 definitely impressed the ABBI judges. He was awarded an 88.25 which is an extremely high score for any futurity bull. “I thought he could win, because he'd been bucking really good at the house,” shared Rex. “He is out of Party Time and from the mama of What I Say. I exercise him every day and run him through. He's real hard and a real good bull.”

The inaugural ABBI Junior Futurity season ended on a very high note for cousins Trevor and Cory Terrell in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trevor’s 659 Spider Monkey had another outstanding performance, earning an 87.75 to win his second consecutive event. Cory’s 119 was scored an 85.75 to take second.

Trevor earned another $10,000 check — a generous prize donated by Boyd-Floyd Bull Co. to the winner at every Junior Futurity this season — bringing his season total to $20,000.
“This was a tough one. The top five could go anywhere and place in the top,”revealed Trevor of the competition. He then explained that despite Spider Monkey’s winning record, the bull wasn’t a sure thing.”This bull is a wild one. My dad (Mitch) picked out a few that he thought would be good and then he let me pick which one I wanted to compete with. My dad told me ‘he’ll be at the bottom of the page (results sheet) or the top.’ And that was the truth!”

The ABBI held its second Junior Futurity at the American Airline Center located in downtown Dallas, Texas.

Thirty Junior Futurity members entered this big event. The youngsters were able to buck their bulls before the big Built Ford Tough Series event bulls bucked that same night. The event was held at 8 a.m. because of the large venture, and many of the families and the contestants were quite starry-eyed during the event briefing.

It’s very refreshing watching the enthusiasm these kids have for this event. Many were going over things with their parents, putting on their western shirts, while others practiced tying flank ropes around someone’s leg. One parent asked their child, “Are you sure you can flank this bull?”They replied “I dream about flanking my bull.”

Along with its American Heritage Futurity, the ABBI presented its first-ever Youth Futurity at the Hardy Murphy Arena in Ardmore on May 31. The event was open to any junior breeder aged 9 to 18, and the bull had to be registered in the junior breeders name.

There were many things that needed to be worked out just so these kids could buck their bulls. Safety was the utmost concern, along with having the youth flank their own bulls, something unique in this industry. The ABBI wanted the youth not only to raise the bull but to actually buck him, learning the entire process of bucking a bull.