Oka Lusa Rodeo Stock may be a small, family-run operation on a tight budget, but they’re building a big reputation. Paul and Gail Sparks don’t necessarily want to be one of the “big boys”—they just want to play in the same arena.

Paul Sparks has spent most of his life around rodeo. He first started in the industry when he was 13 and came up fighting bulls on the circuit. He met Gail, his wife of 42 years, at a rodeo and married her five months later.

What better way to kick off this New Year then by having a bullish new perspective on the industry, through the joyous eyes of a junior bucking bull breeder.

For Jody Spears, it’s all about heart and the pure love of his bulls. The 10-year-old has an admirable approach for handling his young buckers; do it with passion and enjoy what you’re doing.

Jody and his family have 40 head of cattle, including seven bulls spread, across four pastures in Lenoir, North Carolina. They are 70-miles from

By now, we all recognize the importance of maintaining cows in adequate body condition score as they approach calving season. Targeting a body condition score of 6 at calving will enhance reproductive function in the cow, reduce the postpartum interval, enhance conception rates and condense the calving season. However, can the growth of the unborn calf be impacted by how the mother is fed during gestation? Results from recent research trials indicate that offspring performance can be enhanced simply by providing a higher plane of nutrition to the cow. While this seems elementary, the effects are not confined to the offspring while it is a calf; instead, the impacts can be detected well into the animal’s mature growth. A recent hypothesis regarding the impact of maternal nutrition on offspring postnatal growth and development has been termed “Fetal Programming.”

Although bucking stock are not raised primarily as meat for human consumption, there are certainly bulls and older cows that end up in the human food chain at the end of their career. In this issue of Bull Pen we will shift from our usual perspective of bucking stock as performance animal and shift to bucking stock as a member of a food animal species.

Elite PBR bulls have personality, talent, and devoted owners that do not see their investment as a food animal species. However, in the eyes of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) these bulls

Just as not every oyster can produce a pearl, not every cow can produce a champion bucking bull. But Steve and Julie Ravenscroft’s Whitewater cows certainly have produced their share of gems. The Ravenscroft’s crowning jewel, 250 Black Pearl, is now the 2009 ABBI Classic Champion.

After winning ABBI Reserve Classic Champion last year as a 3-year-old, Black Pearl was able to take it to the next level this season. From an extremely competitive field, Ravenscroft/Boyd-Floyd’s Black

PUEBLO, Colo. (November 9, 2009) – American Bucking Bull, Inc. (ABBI) paid out over $891,000 to the country’s most elite bovine athletes last week. Held from Oct. 28-Nov. 5 in Las Vegas, the 2009 ABBI World Finals consisted of a Wild Card Classic event, Classic Finals and Futurity Finals. The two rounds of Classic Finals competition was held in conjunction with the PBR (Professional Bull Riders, Inc.) Built Ford Tough World Finals and pitted the top young bucking bulls against the best 40 bull riders in the world.

On November 4, South Point Hotel and Casino welcomed over 500 people including bull riders, stock contractors and fans into the South Point Showroom for one of the most highly anticipated bucking bull sales of the season.

The biggest stock contractors came together to offer the best genetics and some future superstars to make this a can’t-miss event. With only 23 coveted lots up for bid, and everything from futurity prospects to PBR stars currently on the

Russ Gant presenting Scott Accomazzo the ABBI Horizon Breeder Award for Pure Smoke.

The ABBI’s youngest buckers provided a stunning spectacle at the Wrangler U facility outside the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas during the 2009 Futurity Finals. The setting was dramatic, the weather amazing and the crowd large and lively.

For the first time on record, the event was held outdoors. Although many were initially nervous about the set up, it didn’t take long for most to relax including the co-owner of the freshly crowned 2009 World Champion Futurity Bull Pure Smoke.

The ABBI held their fourth annual Wild Card event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Oct. 29.

This was the first qualifier event held at the Finals. In past years, the format has changed every year. The first Wild Card drew 300 bulls and was bucked in a single day’s event; many called it the “Bull Marathon.”