May/June 2010 issue - FTC

Rickey West shares his zeal for raising
Bucking Bulls
By Jennifer McCurdy
The strong smell of leather and
manure fills the air as thousands
of fans wait with anticipation in
the bleachers surrounding the
dirt-covered center ring. There is an element
of danger in what they are about to witness,
and adrenaline pulses through them with
every passing second.
Suddenly the gate swings open and the
crowd is on their feet roaring and
cheering, but the man on the bull
does not hear them. He is too busy
trying to make every second count,
and stay alive atop a 1,700-pound
bucking machine.
Welcome to the world of
professional bull riding. It has been
around for a long time, but what
was once a mere pastime has now
become a professional sport.
Bucking bull riders have
turned the hobby that once paid
very little into a sport that can now
earn them upward of $4 million
over a few years.
Rickey West of Fyffe was a
bull rider in the 1990’s and acknowledged
bull riding as a sport
long before it was popular to do so
in the mainstream.
“Bull riders are true athletes,”
he says, “they ride with broken ribs
and other injuries, because their paycheck
depends on it.”
The Decision
West decided in late 1999 to retire his
riding gear. “I enjoyed riding bulls. I just
decided it was time to do something else,”
he says. With the love of bulls in his heart,
West decided to breed bucking bulls.
He also had his wife, Selena Bailey, to
think of too. When she and West married,
they settled in Fyffe and eventually had two
children, Riley and Hadley.
Connected - May/June 2010 4
Most bull riders will tell you ‘behind
every great bull rider is a great bucking
bull.’ West shares this sentiment. He saw
a need for better bucking bulls when he
was a bull rider. West was dabbling in bull
breeding while he was still riding, so he
was already familiar with breeding requirements.
Since he understood bull riding and
bull breeding, the transition to become a
full-time bucking bull breeder was seamless.
Genex Stormy performs at the 2008 Tampa Florida Built Ford Tough
PBR Event.
West loved the people associated with
the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) — riders,
fans and everyone involved with bull riding
events and competitions. Breeding bulls
gave West the opportunity to continue to
work with the people who had become like
family to him.
The PBR is the major leagues of bull riding,
equivalent to the NFL or NBA. This allows
West to showcase his bulls on national
television and across the United States.
West became a member of the Association
of Bucking Bull Incorporated (ABBI)
which helped establish him as a breeder.
The ABBI was founded in 1999 with a
goal to preserve the pedigree of the world’s
premier bucking bull livestock. An emphasis
was placed on maintaining the integrity
and enhancing the value of the breed.
West says the ABBI encourages ‘best
practices’ in bucking bull breeding, ownership,
training and welfare. “The ABBI
provides services for breeders making sure
we are breeding quality bulls,” he explains.
The Bucking Bull
West and his partner and
father-in-law Charles Bailey take
great pride in breeding bucking
bulls. “I primarily handle the bulls
and my father-in-law takes care
of the cows,” West says. “This is a
family thing. My wife, me and my
father-in-law do this together.”
Breeding bucking bulls is no
easy task. West travels every week,
taking him away from his family.
When at home, he spends his days
taking care of the 70 bulls he currently
stocks. West says, “Breeding
is a major part of producing quality
bucking bulls, but you also have
to prepare them for traveling to
events.”
Some bulls just cannot handle
riding in a gooseneck trailer for several
hours and sleeping in a strange
place. They must be able to endure the stress
of traveling to be a great bucking bull. West
does his best to ensure riding conditions for
the bulls are as comfortable as possible. “I
pressure wash and put a foot of shavings in
the trailer for the bulls when traveling,” he
says. “I try to treat the bulls like kings.”
Bucking bull breeders, or stock contractors,
are contacted by hosts of a PBR
event and asked to bring their bulls to the
competition. Some of these competitions are
televised and have major sponsors who pay
for leasing the bulls. The breeders then lease