Spectacular in San Antonio

It was great to see Circle T's Speckled Ivory bucking again!

This past weekend San Antonio hosted the PBR and the spectacular bovines, who indeed put on quite a show!  The pen was similar to the line-up in Tulsa the week before, with a few changes here and there.  Two things that did not change were the stingy bull scores from the judges and the lack of bull scores given on TV.  I may be alone in this fight, but I like to get the bull name, stock contractor name and bull score with each ride.  Is that really too much to ask?

The bulls who stood out Friday night were Rockie Smooth (42 pts) who was difficult in the chute, steep jumps, reared-up and was jumping all over the arena in his buck-off.  Back Roads (43.5 pts) was a great bucker with really big horns!  John Wayne (40.5 pts) had big jumps and good kick as he had his cowboy coming off just as he was turning in to his spin.   I really thought that score was way too low!  Flirting with Disaster (43.5 pts) went right when he usually turns left and blew his rider right off his back.  Ronnie Rooster (43.5 pts) had a huge first jump with roll, out of the chute!  It looked like his front end and back end were going in different directions...outstanding!  Scout (44 pts) had huge kick with strong, powerful moves in his buck off.  Speckled Ivory returned to action after a layoff and it was great to see him bucking again!  He looked great Friday night (43 pts)!

The Short-go Friday produced 3 rides out of 10 attempts.  The bull scores ranged from 45 down to 39.5 points.  Cowboy Casanova was fussing quite a bit in the chute and once he got in to the arena, he seemed lost but doing everything in his power to buck off the rider.  I hope Cowboy gets another shot because he is a great bucking bull who just had an off night.  Shepherd Hills Sod Buster was the top bull with 45 points.  He was explosive out of the chute and dismissed his rider in 1.56 seconds!  Wow!  Palm Springs produced his 14th straight buck-off, while the "spin cycle" of
Carrillo Cartel was in high gear.  

Too Sexy blew out of the chute, had his rider "torqued to the side" then off in 2.91 seconds

 One thing I noticed Friday night was that several of the bulls stumbled on the dirt.  Of course, that always concerns me, as safety and health of the bulls is of the utmost importance.  At the beginning of the broadcast Saturday night, bull fighter Shorty Gorham commented on the dirt, and that the temperature was cooler and that the dirt was in better shape for the bulls.

The bull pen was ranker Saturday night.  Upgrade (43.75 pts) had a nice out, as did Porcupine Puncher (43 pts), Speckled Ivory (44 pts) and Jawbreaker (43.75 pts) who is unridden in his career.  Quiet Riot, who has been a championship round bull, was in the long go and by kicking hard and getting stronger as the ride went on posted a 43.25 point score in his buck-off.  Back Bender, the 2011 ABBI Champion, was described by bull fighter Shorty Gorham as "really mean and knows the difference between the cowboy and the bull fighters!"  My guess is that Back Bender wants to go after the guy who was just on his back! ;)  Ronnie Rooster (42.5 pts) shown again Saturday night with a big body roll that turfed his cowboy quickly. 

Rock & Roll is unridden in 16 attempts...make that 17!

Train Wreck posted a 44.5 point score and didn't fall on anybody!

The Championship Round was beyond exciting Saturday night as the #2 bull in the PBR, Asteroid, was ridden by JB Mauney for 93.5 points!  I typically never want to see these top bulls ridden, but Asteroid had a great out (46.25 pts).  Both bull and cowboy gave it their all and produced the second highest score in 2012.  WOW!  Immediately following Asteroid, was our defending World Champion, Bushwacker.  What a treat to see Bushwacker out two weeks in a row!

Defending World Champion bull, Bushwacker

I am running out of words to describe this magnificent creature, as I am running out of pictures to post.  He is stunning and intelligent and strong and explosive and unridden in 31 straight attempts on the BFTS.  Bushwacker dismissed the #2 cowboy in the PBR, LJ Jenkins in just 2.97 seconds and posted a top bull score of 46.5 points.  Outstanding!

Of the 10 attempts, there were only 2 rides Saturday night.  Bulls like Rango, High Steaks, Shepherd Hills Trapper, Mulligan Man (13th straight buck-off), Rock & Roll, Train Wreck, Tennessee Honey and Meat Hook were all outstanding!  This bull lover was so pleased with the bull performances!

So, now we have a week off before the PBR returns August 31st.  I'm still buzzing about JB's ride on Asteroid as I'm sure a lot of other fans are.  These bulls provide so many exciting, wonderful and humorous moments for us.  In closing, a special thank you to the stock contractors who breed, raise, care for and haul these magnificent athletes for all of us fans to admire and enjoy!




All photographs by Susan Hanrahan