Barker’s Faith in Young Stock Contracting Duo Pays off with YETI World Champion Bull Title

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – Larry Barker has known Mike White for years, and they often cross paths at team roping competitions all over the United States.

The two bonded about team roping and the bull business, which both were involved in.

Three years ago, Barker, then in his late 60s and in the process of stepping back into the bull business, was talking with White when the 2012 PBR Ring of Honor inductee told him that he should consider Laramie Wilson as an option if he ever needed to send his bulls to somebody else to haul.

Wilson was a younger stock contractor in his mid-20s known for handling and hauling talented futurity bulls. Barker had actually known Wilson for about eight years since Wilson started coming around.

Barker thought to himself, “Yeah, that maybe isn’t a bad idea. I should keep that in mind.”

Fast forward to last year when Barker realized he had a young rising star on his hands in Woopaa. Barker felt sure that this 4-year-old bull of his had the potential to be something great, but he didn’t have it in him to haul Woopaa up and down the trail to ABBI Classic competitions. Therefore, he gave Wilson a call at the beginning of the 2020 season and inquired if he could take Woopaa under his tutelage.

Barker still laughs about the original skepticism Wilson had.

“I tried to tell him how good Woopaa was, and Laramie kind of laughed,” Barker recalled with his own laughter. “But Laramie agreed to take him, and, after three events, Laramie went on to believing me and knew what I was talking about and that Woopaa could be a World Champion.”

The 2021 YETI World Championship, 2020 ABBI Classic title and three highest-scored bull rides in PBR history later, it is safe to say Woopaa has exceeded even Barker’s expectations and thrived under the thoughtful care of Wilson and his girlfriend/fellow stock contractor Katie Perschbacher.

 
The partnership between Barker, Wilson, and Perschbacher has certainly worked out perfectly for all parties involved as Woopaa has become a PBR superstar.

Now, Woopaa is associated with Wilson and Perschbacher, and he has helped elevate their own stock contracting businesses and brands.

Woopaa has essentially brought them World Champion credibility.

“I haul some of my own bulls, but I haul bulls for other people, too,” Wilson said. “Customers and partners call me, send me bulls, want to buy in on certain bulls, or on any bull, for that matter. And before Woopaa, I’d won a Futurity world title derby, so people knew who I was, but there’s a lot of people that had done what Laramie had done before.

“After Woopaa, the Classic Finals, Bull of the Year, it’s like, ‘Oh hey, he’s for real,’ and I’ve had a lot more people calling me. So not only has it changed my life in that aspect, but the breeding rights and stuff like that, people are calling daily wanting semen, or wanting some kind of genetic trait back to Woopaa, or a sister or brother, or whatever it may be.”

Perschbacher added, “This is a dream come true for us, to be a part of this. This bull has taken us places you only dream of, and (winning the world title) is just icing on the cake.”

Wilson and Perschbacher have remained humble throughout Woopaa’s rise to fame, which started to percolate at the 2020 PBR World Finals when Jose Vitor Leme won his first world title with a 95.75-point ride on Woopaa.

The couple knows Barker could have easily sold Woopaa to a bigger contracting company, and they are well aware of the hundreds of thousands of dollars Barker has passed on.

Instead, Barker doubled down on Wilson and Perschbacher.

The 70-year-old explained to PBR.com in the summer that at this point in his life, he wants to help others find success in their dreams rather than solely cashing in on his own.

“I want to retire and watch my bulls, but I don’t want to take care of them and raise them,” Barker said. “Laramie and Katie got that job because they take great care of Woopaa. I have other companies that make me a good living. I actually wanted to give Laramie and Katie a chance. This gives them a big opportunity to go on with their business. I like them. They are good kids. I went to Laramie and Katie, and I said, ‘Okay, they are all going to hit me up with big money for this bull, but if you want to haul him and make a name for yourselves, you do it.’

“They did, and I stuck to my guns. I’d rather him haul with them than anybody else.”

 
Wilson and Perchbacher consider Barker family these days. If they broke down somewhere, they know Barker would stop what he is doing to find a way to come get them, even if he was off on vacation.

Barker simply has that kind of heart, which is also no surprise seeing as he named Woopaa after his late friend J.P. Lewis.

The couple knows that Barker’s generosity and trust in them has given them more than they ever could have imagined beyond a World Championship.

“Larry’s got a heart of gold,” Wilson said. “He would help anybody in the world. And knowing the amount of money he’s turned down for Woopaa, just because he understands, from the business side, what that will do for us in the future – the new customers, the new partners, the calves that we’ll maybe be able to sell, and hopefully the advertisement. He’s a pretty smart businessman, very successful, so he definitely understands that. I know I can’t ever repay him because he could’ve sold Woopaa to anybody.”

Perschbacher concluded, “It definitely changed everything for us. This set up a career for us for the rest of our lives, just being able to be successful with that bull and have calves out of him.

“Larry’s family. Woopaa’s family.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

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