6 Things J.W. and Leann Hart Want You to Know About the Bucking Bull Business

By: Darci Miller

PUEBLO, Colo. – With all eyes on the PBR’s bovine athletes for Bull Week, the PBR’s stock contractors have a lifetime worth of knowledge to pass on about the care of their beloved animals.

As such a critical part of the sport, bulls are treated with as much care as any other elite athlete, with strict guidelines and regulations put in place to ensure their wellbeing, and dedicated stock contractors making sure their lives are as healthy and comortable as possible.

Read on as stock contracting duo J.W. and LeAnn Hart share six key facts about the bucking bull business, and check out the PBR’s YouTube channel for more on animal welfare.

1. Bulls are treated to a nice, easy retirement at the end of their careers.

 
While some of the great bulls can have a career spanning 10 or 12 years, the majority of bucking bulls will be active for around eight years, according to J.W. And when they can no longer buck at the elite level, life stays good.

“Probably 95% of the bulls that get retired, they go into I guess the retirement program,” J.W. said. “At our ranch, we turn them out, and if we like their breeding and their pedigrees well enough, we’ll start breeding to them. And they just get turned out on calves, and live the simple life with the ladies.”

2. Bulls are treated as well as – or better than – any human.

 
Bulls live on spacious ranches throughout the country, and even during transportation are ensured plenty of space and time to stretch their legs. They have shavings in their pens, and will often lay down as they travel to their next event – prompting some jealousy from their stock contractors, who have to do all the driving.

“Sometimes I joke about it, but we take better care of those guys than sometimes we do our kids, I think at times,” LeAnn said, “because we want them to feel the best. They’re the ones that have to perform. We just have to show up and take care of them.”

3. Bulls are bred to buck, and do not have their testicles tied up to make them do so.

 
It’s one of the most well-known myths about bucking bulls, but that’s exactly what it is: a myth.

A bull’s flank strap is comparable to a belt, and J.W. points out the hundreds and thousands of photos and videos showing bulls kicking up high that show exactly where the flank strap goes – and exactly where it doesn’t. Bulls buck of their own free will, not because they’re in pain.

“Just like a racehorse, they’re bred to do this,” J.W. said. “They know what their jobs are, and if they don’t do their job, they don’t come here.”

4. No bulls were harmed in the making of the PBR.

 
In other words, cattle prods are not used to cause bulls any pain whatsoever. According to LeAnn, the only time the Harts will use a cattle prod is if a bull is stalled, and even then, it’s used for its noise, not its touch.

“If you’re going to treat these animals like you would a human being, and that’s really what we try to do, we try to care for them,” LeAnn said, “and you can’t communicate with them through asking them, ‘How’s your leg feeling today?’ But we do have to get them in there, and we do have to doctor them because we have a love for these animals and we want them to get well, or we want to gather them because we want them to see their potential.”

5. You might think you’re strong, but bulls are stronger.

 
No need to worry about riders pulling their bull ropes too tight. Bulls are 1,800 pounds of muscle, and what’s extremely tight for a rider is nothing for his bovine counterpart. Give a bull time to start moving, and ropes loosen up almost immediately.

“A lot of times, you see these guys really pull that rope, and then their hand just pops out,” LeAnn said. “So it really shows you, in your mind, what you see isn’t always what’s really happening.”

6. Bulls get injured in competition once in a blue moon.

 
Bucking bulls are like any other athlete, with little bumps and bruises – or abscessed toes or horn infections – occasionally sidelining them for a few weeks. But when it comes to major, career-threatening injuries, J.W. says those happen maybe once every few thousand outs. Stock contractors are always on the lookout for signs that a bull might not be feeling 100%, and any issues are taken care of immediately.

“Just like any other sport, you’re going to have accidents, you’re going to have mishaps,” J.W. said. “But that’s the great thing about our sport: every one of these contractors are basically a nutritionist, a veterinarian, a psychologist, a personal coach to each one of these animals. And we watch them day in and day out, every day.”

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