PUEBLO, Colo. – If Blake Sharp looks right at home at a PBR event, it’s because that’s where he grew up.

His father, Tony Sharp, is a legendary stock contractor who hauled PBR bulls from 1996 to 2008, including Hammer, one of the best bulls in PBR history. Blake was around it so much as a kid that he doesn’t even recall his earliest interactions with the bulls.

“It’s hard to remember,” he said with a laugh. “I remember a lot of riding in the trucks. He wouldn’t let me really get in there when I was young, but I got to ride in the trucks and see the bulls unload and buck and then load back up. He was one of them guys that liked to get in the truck and head home after, so I always remember getting in the truck, falling asleep, and then waking up at the ranch.”

With the elder Sharp now retired, Blake has taken up the reins of the family legacy, climbing the ranks of bull men to become one of the most prestigious stock contractors in the game.

At the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, Sharp was awarded his second consecutive PBR Stock Contractor of the Year award.

“There’s no better feeling,” Sharp said. “It’s a childhood dream of mine. Growing up around it, you always want to accomplish something like this, and I feel like it’s the best accomplishment in what I do. So there’s nothing like it. My first one was – I guess it was not a shocker, but it was unexpected. The second one, I knew what we had to do to get it done. I knew we had to go the miles. I knew we had to have the right kind of bulls on the truck to make it all come together. But it worked out for the best, and I think we’re going to continue to strive for it every year.”

Sharp believes that growing up so close to the business has given him an edge that he likens to college football coaches. The former player at East Mississippi Community College and Louisiana Tech says that the best coaches are the ones who have been around the sport for a long time and know what to look for in players.

“It’s kind of the same thing with me,” he said. “Growing up around it, you kind of learn certain characteristics of bulls and you see certain potential of bulls.”

Sharp also credits his partners, including UB Bucking Co., Michael Floyd, and Henry Wilson, with making his job significantly easier.

“You’ve got good partners involved, and guys that love it just as much as you do,” Sharp said. “Them guys, they’re not in it to make a fortune. They’re in it because they love it, and that’s the kind of guys I want on my team: the guys that really do love the bulls, they love the sport, they want to see the sport thrive. That’s the kind of guys I want on my team.”

Sharp spent most of his youth focused on a different team – football. He hauled bulls on the side in high school, and when he got to college, he began flipping bulls on the side to make some money.

“I’d buy them bulls cheap, and then I’d make them into something,” Sharp said. “I’d go home on the weekends or when I could, and I’d work with them. I had somebody back home taking care of them, and when I had time, I got to sell a few to make a little money. Once I got done playing football, I just went full time.”

That buying and selling turned into hauling, and to say his beginnings were humble would be an understatement.

“I hauled one bull, which was X22 Hammered Again,” Sharp said. “I hauled him for a year straight, and he was the only bull I had on my truck. So just to go from one bull all year long to hauling upwards of 35-40 bulls to one event, it’s crazy.”

It’s not easy keeping that many bulls in top physical form for the duration of a PBR season. Sharp’s girlfriend is a veterinarian at Mississippi State University, and he uses the university whenever he needs to get his bulls checked out.

Closer to home, Sharp says it’s all about a good feed program, good hay, and even good water. He even spent a few years creating his own feed for his bulls with a local mill.

“I ended up working with that mill and just trying different ingredients and different combinations to get the very best out of the bulls,” Sharp said. “I kind of fell in love with it. I’m not a nutritionist, but I just fell in love with that part of it. I just love knowing what’s in my feed and what they’re getting out of it.”

Sharp’s got some lucky bulls in his pen, including Mike’s Motive, UTZ Smokestack, and UTZ BesTex Legend, who finished No. 3 in the 2024 YETI World Champion Bull race. He believes Mike’s Motive could break the PBR record for most premier series outs – it currently stands at 147, and Mike’s Motive is at 91 – and thinks Legend could win a world title in 2025. Smokestack, meanwhile, has already won a world title in the PRCA.

Whether the records and world titles shake out or not, Sharp will keep being proud of his pen, keep giving them the best care possible, and keep striving for excellence.

“As far as the care for the animals, we give them the best,” Sharp said. “We always do whatever it takes for them to be 100% no matter what. If they’re not 100%, I’m not going to put them on the truck.

“At the end of the day, we’re going to keep on striving for greatness and try to keep on winning more,” he added with a laugh. “That’s the plan.”

Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media