PUEBLO, Colo. – It’s the most wonderful time of the year: YETI Bull Week, when the PBR’s digital and social channels shine a spotlight on everyone’s favorite animal athletes.
All week long, expect plenty of bull content on PBR.com, as well as Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).
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If there’s one thing the people in this sport want you to know, it’s that they can’t do it without the bulls.
“Those animals are half this sport, and there’s half the people in that arena that show up to see those animals as much as their favorite rider,” said Chris Utz, a partner at UB Bucking Co. “Without the bulls, there isn’t the sport of bull riding. So our mission is to shine a big, bright spotlight on that.”
Two-time reigning PBR Stock Contractor of the Year Blake Sharp concurs.
“Growing up in it my whole life, it’s become a passion. Either you love something or you don’t, but I surely love this more than anything there is,” Sharp said. “Without the bulls, we don’t have this sport.”
Cool Whip, who just broke three-time YETI World Champion Bull Bushwacker’s all-time consecutive buckoff streak with his 43rd in a row, is owned by Staci Addison, who’s known for the love and attention she gives her bull. Not only does she give him deep-tissue massages, but she also gives him pre-event pep talks and treats him to spa days on her ranch.
“I talk about this bull like it’s my child, but I feel that way about him,” Addison said. “I have so much respect and love for this animal that came into my life that I had no idea it was going to be like that. It's kind of like when you go to the shelter and get a dog, and it turns out to be your best friend, and you do everything together – you get the leash out, and they start turning in circles, or you say, ‘Load up,’ and they go jump in the truck. It’s the same thing with the bull. We get a flank rope out, and they get excited. They do what they do. We open up the back of the trailer and they jump on it, just like a dog would. It’s not that different from that relationship, and I wish more people got to see it.”
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Addison encourages everyone to get to know the bulls the way they get to know the riders and reminds us that bulls love their jobs—just like any other professional athlete.
“I know the audience that’s probably going to read this understands the bucking bull industry, but I would encourage anyone – or everyone – to just take half a second and forward this to somebody else so the population at large would understand what we’re doing in the PBR,” Addison said. “That these bulls are excited to get on the trailer. That they bellow when the trailer backs up, and they get to jumping and spinning and kicking in their own pen because they know they’re going to go get on the trailer. It’s just something to see when you load bulls. You don’t have to force them on the trailer. It’s so cute when they kind of hop, skip, jump onto the trailer, and they turn sideways because that cut gate is going to shut. They don’t have to do that. We don’t have to push them onto the trailer. They want to go, and I wish that more people understood that, because this is a joy for an animal to get to compete at what is in their heart, in their muscles, in their brains. And to have an avenue to do that that is safe and kind and good, I think is the message that needs to be out there.”
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ANIMAL WELFARE
Interested in the specifics of animal welfare in the PBR? Start here, and visit the PBR’s YouTube channel to learn more.
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media