Bob Mitchell attempts to ride Lima-based Cornwell Bucking Bulls, Riley Bucking Bulls and PCP Bucking Bulls’ The Undertaker Jan. 29. The Undertaker is one of the bulls at the PBR World Finals now underway in Texas.
Submitted Photo | Josh Homer | Bull Stock Media
LIMA — They are a breed unto themselves.
Bucking bulls in the PBR, the highest professional level of bull riding, are not simply bulls that have had a bad day. Instead, they are considered elite athletes in the sport, and one of the top bulls in that elite class is representing Lima.
The Undertaker is one of several bulls at the PBR World Finals, currently underway in Fort Worth, Texas. According to the Undertaker’s co-owner Justin Cornwell of Cornwell Bucking Bulls in Lima, bulls like the Undertaker truly are their own animal.
“They’re genetically bred to be bucking bulls,” he said. “We have a registry called the ABBI, American Bucking Bull Inc., and they trace all the lineage. We do DNA tests to confirm how they’re bred. There are dairy cattle, there are beef cattle and I would say there are rodeo cattle. They’re specifically bred for this.”
Just as professional athletes must monitor their activities and their diet to maintain peak performance, these bucking bulls must do the same, according to Cornwell, even down to chiropractic care.
“We try to keep them physically fit,” he said. “We jog them and we feed them special blends of feed unlike what you would feed your fat cattle. We don’t want that layer of fat. We want them hard as rocks. So they get a lot of different vitamins and supplements to help them get to that point.”
According to Cornwell, who co-owns the Undertaker with PCP Bucking Bulls and Riley Bucking Bulls, some bucking bulls take to the sport while others do not. In the Undertaker’s case, however, there was no doubt that this animal, ranked number 200 in the world, belonged in the chute.
“He’s huge,” Cornwell said. “The average bucking bull weighs 1,500 to 1,600 pounds, and he’s about 2,200. Generally, the reason that the bulls do not get that big is because they lose athletic ability. He’s that big and he has that ability to go with it. He’s like a Shaquille O’Neal.”
According to the PBR website, the Undertaker has a buck-off rate of 90 percent, with the few bull riders that make it to eight seconds often obtaining a score of 90 or higher, a tremendous score when it comes to bull riding.
“There is $1 million on the line, so these riders are wanting that kind of bull,” Cornwell said.
The PBR World Finals will resume Thursday and conclude this coming weekend in Texas.
