SandHills Rodeo: Bulls, broncs get tougher by the year

It is the vicious circle of sports.

When one athlete begins to improve, it forces others around him or her to work harder to compete on a daily business.

The sport of rodeo is no different.

Except these athletes weigh anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds.

“The bulls and broncs are stars, too,” said Harry Vold, the stock contractor for the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo.

Rodeo is big business and one of the biggest parts of it these days is the breeding of championship bucking bulls and broncs.

Vold has been breeding bull and broncs for more than four decades and has earned Stock Contractor of the Year honors from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association on 11 separate occasions.

It really has been over the past decade, however, that the breeding programs have cemented themselves in the sport.

“You have to have a good breeding program to be successful these days,” six-time saddle bronc world champion Dan Mortensen said. “It used to be that half a pen might buck and the other half wouldn’t.

“Now, every time you get on a bronc or bull, you know that it’s going to be a strong animal ... and some are stronger than others.”

Successful breeding bulls now sell for more than $100,000, with bucking horse studs nearing that figure.

And just like professional athletes, there are nutritional supplements that help the animals get bigger and stronger — much to the chagrin of Mortensen and the rest of the rough stock competitors.

Jim McLain is one of the many breeders out there who has seen success with a supplement program created for bulls and broncs. Last year, bulls using his supplement earned more than $1.3 million in winnings and over the three years the product has been available, more than $3 million has been won.

“The supplement builds muscle mass across the chest and makes the animal stronger,” McLain said. “More muscle and more oxygen means better efforts by the animals and that means more excitement for the fans.”

It also means that the human element of the equation is going to have to find a way to continue to improve in order to survive the wear-and-tear associated with bareback and saddle bronc riding and the violent nature of the eight-second collisions involved with bull riding.

The equation of a 150-pound on the back of an angry 2,000-pound bull usually works in favor of the bull.

“You have to work out year round and not just riding,” said Mortensen, who recently returned from a year-long hiatus to let his body heal from 17 years of pounding. “There is a lot more strength training and work on flexibility and stamina, because you have to be prepared for everything.”