Over the last decade, people from all walks of life have converged and filtered into the bucking bull industry. Many have used other competitive sports to propel them into this industry. Brent Bullard of Duncan, Okla. and his 4B Performance Cattle program are an excellent example of how other athletic pursuits can parallel and compliment not only breeding and building buckers, but also winning with them.

 

The 4B program began in 1996 and the 1000-acres spread is home to approximately 100 head of momma cows. Bullard, who had a thirteen year career as a top thoroughbred jockey, knows fast horses. By applying concepts from the racing world to the bucking industry he has risen to ABBI success on more than one occasion. Bullard began with ten head of foundation females purchased from Ronnie Roach. He then bought 452 Bois D'Arc a Dwight Frick bred Red 45 son to put on these Roach females. This cross was ultimately responsible for Bullard's first notoriety in the bucking industry via 2004 Buckers World Derby Champ 40 Boris the Blade.

 

Boris the Blade has since produced some stellar offspring including 120 Range War, who as of late is continuing Bullard's success in the bucking industry. This Boris son out of one of the original cows Bullard purchased from Roach placed in the ABBI Classic at both Okla. City and Kansas City, two of the season's heftiest contests. The ABBI judges were not the only ones noticing Range War's ability at these events. After the upcoming Omaha event, Range War will be calling Circle T Ranch and Rodeo home because they recently were successful in purchasing the impressive, young bull from Bullard.

 

So, what does the racing industry have in common with bucking bulls? Bullard answers that question by talking openly about how his racing career, what the two industries share and how applying principles he learned on the track have helped him be successful in the ABBI.

 

"I started galloping horses when I was a junior in high school. I rode for a trainer here in Duncan Okla. for two years and started riding on the bush tracks in Okla. I graduated on a Friday, was in St. Louis on a Tuesday, and rode my first race that next Friday. I knew nothing about the industry. I only knew I wanted to be a jockey and that I was small enough," muses Bullard.

 

Bullard went on to spend most of his racing career in Chicago and was the leading rider at Balmoral Park in ‘83. He traveled all over the U.S. settling into the starting gates of prestigious tracks like Remington Park and Churchill Downs. Proving that it's a small world, while at Remington Park Bullard rode race horses with Casey Lambert, Cody Lambert's brother.

 

"Casey and I rode together for a couple of years. Racing is a lot different from rodeo where everybody helps each other and ‘may the best man win'. Racing can be pretty cut-throat, but I enjoyed my career as a jockey. The best thing was the adrenaline rush. It's second to none," says Bullard with a twinkle in his voice.