When Blake Sharp was about 16, he hauled his first bucking bull to a rodeo. While it didn’t win any big competitions, from then on, Sharp fell in love with the sport.
Now, Sharp, a professional bucking bull trainer and contractor in Columbus and former right tackle at East Mississippi Community College, is taking 14 bulls to the Professional Bull Riders World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas. The event begins on Friday and runs through May 21.
“It’s a dream come true,” Sharp said. “We worked very hard to get to this point. It all started with one bull hauling all over the country, and (I) ended up selling him and a couple years later started getting some better bulls.”
Sharp, who operates Sharp Cattle Company, started in 2009 with the bull Sharp Reflex, taking him to competitions in Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. After selling that bull, he took a break from the business to pursue college at EMCC, but he couldn’t keep away from the bull business for long.
“When I got done playing (at EMCC), I just decided that I was going to go full force into this (business) and that’s when I got Hammer It Again,” Sharp said. “I hauled him all year, and he went to the finals in Vegas. I ended up selling that bull too. Then I ended up getting some more bulls to go back to the finals and kind of built it up from there.”
A bucking bull can cost between $100,000 and $500,000, depending on bloodline and experience, according to American Bucking Bull Inc.
Bull owners from all over the country contract Sharp’s services for competition training. This season, those contracts yielded Sharp a team of more than 30 bulls to train and compete for a spot in the finals. The 14 that made it represent 11% of the finals field, the second most among trainers for this year’s event.
The PBR season begins in November and ends in May. Bulls and their riders have 23 events before the finals to boost their scores up and qualify. Bulls are judged on their buck off time, how they kick and buck the riders off and even on how they buck, such as back spins to throw a rider, PBR Livestock Director Riley Gagnon said. A score of 42 (out of 50) or better will take a spot in the final arena.
Gagnon said bucking bulls can also make as much as $2,000 per event they buck in. For the winner of the championship in Fort Worth, the top bull will take home $100,000.
“I want the best bulls at every event I get,” Gagnon said. “(Sharp is) putting the effort and the work. … So, it’s been really easy working with him. He is a very professional guy and he just wants to better the sport.”
One of Sharp’s trainees, UTZ BesTex Legend, is the No. 3 bull in the PBR. He currently has a rating of 44 and an average 89% buck off rating with riders.
Training starts at a year old, Sharp said. Calves will have a 20-pound metal box strapped to their back to practice bucking daily. Once they reach about 3 years old, it’s time to start putting them into competitions. Sharp said it’s important to make sure a bull can kick off the back legs and even spin, which judges like.
“These bulls are blessed with different talents,” he said. “Some, you can pet on and love on and walk up to them like a big teddy bear. But you roll them in the chute, and they turn into an athlete.”
Sharp credits his success to the bulls as well as the owners who trust him to train them.
“You’ve got to have people that believe in you,” he said. “I’ve had some partners watch me for a couple years and then end up coming to me and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been watching you and watching how you do things, and I really want to be involved.’ They see how much I love it and how much time and passion I pour into it.”
You can follow the bulls’ progress during the finals at pbr.com. The event is also available to watch on most streaming services.
Bulls trained by Blake Sharp in PBR finals
■ UTZ BesTex Legend
■ Soul King
■ Detroit Lean
■ Mr. Nasty
■ Mike’s Motive
■ Centerfold
■ Tijuana Two-Step
■ Lapua
■ Don’t Come Easy
■ Yellowknife
■ UTZ BesTex Smokestack
■ Hoka Hey
■ UTZ BesTex Red Clark
■ Bendito Bug
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