Pretty Bull

Photo by Susan Hanrahan

I don't think I ever write about "pretty" in relation to bucking bulls, but I've been curious lately about the genetics of hide color in cattle, so I was watching for that on this weekend's PBR event from St. Louis. Once you start looking at color, you can't help paying attention to prettiness. And, okay, I know they are bucking bulls and "handsome" isn't at the top of the list of the things that matter about them. But face it, some of them are better looking than others.

A few biases right up front:

1. All muleys (bulls without horns, also called polled) are better looking than most bulls with horns. Oh yes, I do know how controversial that statement is going to be, but I discovered some time ago that I am a complete fan of polled bulls.  It started with K93 (Super Duty/Major Payne) and went on to other Katich-bred bulls (a line that started with a Brahman bull and red Angus cow) and then went on to Black Pearl (who is hornless though not a naturally polled bull), and now it's official:  If it's a muley, it looks good to me.  

2. Black and white patches are attractive in cattle. It's a nice, dramatic look. I'm not sure it's a popular look for bucking bulls, but just look at Reindeer, one of the most striking bulls of all time. 

3. There are tons of black and brown bulls, dominant genes winning out, apparently, but other than Black Pearl, who manages to live up to his name by kind of gleaming, the black/brown bulls don't do well on my prettiness scale, though I'm fond of black bulls with white faces.

4.  I like pure white bulls (no speckles) and white bulls with black ears and noses.  From what I understand, the white bulls with black ears and noses harken back to the Plummer line.  All white, no speckles, is unusual.  

5.  And I like bulls with big ears.  So I'm clearly partial to the Brahman influence.  Those big-eared calves - can't get better than that.

So, all of that said, the best looking bulls of the weekend, according to a survey of one (me) were:

• After Party, a little grayish-blue bull with a white face and markings (and he can buck).  
• Yellow Jacket Jr., who actually is yellow, really, golden, horns to hooves (and he can buck, too).
• And there was a Houdini son out there, I think it was Rowdy LJ, all-white, including really white horns.

An honorable mention goes to a bull whose name I am still tracking down.  He isn't pretty at all, but combines pretty much every color available to bulls.  J.W. Hart called him brindle and scary looking, but he's not really brindle.  He's white-faced, black-shouldered, red/tan-bodied, and brindle-butted, with white feet and horns.  But definitely scary looking. 

So, like I said, in the bucking bull business, pretty doesn't count.  Except today, here, it does.