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| Photo credit: Mary R. Vogt |
At the age of one, he has been weaned from his mother, but he still looks like a calf. He is bucked for the first time at 18 months with a fifteen-pound weight on his back. The weight is released automatically at four seconds or less. After the first trial, he might be bucked a few more times, at three week intervals, to continue to gauge his promise. Talent can be seen this young.
Between the ages of one and two, Picador gets time to grow. He also becomes accustomed to the arena, the bucking chute, the center exit gate, and the back pens. The goal is to desensitize him so that he learns how to behave in the surroundings of a bull riding competition and all of his energy can be focused on bucking.
At the age of two, he is beginning to look like a bull, but he is still visibly a young animal. He weighs 800 to 1,000 pounds. He will be bucked a few more times with a thirty-pound weight. If he looks promising, these outings will be videotaped for prospective buyers. He can be entered into futurities - ABBI events designed just for two-year-olds - where he will be bucked with a remote control "dummy" device for four seconds and will be scored on buck, kick, spin, intensity, and degree of difficulty. Five judges score only one category each. Some of today's superstars were futurity winners as two-year-olds. The prize money can be considerable.
At the age of three, he has reached more than 1,200 pounds. Now Picador looks like a bull but is not yet heavily bulked up with muscle. He can be entered into ABBI Classic competitions for three and four year old bulls, or Derby events, which allow only three-year-olds. He will buck with a PBR bull rider for eight seconds.
By age four, he is reaching maturity. He weighs approximately 1,500 lbs. His muscle tone is defined and his bucking pattern set. He has been hauled enough to be seasoned. Now it's time for him to have a career. There are many different venues for him, from amateur rodeos on up to the elite level of the PBR. As with any sport, most don't make it to the top, but let's say that Picador does. Let's say that he has a good fading spin, gets good air, and has a mean belly roll. We'll say that out of the arena he is an easy bull to be around. The prime of his career is between the ages of five and eight.
Picador is retired at the age of nine. Let's say that he is one of the great ones and spends the rest of his days siring the next generation. How long does he live? Let's say he's still with us. But to give you an idea of what's possible, the great bull Houdini laid down in his pasture one night recently and died in his sleep. He was nineteen.
Photo credit: Mary R. Vogt
