One of the greatest bulls I've ever watched was owned by Wayne Vold Rodeo Co. by the name of The Rock. I first saw him on a televised broadcast of the final performance of the Calgary Stampede in 2003. To get to the Stampede you have to qualify with a certain amount of money earned, and to make the final day, you have to ride so many of your bulls (best to do 5 out of 5. The Stampede is 10 days, Group A goes the first 5, Group B the second).
A young man drew him that day and won the $50,000.00 round on him with a score of 84.5 points which is phenominal when you consider that out of 18 trips in PRCA (Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association) from Nov. '02, there were 5 qualified rides on him, the last being in Aug. '03. The time that I saw him on TV I thought, 'man,that bull can buck!' I was fortunate enough to see him live in Strathmore, Alberta, of that year.
When they cracked the gate that bull jumped straight in the air, high enough that you could see the top of the bucking chute under his belly and went to work. It was a hell of a performance that sent chills up my spine, and if I recall correctly it was a qualified ride. Unfortunately, that was the last time that The Rock would ever perform, as during the winter, he twisted a gut and laid down and died.
The highest qualified ride on The Rock was 88.5. Another great bull that came out of Vold's barn was one called Rambo. Those of us around in the eighties will remember the movie of the same name and this bull was just as tough in the ring, but apparently a real big pussy cat outside of it. As a matter of fact, our old school bus driver, Trish Jones, ended up being his caretaker and was televised in an inteview! Go figger!
Rambo was inducted in to the PRCA hall of fame in 2002 and the following was written: Wayne Vold's bull Rambo lived up to the reputation of his renegade Hollywood namesake in the rodeo arena. A calf of Vold's famous bull Bunny, the black, white-faced Rambo was twice the Canadian bull of the year, in 1986 and 1987. At 1,300 pounds Rambo was a small bull, but he was quick.
Over a five-year career, Vold estimated he had close to 200 trips, and was ridden about 20 of those. He was five-times chosen for the $50,000 Calgary Stampede bonus round, and five-times chosen for the rank pen at the Canadian Finals. Faced then with the best bull riders in the world, Rambo was tamed only four times.
Vold and the rest of the rodeo community were saddened in 1990 when Rambo's career was cut short at the age of nine due to an apparent spleen injury. While Vold was eager to find another Rambo-type to round out his pen, he wasn't optimistic it would happen anytime soon. "Those kind," he mused, "don't run in bunches." Looks like he didn't have to wait too long, but his luck wasn't much better.
Why do I tell you all of this? Well, not only do I like watching the bulls, but Dad used to rope with not only Vold but also Ian Tyson and Gid Garstad (there was lots of impromptu singing) so I kinda have an interest (and my girlfriend Kaye grooms Vold's dogs). The picture above is Rambo, sorry I couldn't find one of The Rock (honest, I looked!)
