# What breed are bucking horses in pro rodeo?



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

So far as I know, breed has nothing to do with it. I don't know about 'pro rodeo' & if it's different to 'regular' rodeo, but one big rodeo supplier of years ago over here said some of his best are ponyclubber's horses, or others who were inadvertently taught to buck.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Whatever horse happens to enjoy throwing a mean buck is the right breed, as far as I know!


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## ~Wildheart~ (Nov 17, 2020)

A lot of them look very drafty. There really is no particular breed just whatever can buck hard.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Many pro bucking horses are not just random bad seeds but have been purpose-bred and trained for it by specialty breeders. They have their own registry. They are valuable animals. Also, I believe that a good many of them are ordinary riding horses when they don't have their bucking strap on.


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

Most have a good amount of Quarter Horse blood and some of the best of those bloodlines came out of Western Canada and the Dakotas in the US. In the last 30 or so years a typical bucking horse at a professional rodeo was bred to do that and that is the only job most will ever have. That said a good many of the pickup horses (horses used to ride in, give the cowboy a place to get off and remove the flank strap) are former bucking horses.

The most common misconception is that they only buck because of the flank strap, and the flank strap is there to cause pain to induce bucking. For some reason people who don't understand anatomy think the horse's testicles are tied up with something. Nevermind that outstanding broncs are just as likely to be a mare or gelding. Y'all are horseman/equestrians so you probably know better, and besides this is what one looks like. It is just a sheep shearing lined leather latigo with a quick release that goes around the flank area of the horse which tends to accentuate the kick and that's it.











This video of one of my favorites, a mare named Medicine Woman shows some of what I just talked about. Don't be fooled by how easy he made it look. He is a world champion and literally so are his brothers, dad and uncles. They are a bronc riding dynasty, and seem like great people too. 





Associations:
BHBA
UBHA


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

@jgnmoose if the strap is not designed to irritate the horse's genitals, how does it work? How does it trigger the horse to buck?


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

They either get there because that is their mission in life making them unsuitable for any other job or they are purpose bred.

The saddle broncs tend to have some amount of draft in them but not the bareback broncs. Different actions.


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

ACinATX said:


> @jgnmoose if the strap is not designed to irritate the horse's genitals, how does it work? How does it trigger the horse to buck?


The flank area on a horse is enough, horses tend to want to buck when they feel something there, it is a reflex. Many horses perform best with it just snug enough to not slide around on them, so usually you can get your whole fist under it. Think about where genitals and udders are on a horse. It is nowhere near them.

Anyone who rides a Western saddle with a rear cinch is probably (hopefully!) aware that if it slides back too far they are going fo a bronc ride. That is why the rear cinch has a hobble to keep it from moving back. Very likely where they got the idea in the first place.


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## farrieremily (Jul 8, 2018)

Mare old mare would go full bronc if you threw saddle bags behind the saddle and they touched her flank. 
She would also try to toss us if a double rider didn’t keep their legs forward. 
Light pressure/annoyance is all it took.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

ACinATX said:


> @jgnmoose if the strap is not designed to irritate the horse's genitals, how does it work? How does it trigger the horse to buck?


There is training involved believe it or not.
A flank can cause a normal saddle horse to buck because it is a new sensation which we train the buck out of them to to make a safe saddle horse. With a bucking horse(and bulls) you encourage and reward it.
They use a training dummy that has a flank trip switch.(picture attached, the orange box) When they start them they may only leave it on for one jump out of the chute and trip the the flank. This teaches them that they "won" and rewards the buck. They build on that.
The flank also helps a horse kick out evenly with both hinds. There is an art to flanking bucking stock, knowing how tight or loose to flank them as they leave the chute can make for a good or bad trip out.

My husband used to work for a stock contractor and picked up. His favorite pickup horse that we later bought was a flunked up bucker turned pickup horse. We used him on the ranch for years and when he got arthritic and semi- retired we gave him to some friends and their little kids to ride for a safe ranch horse.
My husband and I both had a ranch horse cut to us, years apart on two different ranches, that was a flunked out bucker. He was an awesome ranch horse but very quirky. Branding calves, if you were dragging a calf the rope couldn't touch his butt, he'd buck you off. If you necked one, after you got dallied and stopped you couldn't kick him up to get short and redally. He'd buck you off. If you got off your pockets and your heels got anywhere close to your back cinch to ask him to go faster, he'd buck you off.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Going back to the breeding a little bit, it is as involved as any other breed. There are generations old breeding programs and lineage. They flush embryos, AI and even clone. There are futuries and sales. Different styles of bucking has evolved with the times and different styles can be preferred depending on what they are competing in.

Just like with any discipline, you can send your bucking stock to a trainer. They teach them manners, how to load in a chute, how to buck and find the out gate. Well mannered stock seems like a misnomer but it is important to the safety of the stock themselves, riders, owners and handlers.

It's not a cheap game to get into if you want to play in the upper levels.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Most of them do have QH blood in them but the breed doesn't matter as much as the athleticism. There are actually breeders associations that specifically breed for bucking broncs.


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

The horses are getting so good, and the riders are too.


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## Bombproof (May 20, 2015)

ACinATX said:


> @jgnmoose if the strap is not designed to irritate the horse's genitals, how does it work? How does it trigger the horse to buck?


It varies from one horse to another, like a lot of things. Some horses find it annoying, for others it's just a signal that it's time to go to work. Military dogs used to be trained to become attack dogs when the handler put a particular type of collar on them; for some horses it's a similar sort of thing. Flank strap = time to earn my keep.


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## AJ Yammie (Dec 20, 2020)

In my area they don’t use particular breeds, sometimes brumbies but mainly stock horses because that’s what is available in my area. But then also we don’t have pro events much so it could be different for that


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I once worked at a resort that hosted local, unsanctioned rodeos and bbq's for the guests to mostly watch. Some did give it a try. 

They used horses from the large dude string (80-100 head) for the bronc riding and gymkhana events. I think many liked the change of pace. And none became ill-mannered as a result of their Friday night shenanigans.

The resort had a registered herd of cattle, too, and the dude horses worked in that setting, too.

I was a cow hand. There were some good horses, all grade, in that dude string.


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## keriarice23 (Jan 2, 2021)

All About Hope said:


> I've heard both mustangs and QHs being used. So what is it?


They are like a mix between heavy draft horses and light horses, And sometimes depends on the rodeo com, depends on what they like to use, They mainly want a horse that can buck and that can give the rider points and the horse get points too.


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