I REALLY wish I was at more events! With the economy and all, I’m not getting on the road as much as I would like.  The upcoming ABBI OKC event should be great- spoke with Rafter HB’s Duston Hull and he is nervous for the event. He is hoping his winner Ice T&D can get it done again, or at least place in the top few.

OKC will be a great place to spend Valentine’s weekend- so if you are close enough to attend, I’d encourage you to.

The Iron Man event in Dallas will also be really cool- I’m anxious to see how the bulls AND the cowboys hold up with that many rides on one night (the  guys could have 5 or 6 while the top bulls would buck twice, back-to-back).

Sacramento this weekend and then Anaheim the next. I always like events on my coast, but I do have to give props to the east coast. NYC event last weekend was phenomenal! Most enthusiastic crowd I think I’ve ever come across and the pen of bulls was stellar thanks to Teague, Berger and Robinson all bringing big-time hitters.

A big congrats to Dustin Hull and the Rafter HB gang who won the Ft. Worth event.  A big thanks to Brad Boyd and the ABBI gang for making it happen! I wish I could have been there to see Ice T&D’s performance that won over $10,000! I had wrist/hand surgery Dec. 23 (too many years of typing!) and am looking forward to getting my stitches out and cast off this week and getting back to traveling.

Hope your Christmas was full of family and friends. Wishing everyone the best for 2010!

Well we’ve got a new two-legged champ (Kody Lostroh), a new four-legged champ (Code Blue) and a new season right around the corner!

The Challenger Finals are in Atlanta next weekend and it will also be the first stop of the BFTS 2010 series. So you’ll get the best superstars and rising stars all at one arena- that’ll be one not to miss!

The ABBI Classic and Futurity were outstanding! Last year’s reserve champ Black Pearl got it done this year. Pearl, who is also in the running for PBR Bull of the Year, made us all proud and is helping to focus even more attention on the ABBI. The Ravenscroft/Boyd-Floyd bull won $250,000. Martinez’ Top Notch was reserve and earned $100,000. Pearl’s win also snagged Breeder of the Year for Steve and Julie Ravenscroft.

On the Futurity front, Ohl’s Pure Smoke came out on top with the $100,000 for two strong rounds. I did the math and it looks like about $880,000 was paid out by the ABBI in Vegas between the Wild Card, Classic and Futurity events. Big money, big time, big talent!

The race to be World Champ is getting tighter and the race to be World Champ Bucking Bull will start to unfold more tonight- the two Classic bulls in the running compete in round three.

Right now Code Blue leads the race with 46.75. Voodoo Child and Big Tex each have a 46. Tonight Black Pearl and Crosswired will have the opportunity to shake things up.  Besides looking to post big numbers to be World Champ, both bulls want $250,000 and to be the 2009 ABBI Champ (last year Crosswired won and Pearl was reserve champ).

Last night’s round-winner Pete Farley picked Top Notch as his choice in the draft. Robson Palermo is on Pearl and J.B. Mauney is on Crosswired.  Marchi is on Twisted Aces. The $50,000 Wild Card winner Copp Hou will face Lostroh.

I wish it was 3pm already-it’ll be an amazing night!

This is the tighest World Champion race we’ve ever had- on the human and bovine side. Both are shaping up to be really exciting- I’m just not sure which I’m more excited about. For both sides it’ll come down to how they perform in Las Vegas. This will be my 11th PBR World Finals and I honestly can’t remember a time when BOTH races were this intense. If you are going to Vegas this year, you couldn’t have picked a better time!

When I spoke to Cody Nance in Ontario he seemed very focused on his job. That was evident last weekend and even more so this weekend when he won the Columbus BFTS event.

Besides being impressed with his drive, I was also impressed by another thing-no cell phone. He explained to me that lately he just doesn’t want to be so easy to reach. He is doing his best not to let the hype and limelight get to him and no cell makes perfect sense-especially when there is so much $  to be won in Vegas.

After winning Ontario, Kody Lostroh had a target on his back. Mauney and Marchi knew they needed every possible point prior to Vegas, but neither could get it done in Portland. Of the top three title contenders, only Mauney made it to the short go and he couldn’t make the whistle on Copperhead Slinger. Mauney has ridden Slinger many times which makes me think just maybe he is starting to feel the pressure. Mauney’s sister’s better half won the event. It was Shane Proctor’s first-ever BFTS win and with all of the talent Shane has, it’s about time!

Three men want to be the 2009 PBR World Champion BAD, and boy are they riding like it!  Marchi, on a quest to be the first man with back-to-back titles, won Springfield over the weekend. He’s still in third but he is turning up the heat on Leader Lostroh and second-place Mauney.

We are coming down to the wire and this weekend’s event in Ontario is going to be intense-and important. Just a stone’s throw from where I grew up, I am excited to finally see the PBR at another great location in SoCal and even more excited to see if one of the top three can pull out another victory. Follow me on twitter as ChuteSusan for my PBR action tweets! I’m also BullPenEditor when it comes to ABBI or bull industry tweets!

In case you missed my “tweets” from Reno…Black Pearl did it again! The Ravenscroft/Boyd-Floyd bull beat a tough field of competitiors (including reigning Classic Champ Crosswired) to not only win Reno but to move back into first in the regular season champ race. Now the big question is… will he be able to win it all in Vegas?

On the Futurity side, it was Mann Creek’s Muddy Smile  who won with an 88. It looked like Nuciforo’s Mr. Smith might be able to take it, but he had to settle for second.

For those of you dealing with the “my cable company dumped versus,” Sugar (BP writer Sugar Kuhn) and I tried to tweet as much of the action the Classic night(Friday) as possible. I realized I’m a bad typist on my little iphone, so I apologize for spelling and text-style abbreviations. For next time:

BO means buck off

RH or LH is right or left hand and refers to the bulls delivery (ho whe came out of chute).

Please keep following me on twitter: BullPenEditor and Sugar on twitter: SugarKuhn.

Next big twitter session will be from Ontario, Calif. BFTS event. No ABBI events, but I’ll try to keep PBR fans updated on how the guys and bulls are doing live.

Also, check out our new site: pbrprograms.com. It is the site for 8Seconds and PBRNow (the official programs of the PBR).

After an action-packed weekend in Texas- where rodeo star Cody Ohl’s Alternator won the Futurity-I was able to take a weekend off! But now I am geared up and ready for this weekend in Reno. With the points race getting TIGHT between Crosswired and Black Pearl, I know the Boyd-Floyd/Ravenscroft bull will be bucking in Reno to try to retake the lead from Crosswired. Even though the BIG money ($250,000) is for being the world champ in Las Vegas, being the regular season champ isn’t too shabby.

Looking forward to seeing Sugar Kuhn in Reno (Bull Pen writer who is one of the most knowledgeable writers in the industry). I’m also going to start doing the twitter thing live from Reno so follow me on BullPenEditor!

There have been some seriously impressive 2-year-olds so far. This far into the season, with a little more maturity on them, you tend to get better performances and this is definitely no exception. With over 110 bulls to buck (the action started at 7), it will be late tonight before we know the winner-but whoever comes out on top definitely will have earned it!

The added team competition format that producer looksWEST is doing is also adding to the excitement. There’s a nice four-wheeler parked and waiting for the winner-I’d take it for a joyride if I thought I could make it back to LA Guess I will settle for my Southwest flight tomorrow at the crack of dawn!

Ok, it is only live for you if you are reading this at this exact second…but I am going “more live” soon. Starting at the Reno BFTS Futurity I’ll be on twitter (BullPenEditor) bringing you the behind-the-chutes action.  Great to see so many folks here-Edward Martinez, Torres Bros., Monty Samford, Toby Floyd, Julio Moreno. A lot of the breeders with bulls in the ABBI Futurity tonight have come out early for the sale and there some seriously SWEET bloodlines up for auction. The Torres Bros. had their eye on one of the early lots-a cow, 90 Karla- and were  pleased they’ll be taking her home. Only about half-way through the 100-plus lots now. But with animals and bloodlines from XS, Julio Moreno, JW Hart, John McDonald, R&R (Larry Ryken), Wes Gross, Rockin’ Stock Bulls and Brehmer Ranch (and more) people seem ready to stay till the end!

I feel like my brain is on “good bull overload.”  First I went To San Antonio two weekends ago where Bo Davis put on a fantastic PBR Copenhagen Challenger tour event. How good was it? Well, that next day I was at the airport in the security line next to Colby Yates. Yates remarked, “You know it’s a good bull ridin’ when a 86.5 doesn’t get you a dime!” Yates had been hoping to add to his earnings as we grow closer to Finals qualification time, but the bulls and bull riders were so good at Davis’ event at Cowboy’s Dancehall (which also has a HUGE arena), that Yates didn’t earn a dime for his efforts. Other big names in attendance were Guilherme Marchi, Kody Lostroh, Rocky McDonald and Brian Herman (who split second with Rocky). Ednei Caminhas is hungry for victory again- his 89.5 won the event and helped his quest to get back on top.

That next weekend it was off to Tulsa. Oklahoma almost always has phenomenal bull talent and this was no exception. The first night saw a group of ABBI Classic bulls that were on fire- very few riders made the whistle. It was Tino and Edward Martinez’ Top Notch Jap who came out on top. This bull has been toward the top many times this season, but this was his first big win.  Edward was so excited he was literally speechless after the fact.

Saturday morning the Junior Futurity got under way. I actually heard some of the breeders remarking that they were glad some of these bulls weren’t competing in the “regular” Futurity events- our junior members really have some big talent! Rex Samford’s Party All The Time took first again, bring his total to $20,000 so far this season. Party looks like he’ll be the bull to beat at the last futurity of the season, and will be exciting to watch at the Junior Futurity  exhibition event in Las Vegas.  The weekend action wound down on Sunday with a short go pen that was jaw-dropping. Bones, Code Blue, Vooodoo Child, El Presidente, Super Duty, Hot Stuff…need I say more?But the bull with the most “wow” was 2007 PBR World Champion Chicken on a Chain who was the high-marked bull of the event with a 47.Looks like Chicken has announce dhis intention to make a run for the World title again. One point behind him was reigning champ Bones. On the human side of things, No. 1 Kody Lostroh took the event.Looks like come Vegas it may be all about Marchi and Lostroh battling it out…

As we get closer to Vegas and have more Classic events, it has become evident that there are some serious contenders to be the Champion.  Crosswired, who won last year as a 3-year-old, has been raking up the victories. Black Pearl, the reserve champ, is also on fire and seems to have gotten better as the season has gone on.

But Vegas is one event, one round. If either of these bulls has an off day it could be More Bucks, HeeBeeGeeBee, Ground Zero or any number of the Classic bulls that have placed in the top 10 at an event.

Or we could have a situation like last year where a bull gets in from the Wild Card (which will be in las Vegas this year) slot and then goes on to “wow” the judges. Last season that bull was Black Pearl who finished second in the Finals. Just like last year, there may be a bull that few have seen that could go all (or almost all) the way.

I’m excited to see who winds up on top in Tulsa in a few weeks! Besides it being a PBR Built Ford Tough Series event, there will be a Junior Futurity as well. Check out the July Bull Pen for more on the first Junior event in Ardmore- it was a great success.

Ardmore was a great event- the level and quality of Futurity and Derby bulls was fantastic! ABBI paid out over half a million dollars which makes me think maybe I should be in the breeding business rather than the writing business!

The Derby bulls whooped the cowboys, very few made it to the whistle on this strong pen. Congrats to Cross E for having the best of 78 Derby bulls with Ricochet, who earned a 91.

Rex Samford won the first Junior event of the season with Party All The Time.  Later, dad Monty confided to me that his son didn’t heed his advice on which bull to enter OR on how to train him! Looks like maybe son knows best in this case! Monty and Janet couldn’t have been prouder and itis obvious Rex is on his way to being a great bull man just like his dad.

D&H/Flinn won over $100,000 for having the American Heritage Champ Jug Head.  Speaking of D&H, they had yet another top-notch sale with great genetics. Yearling bulls bought at their sale are eligible for the D&H Futurity the following year. Rafter HB bought a bull at last year’s sale and were the big winners this  year with Shot of Bo. Dusoin Hull proudly showed off his beautiful trophy buckle at the pre-sale social Saturday night and was still a little shell-shocked that they won!

I was glad to hear that Hannah Gant (a great Junior Breeder and a wonderful young lady ) is going to be ok. While helping to call scores for the judges during Saturday’s Heritage event she took a nasty bump to the head when a bull decided to run into the fence right where she and the judge were standing.

JW Hart (now OFFICIALLY retired) and wife LeAnn were at the event with new son Wacey. I never imagined in a million years I’d see JW making up silly songs while he bounced a little one on his knee! The Harts are amazing parents and Wacey is a luckly little buckaroo.

Last but not least, the ABBI staff needs to be congratulated for putting on an event that ran incredibly smoothly and quickly given that there were over 250 bulls to buck!  No event of this size can be perfect but Andee, Curt and their crew gave 110 % to make it great.

This is a big week for the PBR and ABBI- Wild, Wild West Fest is going on in Pueblo, Colo. There will be a PBR BFTS event, as well as an ABBI event. But the really big news (although not really “new” news!) is that Adriano, Justin and J.W. will be awarded the PBR’s Ring of Honor. Well deserved in my opinion-all have done immeasurable things for the sport! I wish I was going to be there but I am headed out of town for my annual “cowgirls” trip.   The cowgirls include breeders Rebecca Walker and Julie Ravenscroft. Poor Julie will miss seeing her bull buck in Pueblo- and Black Pearl has been runner-up to Crosswired a few times now at ABBI Classics…I think Pearl may be ready to go all the way!

I hope to see a lot of ABBI folks in Ardmore, Okla. at the end of the month for the American Heritage (the field this year is phenomenal!), Derby and D&H Sale. Thsi is the first year of the Derby (for 3-year-old bulls only) and I think it’ll be a big sucess.

On one last note… Ty finally got voted off “DWTS,” but he made us all proud!

I hope enough people voted for Ty and Chelsie that they don’t get eliminated tonight! I’m headed up to the studio in a few hours (since it is live for the East Coast) to attend the live results show. Just 20 miles from my house and Cindy Gotoski (who writes for Bull Pen) will be going with me.. we are keeping our fingers crossed!

Crosswired continues to dominate ABBI Classics, he got another win in Omaha. The Pages’ bull is on fire this year! Steve and Julie Ravenscroft’s Black Pearl was second (again) but I expect them to get first somewhere soon!

It is good to hear that Brendon Clark is doing better. After seeing his wreck and  hearing what his injuries were, I had some bad flashbacks to the wreck and injuries that killed Glen Keeley in 1999. Lacerated livers are never good.

It was great to see everyone in Stephenville-and so many great Futurity bulls!  Ultimately it was Boyd/Floyd and D&H that tied for top honors with Getin Busy and Page 65T. The Futurity started a little after 8am (waaaay too early in my opinion, but by my third cup of coffee I was awake!), because there were 135 bulls to buck. Everything needed to wrap up in time to get those bulls out and the Classic bulls in for the evening performance. After two days of Classic competition, it was Ground Zero from Ace of Spades/Moody-Rice/ Lonestar who came out on top.

The steak dinner Thursday night was a nice opportunity to catch up with everyone.  The Calcutta bids were taken on paper during the dinner and everyone had a chance to bid.The ABBI staff and looksWEST staff did a great job. Rebecca Walker helped with animal check-in at the arena and I was amazed how smoothly she got all of the Futurity bulls checked in (the Classic bulls were over at the 4Cs arena).

I’d imagine it’ll be the American Heritage the next time we see a crowd of so many breeders from all corners of the country, so if you missed Stephenville mark your calendar for the end of May. These big events are a great opportunity to network, learn more about the industry and just have an all-around great time with otehr bull folks!

There’s a lot of bull news to cover, but what really matters is people. I am so glad my buddy Flint is recovering  and doing well after his heart attack.

I am so sad JW and Cody lost their mom.  At the same time, I’m so happy that JW and LeAnn’s son Wacey has arrived and I hope he brings the entire Hart family some comfort.

That’s it for now… bull news can wait.

Well a lot has been going on… the first ABBI Classic was held in OKC and it was Las Vegas deja vu: Crosswired won first and Black Pearl got second.  I’m excited to see what happens this weekend in Kansas City!

Marchi couldn’t do it, but Mauney rode Bones and claimed some big $ from Tom Teague. The Tom Teague vs. Chad Berger smackdown has been postponed, if/when that happens it’ll be interesting to see  what the dollar figure is and what bulls are involved.

So the rumors ARE true…. Cowboy extraordinaire Ty Murray and his wife, songstress Jewel, will star on next season’s show!

No offense to Guilherme, but I’m not surprised. Can JB beat Bones?  I’d have to vote for Bones, but JB may last longer than Marchi. I just hope these match-ups continue… good for the sport and helps to build up our animal athletes.

What an exciting weekend! In Fresno, Matt Bohon rode Charlie Bullware (ending the bull’s buck-off streak), Zack Brown looked like he got in a battle with Edward Scissorhands after All In bucked him off and then hooked his vest and shirt and Kody Lostroh rode Troubadour to win the event. Not many cowboys have ridden Troubadour, and this was Lostroh’s second successful trip on the highest winning money bull of all time.

Moving on to Sacramento…. surprisingly  absent from the short go were Marchi, Mauney and Lostroh. But Zack Brown was in the short go again and the bull he chose was… All In! Brown, who retired from bull riding after a nasty wreck a few years ago, has been back with a venegance but it was still somewhat of a surprise that he’d want a bull he didn’t make the whistle on and who shredded his clothing. He came prepared, he duct taped the sides of his vest (where the velcro fastens) to prevent All In from tearing it off a second time.

Brown made it to the whistle to win the event. “I learned in Fresno what I needed to do to ride All In,” Brown explained, “and I taped my vest on just to be safe!”

Apparently one of my New Year’s resolutions needs to be to post more frequently.  I wanted to blog about Jimmy Anderson’s passing but it was all I could do to get it up on the Bull Pen Magazine website, it was just too heart breaking to write about when it happened.

When I ran into Rob Smets at the South Point after the NFR, and he told me Jimmy was gone, I couldn’t believe it. He was only 55! I remember watching him fight bulls when I first started working for PBR. He was one of the greats and he’ll be greatly missed.

When I think of the friends and wonderful people the bucking bull and rodeo industry has lost, I really am left with an overwhelming sense of sadness. I remember when Glen Keeley died, it was one of the first events I ever worked when I was doing pr for the PBR. The first press conference I ever held was to announce his death and it is still the one I remember every detail of.

I remember meeting Greg Crabtree at the first BFTS (then Bud Light Cup) PBR event he ever worked, it was my last doing pr for the PBR. He couldn’t find a ride to the airport for his evening flight, so he and I went out to lunch and killed a few hours before we left town.

Every time I write a story about Flying U or Moreno bloodlines, I remember Mikel Moreno.  I was talking to Cindy (Mikel’s mother) just the other day and I was reminded of how well he spent his brief time here on earth and how he was a bullman wise beyond his years.

But none of these people are forgotten. It was wonderful to see how Glen’s spirit is kept alive. At the PBR Canadian Finals in November he seemed to be in the arena with us, watching his friends ride.The bullfighters in the arena today all carry traits of Greg and Jimmy.  Every Canadian bull rider carries a piece of Glen, whether they had the privilege of meeting him or not. So many great bulls will continue to come out of the breeding program that Mikel influenced, and the crosses he decided to try. Mikel’s spirit is reflected in the ABBI junior breeders and everyone passionate not just about bulls, but about life.

A new season has started. Not much has happened with the ABBI events yet, that will kick into gear soon. The PBR has a few events under its belt and I’ll be heading to Fresno this weekend for the BFTS.  It will be exciting to see if J.B. Mauney can continue his streak from Madison Square Garden.

I hope 2009 holds many wonderful things for the industry. What I hope it doesn’t hold (but inevitably will) is the lose of another wonderful member of the bucking bull community. I am glad 2008 is over. I nearly lost my stepmom on Thanksgiving and my cousin shortly after. Both are out of the ICU now and I am truly blessed to still have them in my life.

Please remember to love and appreciate friends and family while you have them.

This picture is of Jimmy Anderson, my friend Rhonda Truetts’ kids Corey and Taylor and me from  2000 at a Bud Light Cup. Notice that Jimmy is wearing a sticker in memory of Glen Keeley.

It is great to see so many familiar-and new-faces in Las Vegas at the WNFR. The bulls are looking great-it was a pleasure to get to see such talented athletes as Troubadour, Grey Dog and White Magic buck again so soon after the PBR World Finals…. I am getting spoiled watching such amazing animals compete! But it does seem strange to only get to watch 15 bull rides a night, versus 45 plus at a PBR event. I have been to well over 200 PBR events in the past decade but this is my very first time at the NFR so I am doing my best to learn as much as possible about the other rodeo sports… but at heart I am pretty sure I’ll always be a bull girl

It was an exciting last two rounds of the Canadian Finals up here in Calgary. Aaron Roy, who finished 13th at the PBR World Finals, went into the event with about twice the dollars of any other Canadian. He didn’t win the event, but was able to hang onto his $ lead to be crowned the PBR Canadian National Champion. “Its something I’ve been chasing for a couple of years and it feels so good to finally win,” stated the Champ.

The event winner was an Aussie who was visiting Canada for the very first time, Jock Connolly. Another Aussie, BFTS star Greg Potter, came back from a long injury to put on an impressive performance and make it back to the short go of 10 contenders. Other non-Canadian notables in the short go were Mike Lee (who had the lead before getting bucked off his fourth bull)and Beau Hill.

Eno/Kubinchak’s Unabomber won Bull of the Finals honors. Unabomber has had several trips to the BFTS including the World Finals. In Las Vegas, he bucked off Matt Bohon, Shane Proctor and Aaron Roy and was scored as high as a 46-making his high score and subsequent win at the Saddledome no surprise.

Greetings from Canada!

Braithwaite & Dansey’s Boogie Man had something to kick up his heels about last night- even though he didn’t buck in round two of the PBR Rocky Cup Canadian National Finals.

The great bull, who bucked in rounds 1 and 5 of the PBR World Finals, was announced as the 2008 Canadian Bull of the Year during last night’s event. In Las Vegas he bucked off Rocky McDonald (who is also competing here in Canada) but he didn’t get by Dustin Elliott who posted an 88.75 on him.

Boogie Man will buck tonight during the Final Round of the Canadian National Finals.  I’ll bring you the new Canadian National Champ news first thing tomorrow, as well as which man won the event (there are a handful of cowboys with two rides, so tonight’s two rounds will make it or break it for somebody).