by Terry Lidral
804 Time For Magic, a product of Matt Scharping’s Phenom Genetics breeding program, is making moves to be a superstar like his daddy, the great PBR bull Air Time. This year, as a 4-year-old, Time For Magic has a one hundred percent buck-off record with 3 bull scores of 47 and has been the high marked bull of 5 events.
“It’s hard to raise one that bucks like 804 Time For Magic. But it’s what we strive for,” said Scharping about the bull who is turning heads with some big bull scores. “They raise thousands in the industry just to get one like this.”
Time For Magic is the son of the PBR superstar bull 927 Air Time and the grandson of the PBR Finals bull 43X Magic Train. Both bulls came to the Phenom Genetics program through the Jared Allen’s Pro Bull Team that was founded by Scharping and Allen, in part, to promote Allen’s “Homes for Wounded Warriors” project.
The bull showed promise as a calf the first time he was bucked with a dummy.
“That bull showed a ton of talent from the beginning,” Scharping told us. “But he didn’t put it together right off. It took him awhile. Air Time has leggy, bigger calves and Time For Magic stayed more athletically built. I didn’t want to wreck him so I let him take his time.”
Because Scharping is confident in the calves his cows produce, he doesn’t push a bull’s talent and ability to buck while they are youngsters. Read more about the Phenom Genetics program here: https://buckingstocktalk.com/matt-scharpings-phenom-genetics-built-on-the-competitive-edge/
“I don’t push my calves with a dummy. They don’t have to be futurity calves to stay in my program,” explained Scharping. “We have a rodeo card and I need big bulls. So, it pays for me to keep my talented calves and let them grow into a rider bull.”
Time For Magic’s mother is out of Magic Train’s first calf crop. And Time For Magic was her first calf.
“The mother of Time For Magic was a first-calf heifer. And he’s the only bull calf that she’s had She’s had three heifers since him and 2 of them are his full siblings,” Scharping informed us. “We have a very select breeding program with 35 cows. We’re hoping that these female siblings are producers and will become part of that herd.”
Phenom Genetics’ impressive Air Time son is confident and is good with handling all the things that go on in top level competition. Scharping attributes his bull’s ability to handle things, in part, to the fact that he was out of a first-calf heifer.
“Bulls out of first-calf heifers tend to be tougher and they learn how to deal with what comes their way. Because it’s their first calf and they have no experience, these heifers are usually not good mothers. They don’t know what to do. So, the calves end up having to fend more for themselves.”
Time For Magic’s toughness showed through in his first season on the PRCA circuit in 2021 as a 3-year-old.
“He was good,” said Scharping, talking about the bull who had no problem with the stresses of the PRCA his first year out. “He was kind of a jerk. He was mean and pushed his weight around but that was just being a 3-year-old bull.”
Time For Magic put up some good bull scores but he did get ridden in Pendleton.
“He got ridden and it was my fault,” Scharping told us with a hint of regret. “I put him out of the wrong delivery. He’s a right-hand delivery and I messed it up.”
This year, as a 4-year-old, Time For Magic has more than redeemed himself and Scharping for that out in Pendleton. With a perfect buck-off record and multiple 47 bull scores, the bull is showing off his talent.
“He weighs somewhere around 1550 to 1600 pounds and there’s a lot of that animal off the ground when he bucks. There’s a ton of intensity from start to finish,” said Scharping. “That bull really proved himself when he bucked Creek Young off. Time For Magic handed Young his ass,” he continued with a big laugh. “Young is in the top group of riders in the world and is super talented. Time For Magic just took care of him easy.”
Time For Magic has put up some impressive bull scores. See his stats here: https://prorodeo.com/bio/stock/time-for-magic/129610
Scharping is impressed with the way his bull has chilled out and the way he goes about taking care of business.
“He’s pretty chill now but when he runs down the lead-up, he does get his motor running. And he can get in a rider’s head in the box. He’ll play mind games.”
Time For Magic is well aware of what’s going on around him when he’s standing in the chute. And it’s led to a bad habit that Scharping has had to overcome.
“This bull listens for the latch, just like his daddy Air Time.” Scharping told us. “He’ll get messed up if it’s not silenced. So, we have to make sure we silence the latch and get the gate out of the way.”
A major reason that attention has to be paid to get the gate out of the way is that Time For Magic bucks right out of the gate. And he bucks hard.
“Time For Magic has power, rear, kick and intensity. And he does it right out of the gate. There’s no time for a rider to warm up. It’s right there and it gives the judge a good chance to see what this bull can do,” said Scharping about why his bull scores so high on quick buck-offs.
804 Time For Magic earned a berth in the 2022 @abbibulls Classic Finals in Las Vegas by splitting 2nd place in the Wildcard competition in Fort Worth.
“I’m planning on going back to the PBR because of this bull’s talent. I haven’t hauled bulls to the PBR in a while but we need to show this bull off.”
For now, Time For Magic will spend his time on the ranch in Minnesota in a private pen next to his daddy, Air Time.
“He’s lived in a big group of bulls and he did fine,” Scharping told us about the bull who has great promise. “But now he’s shown how good he is and I don’t want him getting hurt out in the herd. We’ve got high hopes for this one.”
Author: Terry Lidral
Terry Lidral is a western writer/journalist who lives in Idaho. She is the publisher and editor of the online magazine Bucking Stock Talk and the online magazine Western Living Journal. Her publishing credits include Storyteller for Real American Cowboy Magazine, writing feature articles for Humps N Horns Magazine as well as a wide variety of national and international web sites, historical magazines and news publications. She is known for her "up close and personal" profiles of celebrities and industry moguls such as NPR's Tom Bodett; PBR's Wiley Petersen and D.H. Page, PRCA's Sammy Andrews, Cindy Rosser and Julio Moreno to name a few. She has been applauded for her way of making a personal connection between her readers and her subjects. She indulges in her love of rodeo by serving as an associate board member for the Caldwell Night Rodeo. She is also an accomplished trainer and handler in dog agility. Her shelties Amelie and Milo are titled in NADAC, USDAA and AKC.
