Coffey Breeding – A Legacy of Great Bucking Stock

February 9, 2018

When Charlie Coffey and his father Gene, brought up some cattle from South Texas in the late 1960’s, they were looking to build a herd of rodeo cattle. What they did was develop a breeding program that would serve as one of the genetic foundations for the American Bucking Bull.

The Coffey breeding program, now run by Charlie’s son Charlie Don, has produced a legacy of great bucking bulls that have proven themselves as outstanding athletes and sires. Charlie Don is proud of what his dad and granddad started from those cattle brought up from Texas five decades ago.
“My dad and my granddad, Gene, brought some cattle up from South Texas around 1967 or 68,” Charlie Don Coffey told us. “They were Mexican cross cows and they had the fighting blood in them. They had that size and they were hot.”

Charlie and Gene used those cows with Mexican blood to raise a herd of bucking cattle.
“We didn’t buy cows,” Charlie Don explained. “We raised our own.”
Once the Mexican cross cows produced heifers, the Coffeys stuck with their own progeny to build their herd. That established the Mexican hot and athleticism into the Coffey bloodline.
The Coffeys also had their own sires.

“Back in the day,” Charlie Don told us, “we went by numbers.  We had a bull known only as #11. We bred him for one year and we got seven heifers out of him.”

Three of those heifers went on to produce bull calves that would end up in the top ranks of professional bull riding.

“There was the mama to High Voltage and her sister who was the mama to MGM Grand,” said Charlie Don. “Then there’s Granny. She was a tall black cow. If you knew what you were looking for, you could see the Mexican blood in her.”

Granny was the dam to the distinguished bull Skat Kat. The 1996 and 1998 PRCA Bull of the NFR, hauled by Sammy Andrews, was a five-time NFR and PBR Finals qualifier. Charlie Don describes Granny as a cow with attitude – attitude that she gave to Skat Kat.

“She only had probably less than a quarter fighting blood, but she got that hot. And Granny had that fighting blood attitude.”

Not only was Granny hot, she was super athletic.

“She could jump a fence, and out in the pasture she was hard to pen. She had big horns which we cut off.”

The Coffeys bred Granny to the bull #61 Hooter who was brought in to outcross the bloodlines. Hooter had a monster set of horns which he passed off to Granny’s calf, Skat Kat.

“We got Hooter from a friend. He was breeding roping stock and we brought him in to breed with our bucking stock. It was a cross that just clicked.”

Skat Kat inherited Granny’s athleticism, a trait that he passes on as a sire and grandsire. His sons include such impressive bucking bulls as Kamo Kat, Sudden Impact, Splat Kat, Kelly’s Kat, Bo Kat and Ace of Hearts. This remarkable bull was listed at ABBI’s #1 sire by historical earnings from 2001 through 2003.

Cindy Rosser of Flying U Rodeo has incorporated Coffey genetics into her very successful breeding program.

“I am a big fan of Skat Kat,” said Cindy. “We have his son, Mikel’s Kat, who was a great bucker, and now his calves buck too.”

Cindy, who rates Skat Kat as one of the leading female producing sires, has had great success with Skat Kat daughters. “Charlie and Jan Chadwick’s bull, Charlie Bullware, was out of a great producing Skat Kat daughter. Charlie was a great futurity, classic, PBR Finals and NFR Bull. So I have crossed a super Whitewater daughter to Skat Kat, and I am just waiting to buck those calves soon.”

Cindy has a four year old Skat Kat son with the horns and attitude of his daddy. She says this bull is a bull the Coffeys would really like.

Besides Skat Kat, Granny produced Go Kat Go, who also inherited her athletic genes. This time the Coffeys used a Sammy Andrews bull, Might Whitey, for a highly successful outcross. Go Kat Go, who bucked in the professional ranks, is the sire to the highly accomplished bull More Bucks. More Bucks has been successful at every level – futurity, derby, Classic – and has made it to the PBR Finals and the NFR.

Although Granny was not a prolific producer, her calves made a great impact on the Coffey breeding program.

“I know Granny had a heifer too,” said Charlie Don. “But I didn’t DNA her. I know she’s in our program, but I haven’t kept track of her.”

It’s a sure bet that Granny’s heifer has passed on her mama’s Mexican fighting blood and athleticism that will influence the success of future generations of Coffey calves.

It has been said by those in the business that the Coffeys have raised as many good bulls as most any other program.  Statistic show they are right.  Just take a look at the numbers for 2005 PBR Bucking Bull of the Year Big Bucks, sired by Alley Cat, whose dam was the daughter of Coffey’s Deuces.  Sugar Bucks is a Big Bucks daughter.  Her son More Big Bucks is currently racking up stats on the PBR circuit.

Looking forward, it’s most likely a sure bet that we will be seeing a lot more greatness from the Coffey bloodline that started with some Mexican cross cows.

by Terry Lidral
for Bucking Stock Talk

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.