D&H Page’s Bruiser – Sire of the Future?

Is SweetPro’s Bruiser the Sire of the Future?

There’s no bull we’ve ever had that does things like Bruiser,” said Dillon Page about D&H Page Cattle Company’s 2017 PBR World Champion and PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year.  “Out of the thousands of bulls we’ve raised, he’s one of a kind.”

SweetPro’s Bruiser has a list of accomplishments to back up Page’s claim.  He was the ABBI World Champion Classic Bull at the age of 4 in 2015, the same year he was Reserve Champion of the PBR.  Not a small feat considering the bull power he was up against and the fact that at 4, he was not yet at his peak of performance.  At 5, Sweet Pro’s Bruiser won the coveted title of PBR Bucking Bull of the Year, beating out some of the stiffest competition the PBR has ever seen.  In 2017, Bruiser, now 6 years old, continues to impress by winning the PBR title with an incredible average of 46.02 points highlighted by his 47 point performance in the championship round of The Finals.  It has been said that we may never see a better athlete than this talented and supremely skilled bull whose unpredictability is as predictable as his ability and determination to “bring it” each and every time.

“Bruiser loves his job.” Dillon Page remarked when talking about his champion bull.  “He brings it every time he bucks,” he added proudly.  “People don’t understand that these bulls enjoy what they do.”

What Bruiser does is put on a show of skill and athleticism.  When the latch cracks, he is ready to show his stuff.  And he has been bucked in both the PRCA and the PBR for a total of 21 outs in 2017.  He has had a total of 84 outs – 25 in 2016, 23 in 2015 and 15 as a 4-year-old in 2014.  And he holds an overall average bull score of 45.473.  That’s quite a feat in today’s grueling world of bull riding.

“He’s big and strong.  He can handle the bigger, stronger riders,” explained Page, remarking about Bruiser’s outstanding career.  “We buck him a lot and he’s never been crippled.”

Inside the arena, Bruiser is a mass of mobilized energy with a wit that keeps the riders and bull fighters guessing as to his next move.  With a power rating of 88.16, he is a bull that receives the highest respect.

But there is another side to Bruiser, the one Dillon Page says makes his bull extra special.

“Bruiser has a special personality.  He’s got a personality like people do.  He’s gentle, although that wasn’t always the way.  Now his mama’s not close to being real gentle,” Page chuckled.  “But Bruiser’s been kept in a pen like a horse.  That gentled him down.”

Bruiser usually has his own travelling accommodations and is an easy traveler.

“He likes to travel.  When he knows the truck is backing up, he comes running.  When we’re loading, he has a soft beller that he does while he’s pacing the pen like he’s talking to you ,” Page said.  “He is usually kept in his own spot in the trailer.  He eats real well.  He’s no problem.”

And Bruiser likes people.

“That’s what’s his special personality.  He has persons that he likes.  If one of his special people walks up to the pen, he will walk up to wait for a rub, like a dog.  He will try to put his head under your hand so you can rub on him,” related Page.

“But if he’s doing something like eating or something he wants to do and he doesn’t want you there,” continued Page, “he’ll give you a nudge.  And sometimes it’s a big nudge because he has some pretty big bull size.”

Before Bruiser bucks or exercises, he has a ritual he performs.  And he refuses to be interrupted.

“When we’re running him through, he will find a rough spot on the part of the gate, often the latch, and he will scratch on his neck, chin and jaw.  And he won’t stop and move on until he’s done,” laughed Page.  “Sometimes he finds another rough spot on the way through and goes through the whole ritual again.”

With Bruiser’s genetics and incredible accomplishments as a bucking bull, the hope is that he will become an outstanding sire.  His sire is 009 Showtime (Wolfdancer) and he’s out of Page cow T8 (Little Yellow Jacket x255 – 152 (Mudslinger)).  D&H Cattle Company is using Bruiser’s reputation in the bucking bull industry to promote the sport of bull riding.

When D&H Page Cattle Company needed to provide an incentive to bull riders to enter bull riding events on the Powder River Rodeo/D&H Cattle Company Tour, they decided to offer a Bruiser heifer to the rider with the highest points at the end of the season.  The incentive worked even better than expected.

“Our goal was to get the competitors to come to the small circuit rodeos.  We wanted more contestants,” Page explained.  “It was a spur of the moment thing.  We had put on a couple of rodeos with no contestants so we came up with the idea of giving away a heifer.  We chose Bruiser because people know him.”  Page went on to say, “The idea did work.  At least we’d like to say that is why entries went up 30 to 35 percent.  We got the circuit riders to come to our events and we got the top 10 guys in the standings as well.”

The heifer is from last year’s crop of Bruiser calves.  And the riders were competing for a real prize.

“The guys probably don’t even know how special this heifer is,” Page told us.  “She’s one of only three heifers Bruiser sired in that calf crop.  She’ll come bred back to one of our real good bulls.”

The value of Bruiser’s baby girl – $25,000.  Now that is one big statement of confidence in the ability of Bruiser to pass on his genetics to his offspring.

The lucky winner was Sage Kimzey.  He and the rest of us will be waiting with great interest to see how much of Bruiser’s exceptional traits are passed on to his heifer’s calf.  It is quite possible that Bruiser might well become the sire of the future.

Terry Lidral for BST

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.