PBR CHAMP KODY LOSTROH – FROM RIDING BULLS TO RAISING BUCKERS

by Terry Lidral

Kody Lostroh’s Shield of Faith Cattle Company has grown from a hobby into a first class breeding program.

Kody Lostroh has been raising bucking bulls since 2006.  But he’s been in love with the sport of bull riding since he was just a kid.  PBR World Champion in 2009, Lostroh began his own bucking bull program 13 years ago and has been raising bulls ever since.

“I rode bulls and I just think bulls are really cool. They are so athletic and powerful,” Lostroh said of the animals he now raises and trains.  “They overmatch us in strength but we can counter that with quickness and agility.  And then there are the good times when we win,” Lostroh explained about his philosophy of a sport that demands surviving 8 seconds on the back of a powerhouse bovine. 

Lostroh started out small in the beginning, but built quickly from there.

“It kind of started out as a hobby,” said Lostroh about the beginning of what has developed into his Shield of Faith Cattle breeding program.  “I bought a weanling that was a grandson of Mossy Oak Mudslinger.  Then I bought a cow and a couple of heifers and picked up a few here and there.  It began to grow exponentially.”

Lostroh didn’t rely just on bloodlines and genetics to start his program.  He did his research on the females he bought and sought out good producing cows.

“I got started at the height of bloodline papers.  The papers made stuff look good.  But I did my research by focusing on the actual production.  I worked on finding females that were proven producers and getting hold of their daughters.  Producing females are nearly irreplaceable.”

Lostroh went on to say, “The staple of my herd is a cow named Party Girl that goes back to Monty Samford’s female MSO, the mother to the great bulls Night Life and Wild Life.”

The Monty Samford cow MSO is said to be one of the best producing cows of all time.  She was the dam to Wild Life and Night Life, both sons of the great sire Houdini.  Wild Life and Night Life sold for $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.  Lostroh’s Party Girl cow is a full sister to those two great bulls.

“Party Girl is the dam to 11 PBR bulls and is number 5 on the ABBI list of producing dams,” continued Lostroh.  “I’ve gotten several 3rd generation daughters and sons out of her.  I’ve bred all those animals and kept their daughters.”

When it comes to sires, Lostroh uses a variety of bulls in his breeding program.

“I use a little of everything,” Lostroh said about his approach to choosing genetics.  “I think outcrosses actually produce better bulls.  I’m not afraid to use different bulls in my program.  I’ve got Kish and Page.  And I like Canadian bloodlines.  One of the best bulls I’ve ever had, Gangster Party, is sired by I’m a Gangster from Lorne High.”

Gangster Party, now a four-year-old classic bull, is out of the Party Girl cow.  He’s loaded with great genetics and he’s proving himself as a first-class competitor.  But he sustained a severe injury at the age of two that almost ended his competition career early.

“I have another four-year-old bull called Too Dirty,” Lostroh told us.  “He’s out of a Mossy Oak Mudslinger son called Dirty Doug and his mother is a Too Legit daughter out of Party Girl.  That bull was crazy and when he was two he was in with Gangster Party.  Too Dirty came charging down the alley and slammed into Gangster Party so hard it broke Gangster Party’s jaw in three spots.”

The only way to save the bull was to reset his jaw and do a rumenotomy procedure that involved creating a hole in the flank that went directly into the stomach to feed him.  It took a great effort on the part of Lostroh and his wife to nurse the bull back to health.  But it was well worth it.

“Gangster Party has so much heart,” Lostroh explained of the bull who made it back from the brink of disaster to place in the top 5 in the ABBI Derby standings for 2018.  “He’s got intensity and speed and he gives it everything he’s got each and every time.”

As for Too Dirty, he’s showing that he can buck too.  Lostroh has hope that he’ll become a strong competitor as well.

Lostroh told us that his program is geared towards young bulls.

“We currently have about 150 head of bucking cattle on the ranch with mostly young bulls.  I’m geared towards competing with young bulls in futurities and beyond up through classic competition.”

Because raising and competing with bulls is a business, Lostroh is practical in his approach to what he keeps and what he sells. 

“I prefer to sell a bull before he’s classic age.  If I have 40 or 50 bulls standing around, I have to feed them and that costs money,” explained Lostroh.  “And I’m not opposed to selling a really good one regardless of his competition level.  It’s my business.”

As far as picking out those good ones, Lostroh begins the process of selection just after the bulls turn one.

I start bucking my young bulls the year after their birth year,” he told us.  “I cull the bottom end and I sell most for competition.  I do keep some that I would like to breed to.  It’s all rather circumstantial as to how they look compared to the others.”

Lostroh makes a big investment in his young bulls.  He feels that the ability of a bull is not all about genetics.  And that some bulls just won’t live up to expectations.

“I’ve been in this business long enough to know that a bull can be bred like a million dollars, but what they do is all up them.  I don’t put much stock in their ability until the calves are weaned.  But there are things I can tell before they are bucked like conformation and intelligence.”

For Lostroh, intelligence is a major factor in the makings of a good bull.

Lostroh explained, “You can have an amazing athlete who’s a complete idiot and acts stupid and won’t reach his potential.  An intelligent bull learns quicker and is less hard on himself.  A wild bull can be his own worst enemy.”

To give his young bulls the best chance for success, Lostroh puts in a lot of work early on so they understand the game.

“The life experiences of a young bull up until the time he bucks has an impact on his performance.  I handle them so they get used to it.  If you start early, they are moldable.  When they get bigger, they get wilder and can get hurt fighting against what they see as being out of control.  Earlier on, they are at a more manageable level.  Of course, a lot depends on the bull,” Lostroh added.

 He went on to say, “I run them through the chute about 20 times before I buck them for the first time.  They need to figure it out.  I get to know their personalities.  I work with them to make them comfortable with the process.  They’ll be wild enough on their own.  There’s no need to make them wilder by having them scared and thinking someone’s out to get them.”

Lostroh considers travel to be hard on young bulls.  That’s one reason he works so hard to get them to understand the process.

“You can push the comfort level so that they get the hang of things.  But taking them away from home is a big step for a young bull.  A bad experience can set a young bull back.”

Working with young bulls is rewarding for Lostroh, especially when he finds those bulls that stand out from the rest.

“I have two two-year-olds that are my favorites.  One is It’s a Party out of the Party Girl cow and sired by Bruiser,” Lostroh stated proudly.  “He just won his first futurity in February.  He sure breaks over and kicks hard and his personality is just like his father, Bruiser.  This little bull knows his job.”

The other bull is a full brother to It’s a Party but he is wilder and a lot bigger.

“You’d think that they’d be alike, but with bulls there’s no generalities.  It’s rarely ever the case that full brothers are the same.  The way the genes line up, you get different bulls with different characters.”

Lostroh used an embryo flush to get his two outstanding two-year-olds.  But the embryo flush is not something he advocates for every program.

“An embryo flush is a lot of work,” Lostroh cautioned.  “A lot of people have gotten crazy with the flushes and put a lot of time and money into an unproven cow.  A cow needs to be proven before you promote her.  You can take the embryos yourself and prove that that cow can produce quality calves.  Then you can go ahead and promote her out there as a producer.”

The Shield of Faith Cattle Company is run by Lostroh and his wife.  With traveling with his young bulls and the demands of taking care of 150 head, the business is very demanding.

“We’re thinking of downsizing,” said Lostroh.  “It’s just me and my wife.  When I travel, it’s just her to feed and care for all the stock.  It keeps us tied down.  And this year has been tough.  We lost calves with the harsh weather we’ve had.  It always hurts when you lose calves.”

As for the immediate future, Lostroh will be hauling bulls to futurities and derbies around the Colorado area and then hauling his classic bulls to ABBI events.

“I have the two of my own, Gangster Party and Too Dirty that I’ll be taking to classic events…  And I’ll be taking It’s A Party to futurity events.  I also have bulls I’m hauling from clients from Canada.”

As Lostroh says, there’s no generalities in the bucking bull business.  But it appears that Lostroh has found a winning combination of genetics and, perhaps someday in the not too distant future, one of his bulls might just win him another world championship buckle.