by Terry Lidral
Matt Scharping started Phenom Genetics with a Reindeer Dippin’ daughter and 4 other heifers. From those 5 heifers, he has built a breeding program that produces around 90 percent of the bucking bulls he hauls to a busy professional rodeo schedule in association with Sankey Pro Rodeo.
“My goal is to raise and develop young bulls that will be successful in bull riding competition,” Scharping told us about his approach to building his breeding program. “Rodeoing gives me the opportunity to see how good the young bulls are and to allow them to develop in a competitive environment.”
The five heifers Scharping started off with were from top bloodlines: Reindeer Dippin’, Mossy Oak Mudslinger, Kid Rock, Tahonta and Panhandle Slim bloodlines. He’d done his research to develop a foundation to build a successful breeding program. Read the story here: https://buckingstocktalk.com/matt-scharpings-phenom-genetics-built-on-the-competitive-edge/
Hauling young bulls to rodeos means that no 2 years are the same.
“Every set of bulls is different,” Scharping told us. “I haul my bulls as 3-year-olds and rodeos put them up against good quality riders. It gives me a chance to get to see how they handle themselves in competition and how talented they are. Also, I get to see how they mentally deal with the competition environment.”
For rodeos, Scharping has around 25 bulls at a time on the semi, both young bulls and bulls with experience. He doesn’t have a fixed set of bulls. He’ll interchange his bulls as he assesses their physical condition, potential and the level of the individual events.
“I need a set of bulls that can handle the demands of the rodeo we’re going to,” Scharping explained. “Depending on the event, I adjust my program to fit certain things. I don’t want to give up too many rides in any one event. The bulls shouldn’t be too easy. It’s entertaining for the fans to see 8 second rides, but cowboys need to make some money.”
“I like to see 6 holes paid. If I have the right set of bulls, there should be around 6 that get ridden. The fans are happy and entertained because they see rides. And that number gives a good chance that if a cowboy stays on, he’ll make money. It’s no good if a cowboy rides and he doesn’t get paid. We need to take care of the cowboys.”
Although he raises most of the bulls he hauls, he will occasionally buy a bull to add to his herd.
PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year H19 Magic Touch was raised by McGuire Cattle Company. Scharping saw the bull’s potential and bought the bull to add to his program.
“I do buy some as young bulls, maybe 2 or 3,” Scharping told us. “They are bulls that show the potential to improve our set.”
Scharping thinks that the success of a young bull depends on preparing them mentally.
“If a bull is fed correctly, they can take a rope. It’s the mental part that is what they have to handle,” said Scharping about his expectations for his rodeo bulls. “Bucking bulls have to be able to handle being rode. They will get rode, no matter how good they are. If they can’t deal with that, then they are not worth anything.”
“I don’t buck my bulls in the practice pens unless I need to assess them before a sale,” he went on to say. “I want them ridden by a rider with good skills and who will make his best effort to ride for 8 seconds. Otherwise, the bulls will learn bad habits.”
“This has been a great year rodeoing and it’s been a great crop of 3-year-olds,” he went on to say. “This set I’ve been hauling this year are all talented enough to handle professional rodeo competition. And there are young bulls I didn’t have a chance to even buck that probably could have fit into that set.”
One of the top bulls Scharping hauled this year was Ghostship Warrior who is a Crazy Mother Trucker son out of a Deacon daughter. “He may be the most mentally mature young bull I’ve raised,” Scharping told us. “That bull just loves his job. He was little and I didn’t know if he’d handle it and then he ended up in the 5 pen with the best of the best. I’m so proud of him making his first NFR as a 3-year-old.”
Scharping has built a program that boasts a high rate of success through selective herd management. He does not keep any cows that are not consistently quality producers.
“We have a small farm with limited space. I have 35 head of cows, which is not a huge number. Over the years, I’ve culled hard to keep the number down and to ensure that my program produces buckers,” said Scharping. “If a yearling bull doesn’t buck, he goes, his mother goes and all the heifers out of that mother go as well.”
For Scharping, culling is a matter of removing the culled animals entirely from the bucking stock pool.
“I take the animals I cull to the sale barn. None of them get sold as bucking stock. I don’t want my cast-offs in anybody else’s program.”
The Phenom Genetics program includes top sires like Air Time and Magic Train whose genetics speak for themselves. Both have an impressive list of highly successful progeny.
Air Support is an Air Time son who was the #1 bull in the PBR in 2020. Unfortunately, Air Support died unexpectedly before he could collect the title. Other successful Air Time sons include Time for Magic, Total Air, Bugatti, Fast Flow and Airborne to name a few. Read more about Air Support here: https://pbr.com/news/2020/06/remembering-air-support-2015-2020/
“Air Time produces well with whatever genetics he’s crossed with. There are few bulls that cross well with anything,” Scharping told us. “Time for Magic is a bull that is an Air Time son out of a Magic Train daughter. He was a Wrangler National Finals bull who is very strong and athletic. He has great genetics on top and bottom.”
“Bulls out of Air Time daughters are doing well. These cows with the Air Time genetics are producing good bulls,” he went on to say.
Scharping’s program delivers a high percentage of quality bucking bulls. He’s raising more talented bulls than he needs for rodeos.
“I don’t sell too many of my bulls. Occasionally I will sell a calf in the belly of a cow. But I have to keep my numbers in check and at the moment, I have too many good bulls,” Scharping said about the success of his breeding program. “There are some young bulls in my program that I haven’t even bucked. I’ll buck them and then decide which ones to sell from my program.”
3X PBR World Finals bull Bad Beagle is proving to be a top-quality producer for the Phenom Genetics program. His coming 3-year-old son PG322 out of an Air Time daughter just sold in the October 29th sale on The Breeders Connection for $63,000. Bad Beagle’s 3-year-old son PG204 out of a Magic Train daughter sold for $40,000 in the same sale.
According to Scharping, the best Bad Beagle calf is 202 Humboldt who will remain in Scharping’s herd. Humboldt was hauled on the truck this past year and was the highest marked bull at the Pendleton Roundup.
Matt Scharping started out with those 5 heifers and a passion to raise bucking bulls. He has grown his program with a focus on small and high quality. His success with Phenom Genetics speaks for itself. With the producing genetics of Bad Beagle, as well as Air Time and Magic Train, it’s a program with a great future in the bucking bull industry.
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.