by Terry Lidral
Feature image by Susan Hanrahan
A67 Reindeer Dippin was a sensation in the sport of bull riding. His extreme athleticism, his total unpredictability, his intense attitude, and his distinctive good looks captured fans wherever he bucked. He was one of a kind. Some even said he was a freak of nature. But everyone knew who he was.
“The fans of the PBR loved Reindeer,” said Cindy Rosser, of Flying U Ranch where the bull lived out his retired life. “They’d announce his name and there’d be a ‘wooo’ that went through the crowd. People were amazed by the way that bull could buck. Not many bulls could get in the air the way he could. And he loved what he did. He was one who put professional bucking bulls on the map for fans.”
Reindeer Dippin was a major celebrity in the PBR becoming as well known as the riders themselves. His popularity with the fans was a big reason for his success on the PBR tour.
Bull riding fans loved Reindeer Dippin but the riders did not. The bull’s unpredictability, combined with his wild acrobatics, made him a nearly unrideable opponent.
“Riders did not like to draw Reindeer Dippin. He never bucked the same way twice and they couldn’t figure him out,” Rosser said of the bull who was given a bull score of 48 (2 points from perfect) on 2 separate occasions . “You never knew what he was going to do. He’d blow this way and then that way. And that made riders not want to get on him. PBR’s live stock director Cody Lambert wanted to cut him. But fans were drawn to the PBR to see Reindeer and so the PBR kept the bull in the draw.”
A67 Reindeer Dippin of Flying U/Rosser Rodeo earned a lifetime PBR average of a 22.2 bull score with his best season in 2004 with a UTB bull score average of 46.29 and a buck off percentage of 100. (16 of his 18 outs that season were by top riders.) He had 2 more seasons with a bull score average over 45. He had an all-time 94.9 percent buck off rate. His ranking in the Probullstats Top 500 Bulls by Power Rating is 29th and his PBS Power Rating is 93. (An average PBR UTB short round bull has a power rating of 83.)
Reindeer Dippin didn’t start out as a fine-tuned athlete. Cotton Rosser acquired the bull in a group of 35 head he bought from Alex Nacarrato. He was not much to look at.
“He was scrawny and had been running wild out in the hills of Knights Ferry,” Rosser said of Reindeer Dippin who went on to be one of the most athletically talented bulls in the sport of bull riding. “My son, Mikel, saw something special In that scrawny wild little bull. So, he and his dad, Julio Moreno, worked with him to get him into shape.”
Never a bull to be predictable, Reindeer Dippin didn’t start off being interested in bucking. Mikel would flank him and he didn’t respond. Then one day the dummy hook came open and poked the bull. That’s when he showed his stuff.
Being cautious was Reindeer Dippin’s signature. Traveling was hard on him and he was anxious about being penned.
“If a bull ever had ulcers, that bull did,” Rosser told us. “He was like a fractious filly at the racetrack. He was known to go off his food and water and was constantly watching everything. Julio had to put Gatorade in Reindeer’s water so that the bull would drink.”
Reindeer had good reason to be cautious. In 2005, he’d bucked in Nephi, Utah and while being put away, he ended up in the wrong pen. The bull Matrix hooked Reindeer and threw him in the manger.
“It tore up his hock pretty bad,” explained Rosser. “We hauled him back to California to the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital where the vets fixed him up. We got him home and gave him meds twice a day. It took a couple of months for him to fully heal that busted up hock.”
And Reindeer gained a new fan club.
“Reindeer’s doctors from UC Davis came out to the ranch to visit him to see how he was doing. They fell in love with him and thought he was pretty cool,” Rosser told us about her bull’s ability to charm people.
The 1500-pound bull that looked like a “Reindeer” when he bucked competed in the PBR for 6 years, retiring in 2008. Over the course of his career, the bull earned the title of 2004 Bull of the NFR and was chosen to buck at the PBR World Finals 5 times.
“The PBR fans missed Reindeer when he was at the ranch recuperating and so my mom and I came up with this idea for a shirt,” continued Rosser. “We used the theme of ‘Got run over by Reindeer.’ And we put his actual hoofprints onto the back of the shirt. We got some black paint and got him to walk through it. It turned out really neat.”
The injury sustained at Nephi was actually the second time Reindeer had been involved in a serious incident while being penned at an event. After he’d bucked at a PBR bull riding at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, Reindeer’s wild ways caused him to try and jump an old tall wooden gate panel.
“He’d just bucked off world champion Adriano Moraes in the short round,” Rosser explained about Reindeer’s near disaster. “As the bulls were being moved back to their regular pens, Reindeer was by himself. He didn’t want to be left behind and tried to jump the wooden panel in front of him and hung his front foot. The workers were trying to get him out and Reindeer was thrashing around when Adriano came along. He jumped into the pen to help them and used his strength to push Reindeer’s wedged foot up and out. Afterwards Adriano laughed about saving the bull that had dusted him just minutes before.”
“Reindeer was most relaxed and happiest when he was out in the pasture with his ladies. He didn’t want to be separated from his herd and if we went to gather his cows, he’d step in front and push them back through the gate. Then he’d move the cows away from us just to make it more difficult. They were his,” Rosser told us with a laugh.
“Reindeer told me when it was time for him to retire. He was a bull that loved to buck. At a PRCA rodeo, he had an out where he just didn’t seem to care. I knew right then that he was done.”
He might have been done bucking, but Reindeer went on to prove himself as a world class sire. His son, 13/6 Bushwacker was the 3-time PBR World Champion bull and has been said by many to be the greatest bull ever to buck in the PBR.
Bushwacker was the product of Mikel Moreno’s innovative breeding program. Moreno studied the genetics of the bucking bull industry and combined Reindeer Dippin with a fourth generation Diamond’s Ghost daughter to produce one of the best bucking bulls in the history of the industry. Read the story here: https://buckingstocktalk.com/mikel-moreno-his-legacy-is-the-great-bushwacker/
1073/9 Roy was another famous Reindeer son who appeared to be on his way to a PBR World Championship when he sustained a life ending injury. Along with Bushwacker, he was likened to his father in athleticism and the ability to buck off the very best riders. Even after sustaining a devastating injury during his last out, Roy managed to buck off his rider in a great performance that earned him a bull score of 46.5.
13/6 Bushwacker was out of a 4th generation Diamond’s Ghost cow. He had 87 outs with only 3 rides. His ProbullStats Power Ranking is 95.63 which is 2nd all time and he holds an Historical Ranking of 3rd. His career average bull score is 23.009. He was awarded the PBR Ring of Honor in 2016.
1073/9 Roy was out of a Whitewater Skoal daughter. He had 24 outs in his career with a Probullstats Historical Ranking of 53rd. (22 of those 24 outs were by top riders.) His average bull score is 22.5 with his final out earning a score of 46.50.
0205/9 Deerango is another Reindeer son with a remarkable Probullstats ranking. He is Number 48 on the list of the Top 500 Bulls by Power Rating with a power rating of 91.92 over the course of 45 career outs. In 2014, his best year bucking in the PBR, Deerango had 13 outs, 9 by top riders, giving up no rides and averaging a bull score of 43.3. During the course of his career, he bucked off 7 world champions between the PBR and the PRCA. He is now retired from bucking and is proving himself to be a producing sire.
41 Reinmaker, another Reindeer son, is a three-quarter brother to Bushwacker and is putting up his own impressive stats. In the 2023 season, he has an average bull score of 45.
Reindeer Dippin passed on his athleticism to his sons. 0205/9 Deerango, 1474/2 Countin Cards and 26 Racketeer (from left to right) show off the genetics they inherited from their superstar sire.
There is a long list of Reindeer progeny who have bucked in the professional bull riding leagues. Besides those already mentioned, they include: NFR bull 1474/2 Counting Cards; R02 Gold Rush; 10728/2 Gold Digger; 13/7 Loco Weed; 438/7 Gizmo; +2/7 Red Man; 87 Schroeder; 06/7 Ransom; and 64/7 Mr. Feiger.
One of the traits Reindeer has passed off to his offspring is the intent to cause trouble in the chute.
“Reindeer liked to act up in the chute. He would jump up and was hard to get out on. It took a rope above his head to keep him standing. Some of his sons are the same way,” Rosser told us.
Rosser is pleased with the success she’s having with the Reindeer genetics. It’s not just the bulls who are producing.
“Reindeer daughters have produced for me. I have some nice Reindeer calves coming up. I’m looking forward to seeing what they will do. I recently shipped off a Reindeer daughter to a guy in Pennsylvania who wanted to put Reindeer genetics into his program.”
Reindeer is one of the most famous bulls ever to buck in the sport of bull riding. He has produced one of the greatest bucking bulls the sport has ever seen. And the legacy continues in his sons and grandsons.
Reindeer Dippin was recognized by the PBR as a great bovine athlete. Upon his death, PBR paid tribute to the superstar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn7Xc-NZiaw
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.
Reindeer was the Dale E Sr., of the PBR! R .I. P. MY FRIEND! You were the GREATEST ever! I will miss u.