by Terry Lidral
Steve and Cyndi Gilbert have been in the bucking bull business for decades. Their Diamond G Ranch in Torqueville, Utah is home to one of the finer bucking bull breeding programs in the industry. Great bulls like Mr. USA and White Magic have been bred and born on the Diamond G. The foundation of the outstanding Diamond G breeding program was a white charbray bull that went by the name of Ricky #183.
“Sammy Andrews had a big white bull that looked, to the ordinary observer, a great deal like Bodacious,” Cyndi Gilbert told us of the bull they came to purchase. “And he bucked just like him too. That bull was Ricky #183. He and Bodacious looked like brothers.”
Editor’s Note: Ricky #183 was a predecessor to Bodacious in the Andrews program. Bodacious was bought as a 4-year-old by Andrews in 1992, three years after Ricky was sold to the Gilberts at somewhere around 6 years old.
In 1989, Sammy Andrews hauled Ricky #183, a Gerald Smith bull, to the National Finals Rodeo where the Gilberts saw the bull buck. Andrews and Smith were partners on the bull and Smith decided to put his bull into that year’s NFR sale.
“We watched Ricky #183 buck in the NFR that year. He had unbelievable athleticism and we decided to buy him. We paid $15,000 for that bull,” Steve Gilbert told us with a laugh. “People thought we were nuts.”
But the purchase of the bull was well worth the hefty price. And his performance surpassed all expectations.
“We hauled that bull from 1989 through 1995,” said Cyndi Gilbert. “He was hauled to every major rodeo from coast to coast. And sometimes he had several outs per day. His heart never weakened. He bucked in the PRCA until he was around 15 years old.”
The Gilberts’ Ricky was a massive bull at 2150 pounds and his athleticism was astounding.
“He was big, but he was gentle,” said Steve Gilbert of the bull who loved to buck. “He’d stand in the chute and he liked being in the arena.”
But that didn’t mean Ricky didn’t know how to use his size and athleticism to get things done. He was a force to be reckoned with and he bucked off nearly every rider that got on his back, world champions and all. And he was a bull who had a mind of his own.
“He bucked all the top riders off,” Cyndi Gilbert told us with pride in her voice. “Champions like Jim Sharp, Clint Branger (who apparently was kryptonite for Bodacious in the Lazy E Arena), Michael Gaffney, Cody Custer, Tuff Hedeman, Terry Don West and a slew of other cowboys couldn’t ride him. The only cowboy of note that Ricky didn’t buck off was Ty Murray and that’s because Murray didn’t ever get on his back.”
“Ricky didn’t care how he got his rider off,” continued Steve Gilbert. “He never had the same trip in his life. He’d do whatever he had to to get that cowboy off his back. He had ‘performance smarts’ to feel the rider on his back and change up his bucking style. He was so strong that he’d slam the rider down to the ground.”
One of the major highlights of Ricky’s career came at the 1990 WNFR. Bull rider Norman Curry was doing the near impossible by riding all of his bulls. And Curry drew Ricky #183 in the 10th performance.
“Ricky had gone 309 trips unridden before Curry got on him at the 1990 WNFR. Curry rode him for a score of 94 on his way to claiming the title of PRCA Bull Riding World Champion. It was an incredible moment,” related Steve Gilbert of the special moment in time. “The Ricky ‘Go-Round Buckle’ is the belt buckle I wear to this day.”
There was great doubt—and scientific evidence–that the intelligence and athleticism of the Gilberts’ great bull would be passed on into their breeding program. Ricky was said to be sterile after being tested for fertility. But Ricky proved them wrong.
“We put him in with the cows as we thought he should enjoy himself! Over his breeding career, he came up with more than a hundred offspring,” chuckled Steve Gilbert at the joke related to their good fortune. “We knew they were Ricky’s calves because he never left those cows and those cows had babies—including four calves that were born after his death on March 23, 2000. He loved his life with his cows.”
Ricky loved being with his cows but he also loved going to buck at a rodeo.
“While he was simultaneously breeding and bucking, we would back our 4-horse trailer up to the breeding field gate and open the door,” Cyndi Gilbert said fondly. “Ricky would trot up the ramp and ride to the rodeo with three saddle horses. He LOVED the rodeos and the attention he received.”
“Ricky #183 is the cornerstone of our breeding program,” emphasized Cyndi Gilbert. “He loved to buck and he had a tremendous amount of strength and heart. And he loved rodeo. He was a very once-in-a-lifetime bull.”
It is interesting to note that in many of the bull’s direct offspring, and even generations later, a crooked nose will still present itself in Ricky’s progeny. He was buried on the Diamond G where his progeny would always be in his presence.
Affectionately called “Steve’s Bull,” Ricky #183 has created quite a legacy in the Gilbert’s highly respected bucking bull program. Their PBR superstar White Magic, who is rated 46th in Probullstats ’ historical rating, is double-bred Ricky genetics. -75 Mr. USA, the reigning WNFR Arena Record Holder for high-marked ride of 96 (set with Cody Hancock in the 10th Round of the 2001 WNFR) has a Ricky daughter as his dam. In 2020, Diamond G’s War Fury carried the Ricky genetics into the PBR Finals where he proved himself with some big bull scores and a lot of heart.
As the generations continue, more than 30 years later, Ricky’s genetics have proven to be worth far more than the initial investment of $15,000 back when the bull breeding business was merely an interesting hobby for some. Today with “bucking bulls” being big business, heart and passion still represent the reason the Gilberts remain in the game.
It’s a sure bet that as long as Diamond G breeds bucking bulls, Ricky #183 genetics will be coursing through the veins of their best stock. With the likes of War Fury carrying on Ricky’s tradition of heart and athleticism, the future of Diamond G looks bright.
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.
I seen this bull buck out many times him and vees own were awesome to watch but was cool to be in the corral and pet him like a dog great story
I got on ricky 183# in groveton tx when frank Wallace and ronnie areste were hauling him back in the day