The Silver Spurs Riding Club is famous for its Silver Spurs Quadrille team and being one of the most looked forward to rodeos in Florida for visitors and locals to attend every year. But, one thing that a lot of people don't know, is that the Silver Spurs Riding Club is also a rodeo stock contractor. All the broncs (or "horses" as some people call them), bulls, steers, and calves you see compete at the Silver Spurs Rodeo actually live on the Silver Spurs Ranch down in Kenansville, Florida. There are more than 100 bulls and broncs that live on the Silver Spurs Ranch and range from rough stock who haven't started to buck, those that are currently registered with Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) as Silver Spurs Riding Club rough stock, and those that are retired from bucking. On previous blogs, we've talked about the livestock's journey from the ranch to the arena, but on this month's blog, we want to highlight the rough stock's life when they aren't competing in rodeos in Florida.

From typical Florida thunderstorms to blazing hot heat waves, you can bet that our Silver Spurs Riding Club volunteers will be out at the ranch taking care of the rough stock. With more than _ acres of ranch land for the broncs and bulls to graze on throughout the day, there are still certain vitamins and nutrients that the rough stock need that can't be found naturally. Because of this, our volunteers will visit the ranch each morning and give them a special feed that. When a calf or foal are born, it's almost like a new baby is born in the Silver Spurs Riding Club family. The stock contractors will usually wait until it is about one year old, also known as a pre-futurity bull, before it is ever bucked. After the first buck, the calf is bucked about two or three more times to see if the bull has the talent and wants to buck. After the calf shows the potential to be a good bucking bull, the calf is given six months to eat and grow. When the bull reaches about two years old, the bull is bucked about once a month until they become familiar with the bucking motion. There is no particular breed of cattle that has a reputation for producing good bucking bulls, though many of the bulls at our rodeos are a Brahman-crossbreed. Genetics play a huge role in helping produce a good bucking bull. With advances in technology, ranchers often look for the best cow and bull to mate in the hopes of producing a great bucker.