DEL RIO,Texas - Walk This Way, one of the most famous bucking bulls in the country, died on Monday, Nov. 19th from an untreatable abscess in his chest cavity.
The bull was eight years old and had made many appearances for Bad Company Rodeo at stops on the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Built Ford Tough Series and at rodeos in the Professional Cowboys Association (PRCA). He was selected for competition at the championship events of both associations four consecutive years from 2004-2007.
Probullstats.com has collected data on over 15,000 bucking bulls. Among those, Walk This Way was 10th in their power rankings, which is based on the percentage of buck offs, factoring in the level of the bull rider and the bull getting a good score. Walk This Way made several trips that weren’t recorded on their website. In well over 100 outs, he was only ridden four times. Twice he was ridden by PBR world champion Justin McBride for over 90 points. He was also ridden by Kasey Hayes and J.B. Mauney.
“I think he was hard to ride because he was so strong and he was so smart,” Mack Altizer owner of Bad Company Rodeo said. “He had an ability to feel where the riders were and buck out from under them if they made it past his first big leap out of the chute.”
Walk This Way was a grandson of the legendary Bodacious and out of a Wrangler Rivets cow. He was born and raised at the 3T Rodeo Ranch owned by Bob and Kristen Tallman from Weatherford, Texas.
“When he was born, he looked just like a Jersey calf,” Bob Tallman said. “He had the genetics behind him to be a great bucking bull, but it takes more than just genetics. Mack gave him the opportunity to rise to greatness. It’s extremely satisfying to be part of something like that.”
Altizer bought the bull in 2003 at a futurity sale in Stephenville, Texas with encouragement from world champion tie-down roper and all-around cowboy Cody Ohl. Dan and Jenifer Duncan, 6D Ranch, from Stephenville, Texas were partnered on the bull. Walk This Way’s professional debut started at the Fort Bend County Fair Rodeo in Rosenberg in 2003. Since that time, he was featured at events from New York City, to Chihuahua, Mexico.
“He was a bull that had the most heart in the world,” said Matt Austin who won the PRCA, Championship Bull Riders (CBR) and National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s championship titles in 2005. Austin had the chance to get on Walk This Way at the George Paul Memorial Bull Riding sanctioned by the CBR last May. Austin was bucked off in 2.1 seconds and the bull score came in at 45 points. “He wasn’t rider friendly,” Austin added. “But when he was ridden it was memorable. It was for points and I’d welcome the opportunity to get on him again.”
Altizer has been in the business of producing rodeos and bull ridings for over 25 years and has seen a lot of great bulls come through his program. Walk This Way was definitely one that will be at the top of his list.
“I think one of the things that made this bull so great was his demeanor outside of the arena.” Altizer said. “He was very photogenic and would look right at a camera. He’d even push a bull out of the way so he could see the camera. It didn’t matter where he was or what he was doing, he gave it his all every time. We have some calves out of him that we are hopeful about, but there will never be another Walk This Way. We are going to miss him.”
Copyright 1996 - 2008 Rodeo Attitude, LLC., All rights reserved.