CJD — Bridwell brings the horses — and everything else
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, July 10, 2019
- Scarlet Lady is an NFR bareback bronc who unseats her riders, but is kind and gentle when not at work.
Rodeos don’t happen all by themselves. Somebody has to bring in the stock. Bridwell Pro Rodeos fits the bill for Chief Joseph Days.
This year, expect to see horses and bulls who are bred to buck, but who take life easy when they are not performing.
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Two of the bucking horses you’ll see at Chief Joseph Days are rodeo royalty. Bareback horse Scarlet Lady is a six-year-old bay mare. “She weighs around 1150 pounds, and stands about 16 hands,” said stock contractor Tim Bridwell. “She loves to buck. She’s an athlete, but she’s also a gentle mare who’s good to be around.” Her sire is Scarlett Letter, a famous JBarJ horse, who was one of the best buckers ever. Last year Scarlet Lady delivered the winning bareback ride of Chief Joseph Days to bronc rider Clay Bigelow. She’s also made great rides at the National Finals Rodeo last year, Bridwell said.
Beaver Bend, a big seven-year-old sorrel (chestnut) gelding will be in the saddle bronc chute. He’s Scarlet Lady’s half-brother — the two have the same sire. Beaver Bend’s mom, Beaver Fever, was one of the top performing rodeo horses of all time. She passed away last year at the age of 25. Whoever draws her son at Chief Joseph Days is going to get a great ride.
Looking for a bull who can give anyone who can stick on him for eight very long seconds a great score? Bridwell has just the ticket: Whose Bad News. This little 1500 pound white and black bovine bombshell is seldom ridden for a full eight-second ticket. “Anyone who can get him ridden will score 85 to 90 points,” Bridwell said. “He’s a great NFR bull.”
The CJD board doesn’t just allow any old company to bring livestock to the rodeo. Bridwell is one of the top stock contractors in the United States with their horses and bulls permeating the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (AKA: NFR or now, starting in 2019, WNFR) lineup. The Red Bluff, California stock contractor bought out the previous stock contractors, Growney Brothers, and now are the sole stock suppliers for CJD.
Bridwell said the company usually brings about 50 head of horses to CJD, the same horses you’ll also see in the Tuesday, July 23 bucking horse stampede through Main Street in Joseph that kicks off the rodeo.The logistics to bring the livestock to Joseph is impressive: In addition to 50 premier bucking horses, 20-30 bulls, about 50 calves and 75-100 head of steers will be arriving in Joseph’s Harley Tucker Arena livestock facility a day or two before the rodeo.
All these animals are athletes. And like any athlete prepping for a big event, they will all be well-rested and ready to perform. Prior to Chief Joseph Days, they’ll all be competing at the big Salinas, California rodeo, and then at the St. Paul rodeo east of Portland. “From there, we’ll take them up to Hermiston, where they’ll have a week of rest before we head for Joseph,” Tim Bridwell said. “The key is that like any athlete, they’ve gotta be fresh to give their best performance.”
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Good bucking horses and high performing bulls don’t happen by accident. Bridwell has an extensive breeding program that produces their top-quality livestock. Through the years, stereotypes of livestock, for example smaller horses for the bareback event and larger horses for saddle bronc, have vanished. Today, horses are assigned to events according to their bucking style and talents, Haley Bridwell noted.
She added that bull stock contractors started to breed for bucking ability before the horse world took it up.”At this stage of the game, it’s much easier to find good bucking bulls than good bucking horses,” Bridwell said.
But regardless of whether you are looking at bulls or broncs, you’ll see some of the best athletic performances in rodeo at Chief Joseph Days. And it’s not just the riders. It’s also the star four-footed performers who make the show go on.