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Bull Riding Athletes on Steroids!!!

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Anonymous

Guest
By Josh Peter, Yahoo! Sports
October 2, 2007


The steroids scandals have claimed the latest and perhaps most unlikely suspect yet.
The sport of bull riding may start drug testing some of its athletes – not the riders, the bulls.
As if the four-legged beasts that weigh up to 2,200 pounds don't have enough testosterone, some bull owners allegedly are injecting the animals with anabolic steroids.
"Oh, I think damn near everybody's doing it," said Jerry Nelson, one of the sport's top bull owners. "It ain't going to slow down. It's just like baseball, football, whatever. It's not going to slow down until you legislate (against) it."

Gary Warner, a prominent veterinarian in the world of bull riding, said he recently received calls from two bull owners asking him to look into the possibility of drug testing what some in the industry refer to as "the bovine athletes." Warner intends to bring the matter up for discussion at this month's World Finals in Las Vegas.
The PBR board of directors met Sept. 20 to discuss the implementation of an anti-steroids policy, tour CEO Randy Bernard said. The board will meet with Warner and PBR's attorney before fine-tuning the language, according to Bernard, who said the policy likely will call for the testing of the top-performing bulls at each event.
Gilbert Carrillo, a former rider who now raises bulls, said he would welcome drug testing considering what he's seen on the circuit.
"When you got a 2-year-old bull or a 3-year-old bull looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger, there is some form of steroid there," he said.
The practice dates back at least to the late 1990s, when Nelson said steroid use was so rampant he decided to give it a try. He said his bulls became more aggressive and muscular but also developed side effects. For some, hair color changed. Others grew sterile, jeopardizing their value as potential breeders.
Nelson said he promptly swore off steroids, but how many other trainers followed suit is a matter of debate.
Warner, who works with some of the sport's leading trainers, said inquiries from bull owners about steroid use has dropped substantially in the past 10 years to the point where few in the industry even have discussed it since he got the recent calls about the possibility of drug testing. Though there is no anti-doping policy for livestock in the Professional Bull Riders tour – the major leagues of bull riding – or the rest of the rodeo world, the use of anabolic steroids in bulls is unapproved and illegal.
Despite what steroids might do for major-league sluggers and NFL linebackers, Warner said he sees no competitive advantage by pumping bulls full of steroids. Yes, he said, steroids promote muscle gain, but only if you work out.
"The case in point is, gee, we're not sticking a bull underneath the weight rack and doing 700-pound squats," Warner said.
But suspicions of drug use heightened in 2004 when someone found empty syringes outside the pen that housed the bulls during the Professional Bull Riders World Finals in Las Vegas. The syringes could have been used to inject vitamin B-12 shots, which are approved for bulls. But Don Kish, president of American Bucking Bull Inc., took renewed concerns to the board of directors.
"We brought it up, passed some rules and then found out we passed some rules we didn't have the ability to enforce," he said.
Apparently the group couldn't settle on a definition of an illegal drug, considering some of the medications allegedly abused are narcotics approved for therapeutic use in bulls. But Warner said the industry could set permissible thresholds for approved medications and employ the same technology that is used to test racehorses to test bulls.
The root of alleged cheating in bull riding is – what else? – money. This year ABBI will pay out more than $1.6 million in competitions for bulls between ages 2 and 4.
Carrillo, who retired from riding last year to focus on raising bulls, said owners find themselves asking the same question.
"How can I make my bull perform better than it's already performing?" Carrillo said. "The first thing that comes to mind is steroids. They think steroids will make a bull jump over the moon.
"It does make a bull gain weight quicker, get more muscle mass quicker and make their performance a little better, but not as much as people think it would."
He paused momentarily as he considered bigger, faster and meaner bulls tossing cowboys into the air.
"I think they need to give the riders some steroids to help them hang on," he said.
 

Brad S

Well-known member
NR lotsa cowboys on dope. They say ya can't beat your equal if he's juicing. About everybody knows about big names like Joe Beaver ODing at the airport or Roy Cooper and the blow, but many college kids are taking up the bad habits. I was entering a team roping and the secretary kinda joked about a big time roper having baby powder across his face under his nose. I just chuckled privately, that ain't baby powder little sister. It used to be cocain, but now there's just so much meth. I don't really condone the bad company traveling group blazing up their marijuana back in the 70s, but this meth is all bad. Trouble is meth doesn't show up on a drug test nearly as long as marijuana.
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Guess I travel with different cowboys-but the best way to deflect critiscism away from your sport is to drag another into the dirt with you. Not claiming drug use in rodeo is nonexistant but it sure as heck isn't as widespread. Can't see a methhead going very far-Chris Harris cleaned up his act thank god for him. I can see why alot of people too gutless to nod their head would think that everybody who does has to be on drugs.
 

hillsdown

Well-known member
Brad S said:
The scandal really breaks when they start drug testing cowboys - yikes.

Well that would explain a lot, as I have always thought those boys have to be nuts or on something to actually want to ride a bull :? .

But seriously, some of my relatives are in the circuit or were and I have never heard of doping amongst the riders.But now a days who knows anymore. :roll:
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Hillsdown I haven't either-maybe adrenaline is the drug of choice amongst cowboys up north lol. Typical rumour-somebody's third cousin had a friend whose uncle saw somebody using-I've never seen anybody with snow on his nose yet. I'm sure they are some problems but are few and far between.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Back in the 60's there was a lot of talk about certain champion caliber competitors using uppers and downers-- amphetamines (bennies) and steroids and I know for a fact some were using the amphetamines...Both to stay awake for the traveling and for riding....

The story back then was that 1/2 the "vitamins" George Paul and some of his crowd popped at a rodeo were bennies and steroids both...Before he flew into a hillside in Wyoming-- guys that flew with him told stories of him popping a couple of pills- putting the plane on auto pilot and taking a nap-- having them wake him up in time to land it- then popping a couple of "vitamins" to get woke up and fired up for the bareback and bull riding... :shock:

Several of the guys I knew from the south (Texas, Florida, etc...) were on them and used them for riding...I tried them once-- had drawn a saddle bronc that had bucked me off 3 times- one of the Florida guys gave me a pill and said it would speed up my reactions... It did or seemed to anyway-- and I got a good ride on the horse and won the day money- but after I sat down behind the chutes for about the next hour it felt like my heart was trying to jump out of my chest...Scared the he!! out of me- and I decided it wasn't worth it... Never tried them again....

Kevin's still rodeoing down in the IPRA and southern circuits a little-- and he says there is quite a bit of drug use still going on down there...I know he called me one day to say he'd scored an 80 something on a saddle bronc to win some big show down there and his travelling partner had scored 90 something on a bull to win the bulls...Then a week or two later he called all shook and was telling me how the travelling partner got busted buying some drugs- and how lucky he was he hadn't got caught when he was riding with him....

As far as with the animals-- there are always stories of doped up barrel horses and doped down roping cattle....Story I heard is that was why Barry Burk was banned from the arena area during one years NFR- allegations of him doping Blair's calf...

And I guess putting bulls on steroids is no different that implanting calves--altho these bulls get a lot more media coverage- which may come back to haunt us if the PETA's and all them get some evidence of it....
 

Manitoba_Rancher

Well-known member
We dont give our bulls any steroids we jsut feed them right....... Most of the bulls raised in the northern states and in Canada are bigger than most of the bulls raised in teh southern states. Monsters up here dont need to get any bigger or nobody will ride them.... :shock:
 
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