10/10/2019
TR Cattle was lucky enough to be a featured breeder on the Bucking Stock News. Thank you Kyle Lippincott. Be sure to like and follow their page as well as their podcast for all the up to date bucking bull info.
American Bucking Bull, Inc. BSN’s Program Spotlight presented by Getty Up Productions - Rick Smith
TR Cattle - Fort Lupton, Colorado
In 1998 Phil Markoff and Tenneile Rice got in to the bucking bull industry like a lot of others. They were buying bulls out of the local sale barns around and trying them at home. The ones that would work would have a job, and they hauled bulls to local rodeos and bull ridings as well as some PBR Touring Pro Events.
In 2004 Phil and Tenneile attended the Rodeo Stock Registry (RSR) sale at the Denver Stock Show and rodeo on the hunt for a female or two. The couple ended up with two heifers out of the sale. One was a black and white paint from Sammy Andrews that we called Paris. Tenneile loved that she went back to Wolfman, making her a possible descendant to her favorite bull Red Rock. All heifers in the sale were bucked with a flank, Phil loved her kick and intensity. He commented to Tenneile "oh I like her" and Tenneile instantly started bidding, taking her home for $1100. She had a calf every year including the year she died of old age. Paris had mostly heifers and they are the foundation of TR Cattle’s cow herd now.
Shortly after the RSR sale they purchased five females from Monty Branum. They were Kephart, Frick and Plummer bred cattle, but weren't registered. They pulled blood and sent them to the new registry, American Bucking Bull Inc. Tenneile were delighted to learn one of the heifers was bred by Ronnie Roach and was a direct daughter of Rooster! Another of the five was Rattlesnake Kate. She was a 3-in-1 purchase with a bull calf on her side. They ended up hauling him to some NBBA events in Texas, and the calf she was carrying was Dirty Rice. Jenny Belle, the grand dam to Rice Puddin' was also in that set of cows.
1319 Gloria is their best money producer. Her calves have accumulated over $20,000 in income. TR Cattle bought her from Nick Kallsen's dispersal sale. Phil walked through his set of heifers picking out Gloria quickly. Nick decided to buck her, she wasn't a great bucker but had a lot of intensity and came home with them that day. She is named after Nick's wife, Gloria. Sticky Rice was her first calf. Sticky was the MBBA reserve year end classic champion in 2015. Her 2016 bull calf is Flyin' Shoes. He won five buckles as a futurity bull and is currently in his derby year and has won money at EVERY event he's been entered. They’ve held back select heifers from Gloria and are excited to see how they produce. Tenneile is most exited about Flyin' Shoes full sister, Fly Girl. She has been AI'd to the great Hocus Pocus for a 2020 calf.
21 Catfish was the first bull they used as a sire. Catfish has a unique story and a very special place in the TR Cattle program. He was headed to the packers when the truck driver stopped for the night at the sale barn in Los Lunas, NM. Catfish jumped about four of the 6' fences. The truck driver loaded bulls in the morning but Catfish stayed behind. He was ran through the sale and Phil purchased him. We sold him to a friend of ours after a few trips and ended up buying him back a couple years later. He bucked every time we asked him too. Bred cows and produced a CBR bull General Electric, 673 Wyld Rice, paternal grandsons Tru Moo, Snake and a handful of females. He passed of old age New Years Eve 2009 and is buried at the TR Cattle ranch.
When asked about the best sire they have used to date, Tenneile said, “We are lucky enough to have two best sires.”
574 Dirty Rice. He was the unborn calf in a 3-in-1 cow they purchased from Monty Branum. Phil hauled him to a few touring pro PBRs. He is the sire to PBR bull 111 El Diablo that Gene Owen hauled. El Diablo bucked off some of the top guys including JB Muaney, Cooper Davis, Guilherme Marchi, Derek Kolbaba and Stetson Lawrence. He was unridden in fourteen pro outs. Dirty Rice puts the extension and intensity in his calves. He also sired Sticky Rice, Dirty Dozen, 20 Cajun, 327 Rice Puddin' and many others. Most of our cow herd goes back to DIrty Rice one way or the other.
“Page Y4 Aviator has catapulted our breeding program” said Tenneile. He is a son of Crosswired and out of the 255-152 female. They purchased Aviator from D&H Cattle, HD said said he'd put the brain in his calves. Their cows were mainly Kephart, Frick and Kish bred females that were wild and crazy. The cross has worked great for TR Cattle so far. His offspring like to get up off the ground, they learn quickly and are eager to please, they're also the biggest calves they have ever raised. As happy as they are with his sons, Tenneile truly thinks his females are going to be the ticket.
Currently, they used X36 Hillbilly Boogie, that Kody Lostroh bred and Skip Jones hauled to CBR team events with two of his flush mates. Hillbilly Boogie is a Party Girl son and sired by Mr. Juicy. His dam, maternal grand dam and one paternal half sister are among the top ten producing dams in the ABBI registry. TR believes believe X36 over daughters of Aviator will be the ticket for our breeding program.
They also bred a few heifers to 20E Combustion from Cheyenne and Tara Owens. Combustion has put up 90 point scores in the Buckers Unlimited Belles division for Tara, and has won two events. We're excited to see how he produces over our Aviator heifers. Combustion is sired by PBR Finals bull 602A In Like Flinn and out of a Cover Page x dam to Dobber.
Phil and Tenneile were lucky enough to strike up a great friendship and partnership with Sonny Barthold. Together they Ai'd Fly Girl, a full sister to Flyin' Shoes, to Hocus Pocus. They also Ai'd Goldie, an Aviator daughter that goes back to Rooster, to Inferno. Phil and Tenneile are extremely excited about adding Hocus Pocus and Inferno to their herd!
Here are some of the bulls that were bred and raised by TR Cattle in Colorado.
•574 Dirty Rice, PBR
•84 Magic City, PBR
•673 Wyld Rice (21 Catfish son), PBR
•12 Dirty Dozen, 2015 Bulldacious Classic Champion and the 2015 UBBI Western Region Classic Champion
•113 Sticky Rice, 2015 MBBA Reserve Classic Champion
•327 Rice Puddin, OBBA Reserve Champion Classic Bull
•111 El Diablo, PBR bull hauled by Gene Owen
•20 Cajun Rice, PRCA bull hauled by Jesse Hill
•613 Flyin Shoes 2018 Buckers Unlimited Futurity Finals Champion , reserve year end futurity champion, 1st place futurity calf at Buckers Unlimited events in McCook, Keenesburg, and Nunn. Money winner at every derby competition he's entered and sitting 2nd going into the finals for year end