By Kim Lemmon

My husband, Mark, is a rodeo fan so I’ve been to my share of rodeos. The bucking bulls were always my least favorite part of the rodeo so I never gave too much thought to what makes a good bull until recently.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine stumbled across a bucking bull futurity. I guess it does make sense that these valuable animals would need to have a way to gain training, knowledge and experience before cowboys climb aboard.

These futurities allow bulls to enter chutes and wear all the bucking bull gear to gain experience without the added stress and weight of a cowboy on the backs of these young bulls.

This was the second year a futurity was held in Ohio at Buckin’ Ohio near Burbank. I can see the value in this event to find out which bulls have the potential and talent to one day become professional rodeo bulls.

So the next time you watch a rodeo don’t forget about all the hard work, expense and training that goes into making those bucking bulls capable of putting a on a show for you.

For a list of upcoming events at Bucking Ohio, visit http://buckinohioblog.com/.