A 10-year-old stallion from the Calgary Stampede has been named Canadian and world bareback horse of the year.
Grated Coconut probably worked less than 80 seconds this year, bucking 10 different eight second events and travelling 16,000 kilometres from Marwayne, Alta., to Washington State.
Every year since 2003, rodeo cowboys have voted Grated Coconut the best bronc.
The bay stallion showed promise almost at birth, said Keith Merrington, manager of the Calgary Stampede ranch near Hannah, Alta., where Grated Coconut was raised.
“His performance has exceeded everybody’s expectations. They are looking at his character, his heart, his ability to buck, rankness and how they can score on him.”
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Later this year, the spirited stallion will be at the Canadian finals rodeo in Edmonton and in Las Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo Dec. 6.
Even though he bucks off cowboys for a living, Grated Coconut is halter broken and is considered a good tempered horse with a quiet, gentle demeanour.
“You can walk up to this horse. You can lead him anywhere you want to go, he’ll follow you – until you get on him,” Merrington said.
Competitiveness depends on whether the horse remains physically sound.
The Stampede retires horses at age 20 but this one will probably retire sooner.
“He’s got nothing to prove to us or anybody so we’ll probably use him a little bit longer and retire him to the stud.”
Grated Coconut’s sons and daughters have gone on to compete and two of his offspring appeared at the Canadian rodeo finals this year.
These horses are products of the Stampede’s Born to Buck program at the 25,000 acre Hanna ranch where selected mares and stallions are bred to make the ultimate bucking bareback or saddle bronc horse.
The program is based on 34 years worth of records on animal performance.
“It enables us to have a continuous good supply of bucking horses for the rodeos in Calgary and rodeos around North America,” Merrington said.
The Stampede breeds about 70 mares a year to selected sires. That includes an embryo transfer program where prime bucking mares are flushed and embryos are placed in recipient females. Grated Coconut semen has been used in this program.
