“I love being able to take a group of bulls and having them buck off some of the best riders.” – Shawn Thorsell
 

 

 

Top: A bull rider competes under the lights at Creek Bend Ranch. Above: Denny Thorsell gazes across his operation.

 

 

The bulls are hard to miss in the Thorsells’ fields.

 

 

Feeding time at the Ranch.

 

 

The Thorsells’ maze of steel fencing is a must in the bucking bull business.

 

 

 

 

The Creek Bend experience
Creek Bend Ranch is also home to Buckin’ Ohio, a unique western-style ranch experience started by the Thorsells six years ago. It includes a fall bull-riding school and a series of bull-riding events that take place right on the ranch. Creek Bend provides its own show ring complete with bleacher, hillside and straw bale seating. “Buckin’ Ohio gives people a chance to see what a working ranch and rodeo is like,” said Denny’s wife, Elaine Thorsell, who is in charge of marketing the program. “It’s not like going to a rodeo in downtown Cleveland. We are actually in a real (farm) atmosphere.” It’s a concept that brings about 2,000 visitors to the ranch per year. Future plans include corporate outings with private shows and the possibility of a fantasy bull-riding school, from which participants would compete in an actual event held on the ranch. For more information, visit creekbendbuckingbulls.com.

 

bucking the trend

A northeast Ohio ranch family shares an un-bull-ievable passion

By Dan Toland | Photos by Michael Houghton

Confidently gazing across his pasture, Denny Thorsell posed a question to his son, Shawn, which required no answer.

“They sure look good out there, don’t they son?”

Sure, the horned giants lying in the field along the Medina/Wayne County line seemed harmless, but with names like Freightliner, BellDinger and SlipKnot, it’s not hard to figure out why the Thorsells require reinforced steel fencing on their farm. The last thing they want to do though is keep their animals confined. In fact, nothing makes the Thorsells happier than seeing their prize-winning bucking bulls thrashing about their 100-acre slice of western lifestyle known as Creek Bend Ranch.

Denny, a self-proclaimed “city boy who just wanted to be a cowboy,” worked his way onto the back of a bull as a teenager during a traveling Wild West show while he was working as a pony boy at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. That was all it took for him to know what he wanted to do with his life. “I was hooked,” he said.

Shawn quickly picked up on his old man’s habits, as he too decided to start riding bulls as a teenager. “I wanted to do anything I could to support him, so that’s when I started buying practice bulls,” Denny said. Shortly thereafter, he started to raise his own bulls under the Creek Bend name.

Today, Creek Bend is home to a herd of about 200 cattle, including 70 bulls containing some of the best genetics in the bucking bull industry. And by “best genetics,” we don’t mean the kind for great steaks and roasts; in this case good genetics means how high a bull can buck and how fast he can spin.

Bulls are rated on their bucking abilities and only the best make it to the finals, where in events known as futurities (for 2-year-old bulls) and classics (for those 3 and older), they can earn their owners up to $500,000 with some single events paying up to $100,000. Many of the best bulls from these events find their way to the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) tour.

Creek Bend’s top bull, the aforementioned Freightliner, made the finals in two out of his three seasons on the PBR. Other Creek Bend bulls have been on the tour for the last three or four years.
Bull breeders are looking for “a lot of kick and one that gets up in the air,” Denny explained, adding that many bulls can jump up to 6 feet in the air. One that “turns back” and spins will be highly regarded as well.

The Thorsells raise their own registered breed of bulls, which contain the rich history of multiple breeds including Brahma bulls. Even with a good family tree, not every bull calf becomes a superstar, but “we do everything we can to give an animal every chance at a long, successful career,” Denny said.

Young bulls only get a couple chances to show off what they have by the time they are 2 years old, however. They are bucked with a 19-pound dummy on their back once during their first year to determine their potential. The dummy is removed when a bull makes a desirable move, reinforcing the action.

“Based upon what they show us, we then decide on a program for them,” Denny said.

About six months later, the bulls are bucked again to determine which should buck in futurities and which would be better suited to wait an additional year to compete.

The Thorsells also work with the bulls to get them used to entering chutes, exiting rings and just being around humans. They said that although their bulls may be more aggressive than other livestock, handling them becomes easier over time. “You just have to be on your toes a bit more than normal,” Denny said, adding that they also try to avoid coming between a cow and her calf at all times.

Creek Bend has an active herd of bulls that travel to events throughout the country to compete on a regular basis. “I love being able to take a group of bulls and having them buck off some of the best riders,” Shawn said. “That gets my adrenaline pumping just as much as it was when I used to ride them.”

Both Denny and Shawn agree that their bulls are at their happiest when bucking, contrary to what some may believe. The flank draped across a bull’s hip region during an event serves as an irritant which the bull tries to kick off. It is often lined with fleece and not attached to any part of the bull; rather it lies across the bull like a belt. “It’s like a pair of Nikes to a track star,” Shawn said, adding that once it’s put on, a bull knows it’s show time.

“We love these things and respect them,” Denny said. “They’ve got the strength and power of a football player, but the athletic ability to get up in the air. It’s amazing what they can do.”

Shawn wouldn’t have it any other way. Like his father, he gave up a successful career as a horse trainer to return to his roots. “I’m not going to say I’m wealthy, because I’m sure not,” he said. “But in other ways I’m wealthier than anybody I can think of.”

 

“I am extremely proud (of Shawn),” Denny said, noting that there isn’t a day that goes by without one of them saying they love the other. “We couldn’t have as good of an operation as we have without him.”

To comment on this article e-mail info@ourohio.org.

 

See a video about the Creek Bend Bucking Bulls