Unrideable Legend: Rodeo Bull Red Rock

[00:00:00] On May 20, 1988, professional bull rider Lance Frost becomes the first rider to ever stay

[00:00:09] on legendary bucking bull Red Rock for 8 seconds, beating him in the challenge of champions

[00:00:17] in the showdown of one of the greatest bull riders and one of the greatest bulls.

[00:00:22] Here's a story about how all this happened today on Daily Sports History.

[00:00:36] Welcome to Daily Sports History.

[00:00:38] I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history every day.

[00:00:44] And today we're going to do something a little different.

[00:00:46] We're going to give you a trivia question and see if you can answer it by the end of

[00:00:51] the episode.

[00:00:52] If you listen all the way to the end, we'll give you the answer in case you miss

[00:00:55] it.

[00:00:57] Can you name the only bull to remain unridden for his entire PRCA career?

[00:01:07] For this story, we're going to tell you a little bit like a boxing match, give you

[00:01:11] the two competitors and how they ended up meeting in the ring for their challenge of

[00:01:16] champions.

[00:01:17] First, let's start with the bull Red Rock who was born in 1967 and was actually an

[00:01:23] orphaned calf as his mother died in childbirth and he had to be raised and

[00:01:27] milked by another cow.

[00:01:28] He was named after the Red Rock formation near Burnt River Ranch where he was born

[00:01:34] and he ended up weighing 17 hundred pounds and was eventually sold after he turned

[00:01:40] to to Mert Honking, who is a local stock contractor for the International

[00:01:46] Professional Rodeo Association.

[00:01:48] And he would take Red Rock to rodeos across the northwest United States.

[00:01:54] And he and Mert saw something in Red Rock.

[00:01:56] He hadn't seen it a lot as he somehow knew and could feel how the rider on

[00:02:02] top of him was feeling and he would go the opposite.

[00:02:05] He just had a sense that many bulls do not have.

[00:02:08] And in 1983, he was named the Bucking Bull of the Year for the IPRA.

[00:02:15] Now, after this year, Red Rock was ready to make the jump to the top level of

[00:02:21] bull riding. But Mert, his owner, was experiencing some financial issues and he

[00:02:26] contacted John Groene of the Groene Brothers Rodeo Company as he heard they

[00:02:31] had treated their animals with respect and quality.

[00:02:34] And he asked that they wanted to purchase him.

[00:02:37] And John jumped at the opportunity.

[00:02:39] He knew that Red Rock was a special bull.

[00:02:43] He had seen him ride before and they immediately gave Mert ten thousand

[00:02:46] dollars for the bull and took him to the top level of rodeo in the 1980s,

[00:02:52] which was the which was the PCRA, which is the Professional Rodeo Cowboy

[00:02:59] Association, which at the time in the 1980s was the largest rodeo association.

[00:03:03] And he got started with a bang and didn't let go.

[00:03:06] Even though he was already eight years old, which is old by rodeo bull

[00:03:11] standards, he came in at the highest level and made it all the way to

[00:03:15] national finals rodeo from 1984 to 1987.

[00:03:20] And every year he would buck off that year's riding champion with ease.

[00:03:26] And when we say buck off for rodeo

[00:03:28] to be unwritten means you didn't make it to eight seconds for your ride to count.

[00:03:34] You have to maintain only one hand

[00:03:37] grabbing the harness and one hand free for eight seconds.

[00:03:41] If you don't get to eight seconds,

[00:03:43] then your ride does not count and you do not get any points for that run.

[00:03:47] In 1987, on his last ride, Red Rock bucked off Cody Custer

[00:03:53] and became the bucking bull of the year and would go on to retire after this

[00:03:59] with over 300 outs, meaning no one had ridden him officially

[00:04:04] by the time of his retirement with a total of 307.

[00:04:08] And in retiring at the age of 11,

[00:04:11] he went down as the only bull to go undefeated in PRCA history.

[00:04:18] Now that year he retired in 1987,

[00:04:20] Lance Frost became the rider of the year.

[00:04:24] And who was Lance Frost?

[00:04:26] He was your typical rodeo kid.

[00:04:29] He grew up on the rodeo circuit as a junior, but also participated in other

[00:04:33] sports such as wrestling and junior high.

[00:04:35] But he won the Oklahoma National High School Bull Riding Championship in 1981

[00:04:41] and would continue his bull riding and become a professional after he

[00:04:45] graduated high school in 1982 and he qualified for his first national

[00:04:49] finals rodeo in 1984.

[00:04:51] And as we said earlier, he would continue his successful rodeo career.

[00:04:56] In 1987, he would be named Bull Rider of the Year at the age of 24.

[00:05:02] And then in 1988, Red Rock and Lance Frost careers would pass.

[00:05:07] Now, after Red Rock had retired,

[00:05:08] John Groaney thought about a special competition he could put together

[00:05:13] where he would bring two champions from the bullfighting world.

[00:05:18] The Bull in Red Rock and the Rider in Lance Frost together to go in a challenge

[00:05:25] of champions, and they would go from city to city across the West in a series

[00:05:30] of seven different matches to see who was really the champion.

[00:05:34] As Red Rock was still in good health

[00:05:36] and Lance Frost was ready to challenge the bull as everyone wanted to challenge

[00:05:41] Red Rock, as he wasn't a massive bull and overpowered to you.

[00:05:45] He was more a technical bull,

[00:05:46] someone you thought you could beat, but no one ever did.

[00:05:49] That was the case until the fourth match they had.

[00:05:52] Lance finally rode Red Rock for that legendary eight seconds.

[00:05:57] And when the whistle blew, it was over.

[00:05:59] Someone had finally beaten Red Rock and it was Lance Frost.

[00:06:04] This was a great moment for rodeo.

[00:06:06] It helped raise the popularity of the sport.

[00:06:09] These two competitors, Red Rock and Lance Frost, were forever

[00:06:13] connected because sadly, a year later, while riding at the Cheyenne Frontier

[00:06:18] Days, Lance was riding a bull named Taking Care of Business.

[00:06:23] And he had rode him for his eight seconds, got knocked off,

[00:06:27] but the bull didn't let him go away and pressed his right horn into Frost's

[00:06:33] back and pushing him down into the mud, breaking several ribs.

[00:06:37] And despite Lance initially standing up

[00:06:40] after Taking Care of Business had removed his horn, he collapsed and was pronounced

[00:06:44] dead in the arena. He was one of the best bull riders at the time.

[00:06:48] His life was tragically taken so quickly.

[00:06:51] And at the memorial service for Lance,

[00:06:53] the groaning company actually took Red Rock to be there with him as they were

[00:06:57] connected. And when Lance was inducted into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame,

[00:07:02] Red Rock went with him.

[00:07:03] Now, there was a positive thing to come out of this as after Lance Frost passed

[00:07:09] away, one of his best friends, Cody Lambert, devised a device,

[00:07:14] a vest for riders to wear for the exact thing that took his friend.

[00:07:18] Similar to a Kevlar vest that the police wear or better known as a bulletproof

[00:07:24] vest, riders now see where this vest for this very reason.

[00:07:28] And the story of Lance Frost and even battling Red Rock was told in a

[00:07:33] movie starring Luke Perry back in the 90s called Eight Seconds.

[00:07:37] And it's a great story, a sad story.

[00:07:40] And now riders are required to wear this vest and he may have saved other lives

[00:07:45] in the process of losing his.

[00:07:47] And in 1994, Red Rock finally passed away from a stroke and is buried at the

[00:07:54] Groany Ranch and will always be remembered as one of the greatest bulls to ever ride.

[00:08:00] And I think we can all remember a time where these moments are so precious

[00:08:05] to us, we can be at our highest of heights.

[00:08:08] Lance Frost was when he had just beaten

[00:08:11] the unbeatable bull just a year earlier and out of nowhere his life was taken

[00:08:16] tragically too short. We don't know what to head.

[00:08:18] So be your best at everything you do

[00:08:21] and maybe you can reach your mountaintop and be forever remembered.

[00:08:24] And remember us by subscribing and following Daily Sports History wherever

[00:08:29] you're listening so you don't miss any episodes.

[00:08:32] Because guess what? We got another one come out tomorrow.

[00:08:36] And did you catch the trivia question?

[00:08:38] The only bull ever in PRCA history to be unwritten was Red Rock.

[00:08:44] See you guys tomorrow.