Ep. 80 - PBR World Finals Female Stock Contractor Paige Stout presented by COWGIRL Magazine
Paige Stout has raised bucking bulls alongside her family for over fifteen years. Starting at the ripe old age of ten, when she purchased her first bucking bull for the bull futurities. After great success in her last competition, Paige set her sights on the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) World Finals. With a Bachelor’s Degrees in Nursing, Paige also works as a registered nurse, so she’s no stranger to hard work and chasing your dreams.
Join hosts Katie Schrock & Rachel Owens-Sarno for a great conversation about being a female bucking bull stock contractor and a part of the inaugural COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 class.
Getting Started with Bucking Bulls
“My dad’s dad was a professional bull rider back before the PRCA even existed,” says Paige, whose father followed in the family footsteps until he, literally, outgrew being a bull rider by being too tall. He started fighting bulls as a bull fighter and they began raising bulls as a family at a young age.
Paige says that her interest in bucking bulls practically grew overnight and she purchased her first bull at the age of ten. With a laugh, Paige admits that she did get on a bucking bull once but it was out in the pasture feeding and not an arena setting.
“He was very gentle and you could go up and pet him and rub all over him,” says Paige, who asked her dad what he would do. "I said, ‘Alright!’ And swung a leg over and he bucked me off! … I haven’t been on one since!”
Getting to go coast-to-coast and seeing places that she would have never seen if it weren’t for the bulls, has been one of the best aspects of raising bucking bulls as a family. Des Moines, Iowa, or Missouri, all these different places that you wouldn’t necessarily consider visiting if it weren’t for these competitions.
Raising Futurity Bulls
“I was really competitive growing up… and seeing the competitiveness in the futurities was really interesting,” says Paige, who can only describe it as a “craving.” She wanted more bulls and wanted to go to more events and is so thankful that her parents were supportive and allowed her to just take off with her career.
“My dad only has daughters, no sons, so I was kind of the son he never had,” says Paige whose dad was “all for it” when she showed an interest. Purchasing her first bull wasn’t an instant decision, they made sure to find a bull that would fit her with a laidback attitude that would help teach Paige as well. “Dad was all for it and was more than willing to help me out and show me. He’s the main reason I know what I know about the bulls and the rodeo industry. He was very excited when I wanted to get into the bull business as a female.”
Year Around Effort
The PBR World Finals are in Las Vegas in November, but there are events year around, no matter if you want to compete with bigger bulls at the PBR or at futurities. There is something year around so it depends on how your schedule fits into training and keeping them exercised and trained constantly. Training isn’t just one part of the year, it’s all year long.
Training a bucking bull isn’t something you can force on them. Every trainer has their own preferences of what they want to see in their action. Person-by-person, the decisions are made regarding what their personal preference is in the bull.
“When you see a potential in a bull, like I said, you can’t make them buck, but there are things you can do…. to see how they turn out,” says Paige. Young calves can be saddled with a 25 pound mechanical dummy to simulate what a rider would be like. A mock arena can be set around the chute to encourage them to stay in at the chutes to buck rather than running out.
From exercise to feed programs, it makes a huge difference in how their turnout is going to be. Every bull is different in how they are fed and exercised. Some of Paige’s best bulls, they have to be on the easy side with them if they show arthritis or anything like that. These bulls will do more sprints up and down an alleyway to limit turn backs.
Younger bulls need more repetition with bucking chutes, being on the trailer and on the road, and preparing for the sounds at the arena. They need to be ready for animals next to them in their pens, loud music, fireworks, etc. Easing them into that scene is huge and Paige has even seen bulls ruined by being thrown into the mix before they are ready.
As for feed, they eat a lot of protein to keep up with their caloric output.
As the bulls get older, they will know the routine and be more laidback. The biggest thing is making sure that they are able to handle the road. Some bulls have to be hauled for fourteen hours prior to their out and you need to make sure they are accustomed to the long trailer rides, the different environments, etc.
“It’s a process figuring out each bull and figuring out what each of them needs to succeed.”
“A lot of people think that they are wild animals that we just pull off the pasture and go… they eat dinner before we do, they exercise before we go to the gym… they are professional athletes, they are very spoiled and very well taken care of,” says Paige as she explains the acupuncture and chiropractic appointments that the bulls get. “A lot of people don’t see they time and effort that we put into these animals… each bull has their own personalities, almost like big dogs.”
Career Highlights
While a huge honor to be selected to the PBR World Finals, only the top 80 bulls in the world are invited. To be invited five of her eight years hauling is a huge honor for Paige. A career highlight for Paige was when one of her bulls was asked to come back and buck on Sunday night at the World Finals and be on Championship Sunday as one of the top 30 bulls.
To have your bull selected to buck at the finals must go through the PBR gatekeeper Kody Lambert. He handpicks every single bull for every single event. If you have a mind to go to events coming up, it’s a matter of calling him and showing him the bulls you have. He’ll simply tell you yes or no and you go from there. When you think of all the people in the world that have bulls that they think can go to those events, it’s amazing!
Once you build your foundation and that you have good bulls that will keep coming back, it makes it a bit easier. “I can’t imagine all the people that try to call him everyday to get bulls in,” says Paige with a laugh.
Bulls you should know that Paige Stout Bucking Bulls has in the PBR: Caddy Shack.
PBR Levels
The contestants and bulls on the PBR Velocity are all working to be on the PBR Unleash the Beast finals. The PBR Finals is the biggest event of the year, but stand alone events throughout the year help boost competitors in their finals. The Global Cup has teams from around the world based on countries and is a fun event set to showcase to the fans that the PBR is not just American bull riders, there are bull riders from all around the world. Seeing bull riders all around the world compete in America at AT&T Stadium is a way to incorporate a bunch of different people.
COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 Inaugural Class
“It was, by far, a huge honor and a very humbling experience when I received that email when I saw the other woman that I was compared too and to stand up next too at the American with that I look up too, and that everyone in the rodeo community look up too. To be able to be a part of the first class of COWGIRL 30 Under 30 program … I will always hold to the top of my experience,” says Paige.
“To be a woman in the western industries is really important because women now, more than ever, have stood their ground,” says Paige, referencing the ladies fight to get breakaway roping added. To see women be independent and more powerful than ever before, Paige predicts that it’s only going to be more explosive.
“Don’t give up,” says Paige to those who want to follow in her footsteps. “You may want to quit and sell everything, you may want to give up but don’t be afraid to reach out to somebody… send that message … go up to somebody who knows the bull industry and get everything you can from them.”
Paige’s next big goal is to work her way into PRCA as well as the PBR. Blessed to be a part of PBR, she’s ready to venture out a little bit more with PRCA stock contracting and hopefully get them to the National Finals Rodeo.
Deep thoughts on the rodeo trail…
No matter what you are going through whether in the rodeo arena or outside of it, it can always be worse. Take that perspective, take a step back and look at the entire situation. Knowing and understanding that it can always be worse allows you to not take for granted the amazing opportunities we have to own these animal athletes and to go to these events.
When we don’t have a great run or our animals don’t perform their best, we can take away what we can do to come back better and stronger. It helps you look at the positive side of things.