Red Rock #007 (January 1, 1976 – June 8, 1994) was an American bucking bull. He competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Bull riders attempted to ride Red Rock 309 times and not one rider was able to ride him until the eight-second whistle in his professional career. His owners brought Red Rock out of retirement in 1988 for a match against Lane Frost. He was also chosen as the PRCA 1987 Bucking Bull of the Year. However, Red Rock is most famous for his association with 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider Lane Frost and their famous matchup called the Challenge of the Champions. In 1990, both Frost and Red Rock were inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. In 1994, Hollywood released 8 Seconds, a biopic based on Lane Frost's life, which includes his duel with Red Rock. He was the first livestock inducted into the St. Paul Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2017.
Background
Red Rock was born in 1976 at the Burnt River Ranch in Burns, Oregon. When he was a small calf, his mother died. Red Rock was introduced to the family milk cow along with another orphan calf. She raised them together in the backyard of the family's home. He was a red, tiger striped brindle Brahma-Hereford crossbred. This is also known as a Braford. "He was named after a rock formation near the ranch." He weighed at his prime. Red Rock was the grandfather of a historic bull named Wolfman. Wolfman's father was the great ProRodeo Hall of Fame bull Oscar. Wolfman is known for being ridden by Wade Leslie for a perfect 100 point score, the only one in history in any rodeo circuit. This happened in 1991 and it greatly enhanced owner Growney Brothers with most of the credit going to Don Kish.
Bucking career
Early Days
When Red Rock was two years old, Mert Hunking from Sisters, Oregon, bought him. Mert was a local stock contractor in the International Professional Rodeo Association, and he bucked Red Rock in the rodeos in the region. Mert ran a local stock contractor company called Sombrero Rodeo Company. Mert could see that Red Rock was smarter than the typical bull: "somehow, he could sense just what a bullrider was going to do, and he would go the opposite way, throwing cowboys off, usually on the first turn out of the chute. And, unlike the other bulls, Red Rock wouldn't go after the bullrider, he would just turn around and head for the stripping chute". Red Rock spent his time bucking all of the riders off.
"Nobody knew the bull then." Kish said. When he was 18 years old, Don Kish drew Red Rock at a rodeo in Silver Lake, Oregon. He only lasted a couple jumps before being bucked off so hard he needed help finding his way back towards the chute. Mert took Red Rock to the World's Toughest Rodeo in Tacoma, Washington, in 1982. Jody Tatone drew him which started the cowboys talking about him. Red Rock won many awards in this time and was named Bucking Bull of the Finals in the IPRA in 1983. In 1983, Mert was allowed to put Red Rock in the draw for a PRCA rodeo. Two top PRCA riders drew him and Red Rock bucked them both off. After that, Mert knew Red Rock could buck at the PRCA level. When Mert developed terminal cancer in 1984, he contacted John Growney of Growney Brothers Rodeo Company in Red Bluff, California. He was looking for someone special to take care of Red Rock. Mert had received many offers for Red Rock. However, he had heard that Growney and his partner, Don Kish, had a reputation for taking outstanding care of their livestock. Mert even financed the bull so that the guys could afford to buy him. Growney said Mert would never had sold Red Rock if he hadn't been dying. When Kish and Growney were looking over the stock Mert was selling, they "recognized Red Rock immediately [and] bought him that day in early 1984 for $10,000".
PRCA
At eight years old, in 1984, Red Rock started his career in the PRCA. Usually, bulls are starting to retire at this age. At this time, the PRCA was the highest level of bull riding in the world. Every year from 1984 to 1987 Red Rock bucked his way into the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), where the cowboys won their world championships. Even though he threw every rider before the whistle, the bull riders liked to draw him because he never tried to "hook" them with his horn and he avoided stepping on them. The bull riders thought if they did get a ride on him, it would be a very high score. Sometimes he took victory laps around the arena after he threw off a rider.