The world of professional rodeo is in shock over the sudden loss of 70 champion bucking horses belonging to the Beutler and Son Rodeo Company, one of the nation’s top producers of outstanding bucking horses due to a tragic mistake by the company that furnishes feed for their horses.
The veterinarian for the Beutler Rodeo reports that Monensin, a substance which is routinely added to feed for cattle but is toxic for horses, with as little as one-half gram being fatal for horses, was mistakenly added to the horse feed delivered to the Beutler ranch by the Livestock Nutrition Company, which has 20 outlets across the Southwest. The company has taken full responsibility for the tragedy, blaming a failed cleanout of their equipment and a sensor malfunction.
The Beutler family has been producing many of rodeo’s top bucking horses for rodeos across the country for 95 years on their ranch in Elk City, Oklahoma. Last year alone they had seven of their broncs selected for the National Finals Rodeo, and over the years, more than dozen of their broncs have won Bucking Bronc of the Year, an honor voted on by the rodeo cowboys. One of their broncs named Descent won that award six times. Three members of the Beutler family are now members of the Rodeo Hall of Fame
This loss is made even more difficult because a number of the horses were mares with foals only days old, which must now be bottle fed. However, the Beutler Company is experiencing the family atmosphere of rodeo as they produce their own rodeo on their ranch, and fellow rodeo companies are loaning horses of their own to allow the Beutler family to continue with their performances. One of Beutler’s most outstanding broncs, a mare named Black Kat, survived because she was performing in a rodeo in Montana, where she took a cowboy for a winning ride.
The Beutler Rodeo Company plans to continue into the future as they still have more than 100 young horses that they hope will develop into the same outstanding bucking horses that their parents were.
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