x
Breaking News
More () »

Leon Bibb reports: A trip to the Buckin' Ohio ranch

Buckin' Ohio pulls in the spectators and bucks off the riders trying to win bull-riding prize money.

BURBANK, Ohio —      When Shawn Thorsell walks across his 100-acre spread, he's giving a close look at the bulls he calls athletes because the animals are primed to buck hard enough to get a rodeo contestant off the animals' flanks and into the dirt of the rodeo arena.  

     Thorsell knows his way around the rodeo circuit, having ridden bucking bulls and horses for most of his life.  At age 46, he leaves the hard riding to the younger set of rodeo contestants who come to his place to win rodeo prize money.

     Thorsell owns and runs Buckin' Ohio, a ranch which is also a stop on the rodeo circuit.  Right off I-77 in a spot where Medina and Wayne County meet is the rodeo arena where riders try to stay on the back of a 1,700-pound bull who is trying to flip a rider off its back.

     "Feel how hard this bull is," said Thorsell, showing his prized bull named Brown Town.  "He's all muscle.  I keep him in fighting shape," said Thorsell as he massaged the back of the bull which was in its pen.  Brown Town seems to know Thorsell well.  Very few others can get as close to touch the animal who is seven years old and is known nationwide as one of the best bucking bulls in the rodeo business.

    Thorsell is pure cowboy all the away from his boots to his straw hat, which he keeps pulled down on his brow, blocking out the Spring sun on his Ohio spread.  Aside from bulls, there are cows and calves.  Thorsell breeds the animals.  

     "I have a passion for it," said the cowboy as he looked at his 150 head of cattle.  "It's not a 9-to-5 job."  

    Through his rodeo season, which runs May to the third week of September, Thorsell will play host for as many as 4,000 spectators who will elbow their way into his grandstand to watch cowboys sit astride bulls until the gate opens and the animals begin their bucking.  

     In the center of arena is a steel cage which is open to spectators who want to see the action from a cowboy's point of view.  Of course, bulls often charge the cage, giving spectators inside a thrill.  There is nothing like watching a charging bull heading your way.  But Thorsell guarantees the cage is good enough protection.

     He knows all ends of the business -- from breeding to feeding to the rodeo aspect.  Asked if he has ever suffered any broken bones, a wide grin creeps across Thorsell's face as he begins to count the broken bones.  "I've had a broken back, two collar bones broken, and a bunch of other parts," he said.  Thorsell added doctors have kept him walking with a lot of "plates, pins, and screws" holding him together.

     Still, the ranch and the rodeo are his passion.  "I don't know what else I would do; I love it," said Thorsell as there was a little emotional lilt in his voice.  His eyes seemed to glisten a bit as he looked out over his spread.  "These bulls, livestock, horses -- that's my life," he said, with a voice which seemed to be holding back a choke.

    In Burbank, Ohio, far from the Old West, Shawn Thorsell is a cowboy in love with riding the range and tending his herd.  

     You hold on there, cowboy!

    Click here for more on the ranch and the rodeo

                                              

 

Before You Leave, Check This Out