J.B. Mauney, the world champion rider, shattered his neck on Arctic Assassin the previous year.
He now keeps the ancient bull on his property. There would always be a place in rodeo history for the big black bull. After all, he was the final bull that the legendary J.B. Mauney ever rode.
And it wasn’t a ride that lasted long—last September, the bull, Arctic Assassin, bucked him off in a matter of seconds, breaking Mauney’s neck and ending his $7 million career.
However, that’s not the only reason Arctic Assassin rose to prominence in the last few weeks as one of America’s most well-known bulls.
No, Arctic didn’t just retire Mauney.
He retired with him.
Earlier this month, we conducted a comprehensive story and interview with Mauney, during which we revealed a number of interesting details.
Actually, 11-year-old Arctic met us at the front gate of Mauney’s XV Ranch, which is located close to Stephenville. Mauney called the elderly bull a “big ol’ pet” who was “dog gentle,” meaning he could be petted and scratched without fear.
Professional bull rider J.B Mauney broke his neck on this bull, Arctic Assasin, back in September, but there’s no hard feelings… with them both in retirement together… sound on… pic.twitter.com/8zDeyH1j4x
— RFTTE (@rftte) May 22, 2024
Mauney’s argument was validated. He walked us over to the field where he kept Arctic and Baxter, another former bucking bull. Mauney approached Arctic directly, while the rest of us gingerly tiptoed along the fence line.
“Which side?” Mauney asked him. “This side?”
Mauney then began petting the hulking bull like a dog.
“This is the one that ended it,” Mauney said. “The bull I was on when I broke my neck.”
Mauney and Arctic’s conversation was only a small part of our greater narrative. However, we made the decision to share a momentous video on social media.
The reaction took off more than we could have imagined. Between Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, the video of Mauney and Arctic was viewed tens of millions of times.
Our story also came on the heels of Mauney’s and Arctic’s connection playing a role in an extensive story about Mauney’s career in the Washington Post, and Mauney’s own social media posts with Arctic.
The flood of reactions and comments ranged from awe to appreciation in how Mauney made amends with the bull that ended his career. Not that Mauney ever held any ill will to begin with.
“He had a job to do,” Mauney said. “I just didn’t do mine.”
A thousand or so miles to the north, Arctic’s previous owner, Matt Scharping, could only smile. “We see that every day,” Scharping said of Mauney’s connection with Arctic.
“It’s just a respect thing. We see it a lot.” Scharping, a stock contractor with Phenom Genetics in Minnesota, bought Arctic when the Wisconsin-born bull was just a feisty four-year-old. Scharping gave him his name — a nod to Minnesota’s colder climate and also the bull that sired him, Arctic Cat.
Arctic was a unique case from the beginning; he was an embryo calf, born from an embryo that was placed inside an angus cow. Scharping explained that in those cases, the bull typically takes on more of the personality of its mother and doesn’t tend to buck. Outside of competition,
Arctic eventually mellowed out. In the arena, he became a regular on the pro circuits, bucking in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world finals and National Finals Rodeo.
But Arctic was a bucker from the start, Scharping said, with a bit of a mean streak when he first encountered him.
“I quickly realized it’s a mutual respect deal,” Scharping said.
Arctic grew to more than 1,700 pounds, a tick above average. His journey converged with Mauney’s on Sept. 6, 2023, in Lewiston, Idaho.
By that point, Mauney had accomplished all there was to conquer in bull riding: Two PBR world titles, dozens of event wins, more than $7 million in earnings, a berth in the National Finals Rodeo. But he climbed onto Arctic, and the two aging rodeo athletes went head to head.
He got Mauney out of sync early in the ride, and then launched him off backward. Mauney landed on his head and broke his neck.
“It was my fault,” Mauney said
Mauney avoided paralysis, or worse, but the doctor gave it to him straight: He wouldn’t be so lucky the next time. A week later, Mauney announced his retirement.
Mauney’s decision happened to coincide with Scharping’s decision to retire the 10-year-old Arctic. “It was time,” Scharping said. “I don’t like to buck a bull until he can’t anymore.” Then Scharping got a call from Mauney, who caught wind that Arctic was hanging it up.
He wanted to buy him.
“For what?” Scharping asked him.
As Mauney explained it, not too many cowboys get to keep the last bull they ever rode.
Breaking news in the world of rodeo. Bull rider JB Mauney announces he is retiring following injuries sustained at the Lewiston Roundup. Read more here >>> https://t.co/SMyZMYBEyy pic.twitter.com/FrrgNrUGIG
— PRCA ProRodeo (@PRCA_ProRodeo) September 12, 2023
Scharping talked it over with his business partner, and they decided they couldn’t sell Arctic to Mauney. Instead, they decided to give him the bull, free of charge, and deliver it, too.
Scharping was heading down to Texas late last year, so he brought Arctic with him and swung by Mauney’s XV Ranch. Arctic stepped out of the trailer and into his forever home, a pasture on the XV.
Mauney paired him with Baxter, another retired bucking bull. “They’re both big pets,” Mauney said. “I put the two yard ornaments together in the pasture, and that’s where they stay.”
When word leaked out on social media that J.B. Mauney was now keeping that last bull he ever rode, the response was a collective, “That’s J.B.”
“That’s so fitting on who he is and what he stands for,” Scharping said. “Everybody got to see J.B. riding. But he really respected the animals.”
