There is a certain kind of athlete who never seems to have a bad day at work.
They show up, do their job, collect their accolades and head home without much fuss. They know exactly what is expected of them, and somehow, no matter how many times they have done it before, they make it look easy.
Mike's Motive is that kind of athlete.
All 1,525 lbs. of him.
At 9 years old, the bull owned by Blake Sharp / High Voltage / Wetzel / Knott has done just about everything a bucking bull can do. He's thrown some of the best cowboys in the world into the dirt, helped others make the eight-second whistle, traveled countless miles in the back of a livestock trailer and established himself as one of the most dependable animal athletes in the business.
And now, he's adding another chapter to the record books.
During PBR Teams' Ridge Rider Days presented by Energy Transfer in Glendale, Arizona, Mike's Motive tied the all-time career-outs mark, according to the broadcast, adding another historic milestone to an already remarkable résumé. The veteran bull had previously surpassed I'm Legit Too, who held the PBR competition record with 121 career outs. Stock contractor Blake Sharp says Mike's Motive will move beyond the tie and break the mark in Las Vegas.
The achievement came in a fitting fashion.
Kansas City Outlaws rider Heitor Santos Ferreira climbed aboard the veteran bull as a reride on Friday, Oct. 9, and rode him for 89.35 points, helping Kansas City defeat the Nashville Stampede 176.35-171.40.
It wasn't a buckoff. It wasn't a spectacular wreck. It was simply another exceptionally good bull doing what he does best: giving a cowboy every opportunity to be great.
Mike did his job. Santos Ferreira did his. And the Outlaws walked away with a win.
Watching the historic moment unfold, PBR Director of Livestock Riley Gagnon offered an observation that perfectly captured Mike's longevity.
"And they're still winning on him."
That might be the most impressive part.
After six seasons, more than 160 trips out of the bucking chutes and dozens of rides by the best bull riders in the world, Mike's Motive is still helping riders win.
According to PBR Competition, Mike's career ledger across all levels of PBR competition stands at 163 outs, with 92 buckoffs, a 56.79% buckoff rate and 70 qualified rides. Seventeen of those rides have earned scores of 90 points or more.
He had already claimed PBR's career-outs record. Now, with the broadcast describing his Glendale appearance as a tie for the broader all-time mark, the next chapter could come in Las Vegas, where Sharp plans for him to make another historic trip.
For a bull with such an extraordinary résumé, the secret to his success is almost comically ordinary.
He is just a really good boy.
Take one look at Mike's Motive and you might not immediately guess you're standing in front of one of the most accomplished bucking bulls in professional bull riding.
He isn't the biggest bull in the pen.
His compact, muscular frame carries around 1,525 lbs., with curved horns that sweep inward toward his face and a soft patch of fuzzy brown hair sitting on top of his head.
He looks every bit like a bucking bull. But spend a few minutes with him outside the arena, and his personality tells a different story.
Mike likes scratches.
He's calm, cool and collected.
He doesn't go looking for trouble, doesn't make a spectacle of himself and, according to stock contractor Blake Sharp, has never been one to run off in the arena either.
"He's so perfect, he's never run off, ever in his life," Sharp said.
He's even patient enough to let little children sit on his back for a photo opportunity.
Yes, the same bull who has spent years launching professional cowboys toward the arena floor is apparently also willing to moonlight as a Christmas card model.
Sharp compares his temperament to that of a familiar, dependable horse. The kind everyone loves having around because they know what to expect from him.
There is, however, one rather important distinction.
"He isn't a riding horse by no means, and I wouldn't advise anyone to get on him and try to ride him around," Sharp clarified.
Fair enough.
Because as sweet as Mike might be on the ground, he has never forgotten what he's supposed to do when the gate opens.
Inside the arena, the gentleman becomes a bucking bull.
And a darn good one.
In bull riding, there's a special kind of respect reserved for a bull riders actually want to get on.
Some bulls build their reputations by being nearly impossible to ride. Others become favorites because they consistently give cowboys the kind of trip that can produce a big score.
Mike's Motive belongs to the second category.
He's arguably one of the best reride bulls in the pen at nearly every event he attends.
His signature trip generally takes him around to the right, spinning close to the gate with a rhythm that gives a talented cowboy something to work with.
But don't mistake predictability for a lack of ability.
Mike can go both ways.
He has the athleticism to change direction, the strength to make a rider work and the consistency to give the judges a quality performance regardless of whether his rider makes the whistle.
In other words, he knows the assignment.
For a cowboy offered another opportunity after a reride ruling, Mike's Motive is the kind of draw that can turn disappointment into opportunity.
When his name comes up, riders want him.
A good trip on Mike can mean a big number on the scoreboard. A great trip can mean 90.
His career-high bull score of 45.50 points came July 3, 2021, in Paris, Tennessee. Since then, he has continued to produce high-quality trips with remarkable consistency.
In 2022, he earned 45.25 points in Ridgedale, Missouri, when he bucked off Alisson de Souza in 2.73 seconds.
In 2023, he matched that 45.25-point mark against Brady Oleson in Greensboro, North Carolina, and again against Trace Redd in Fort Worth, Texas.
His résumé includes a 45-point performance against João Ricardo Vieira during the 2021 15/15 Bucking Battle in Greensboro and another 45-point showing against Thiago Salgado at the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas that same year.
And while he's thrown plenty of cowboys into the dirt, he has also provided the foundation for some memorable rides.
Sage Steele Kimzey rode him for 91 points during PBR Teams competition in Greensboro in 2023. Lucas Divino collected 89.25 points aboard him in Austin in 2024, and Kaiden Loud matched with Mike for 90.25 points during the 2025 Ty Murray Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Then there's World Champion Cooper Davis.
The two have met five times, with Mike holding a 3-2 advantage in their head-to-head history.
The numbers paint the picture of a bull who can be ridden, but never taken lightly.
Mike has recorded 92 buckoffs in PBR competition, once putting together a 10-out buckoff streak. And when he does win the matchup, he typically makes quick work of it, averaging just over three and a half seconds on his buckoffs.
He's capable of taking care of business in a hurry.
But the 70 qualified rides he's allowed, including 17 scores of 90 points or more, are just as much a part of his legacy as the cowboys he's bucked off.
Because Mike's Motive isn't a bull riders hope to avoid.
He's a bull they hope to draw.
Most professional athletes would be thrilled to maintain their level of performance as they get older.
Mike's Motive has apparently decided to improve.
Missouri Thunder Head Coach Ross Coleman once made an observation about the veteran bull that says plenty about his unusual career trajectory.
"It almost seems like he gets better every time you buck him."
Sharp didn't hesitate to agree.
"That's a fact."
It's an extraordinary compliment for an animal athlete who has spent the better part of six seasons competing against the world's best.
For Mike, the repetition seems to suit him.
When Sharp was asked whether the bull had any idea he was approaching a historic milestone, the answer was emphatic.
"I don't think so. He's bucking better now than he was a year or two ago, so he's feeling himself."
There's something wonderfully fitting about that.
Mike doesn't know he's breaking records.
He doesn't know he's recorded 92 buckoffs or helped produce 17 rides of 90 points or more. He certainly doesn't know that his name is being discussed alongside some of the most recognizable bucking bulls in history.
As far as Mike is concerned, it's another day at work.
And business is good.
Of course, longevity like Mike's doesn't happen by accident.
Behind every great bucking bull is a stock contractor who understands that the animals are individuals, each with different personalities, physical needs and preferences.
For Mike, that person is Sharp.
The four-time PBR Stock Contractor of the Year has built a reputation for knowing his bulls, understanding their habits and making the adjustments necessary to keep them performing at their best.
Mike is no exception.
At around 1,525 lbs., he's a smaller, solidly built bull whose athleticism depends on staying in the right condition.
Sharp knows Mike doesn't like carrying too much weight when it's time to buck.
Much like the cowboys who ride him, Mike moves better when he's leaner.
So, on competition days, Sharp manages his feed accordingly.
At home, on the days Mike isn't scheduled to buck, he has plenty of food available. His pen stays stocked, and he remains full and comfortable.
But once it's time to travel and compete, the routine changes.
On the road, Mike may receive just a quarter to a half of his normal feed amount as Sharp works to keep him light enough to move quickly and perform at his best.
His supplements remain part of the routine, providing nutritional support and protein even when the amount of feed changes.
Mike also receives a joint supplement to help maintain his condition as he continues competing into his ninth year.
It's an approach built around what works for Mike, rather than trying to fit every bull into the same program.
Sharp knows when Mike needs to be full, when he needs to be lighter and, perhaps most importantly, when he's feeling good.
And by all accounts, Mike is feeling very good.
There is no magic formula hiding behind his success.
Just a stock contractor who pays attention, a program built around the animal and a bull who has spent years proving that consistency is every bit as valuable as raw power.
For all the attention the riders receive when they make the whistle, the achievement also shines a light on the people responsible for getting these animal athletes to the arena in the first place.
During Mike's record-tying appearance in Glendale, Kansas City Head Coach J.W. Hart made a point of acknowledging the work that happens long before a bull ever arrives at the bucking chutes.
"From the time they're conceived to the time they're calves through up like this, the stock contractors are where it's at. My hat's off to them."
It's a reminder that a bucking bull's career isn't measured only in eight-second increments.
It's measured in years of feeding, conditioning, traveling, caring and understanding what each individual animal needs.
And after 163 outs in PBR competition, Sharp appears to have Mike's routine down to a science.
Mike's Motive has been part of the professional bull riding landscape since 2021.
His career has stretched across the Unleash The Beast, PBR Teams, the 15/15 Bucking Battle and other premier competition, surviving schedule changes, new generations of cowboys and the evolution of the sport itself.
In 2021, he bucked off 13 of his 16 Unleash The Beast opponents and all five riders he faced in Touring Pro Division competition.
In 2023, he posted a remarkable 83.3% buckoff percentage during Unleash The Beast competition, sending 15 of 18 riders to the ground.
By 2024, he had become an especially desirable bull in Teams competition, where 11 of the 15 riders who drew him reached the eight-second mark.
His buckoff percentage hasn't always been the highest in the pen, but that was never the point.
His greatest achievement is that he has continued to perform.
Year after year. Event after event. Cowboy after cowboy.
There have been plenty of bulls who bucked harder for a particular night. Plenty who were nearly impossible to ride. Plenty who earned world championships or produced moments that will live forever on highlight reels.
But few have managed to do what Mike has done for as long as he has done it.
And perhaps that is what makes the latest chapter of his career so special.
When Santos Ferreira nodded his head in Glendale, he wasn't just trying to win a game for his team.
He was becoming part of a much longer story.
One that began years earlier with a young bull named Mike and grew into the career of Mike's Motive, a veteran who has carried some of the world's best riders, thrown plenty more into the dirt and become a familiar face in bucking chutes across the country.
The eight seconds in Glendale ended with an 89.35-point ride and another victory for Kansas City.
For Mike, it was one more entry in a career unlike almost any other.
For Sharp, it was another reason to be proud of a bull whose greatest attribute might not be his strength, athleticism or even his extraordinary durability.
It might simply be his attitude.
Because when the dust settles, the lights go down and Mike heads back to his pen, he's still the same gentleman who likes a good scratch, doesn't run off and is perfectly content to pose for a picture.
A nine-year-old professional with 163 outs in PBR competition, a record-tying milestone and apparently no plans to slow down.
He doesn't need to know he's making history.
He's just Mike.
And for Mike, making history is just another day at the office.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media