Former pro bull rider Ty Murray recalls the first time he saw what Bodacious could do to a man.

His travel partner, Cody Lambert, took the young calf for a ride at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in the early 1990s, coming out of the chutes with a bloody chin that would later leave a permanent scar.

“He said, ‘Man, that little calf I got on is legit,'” Murray told Chron. “And that was the start of Bodacious.”

Murray is a nine-time Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association champion, including seven all-around titles and two bull riding titles. He’s also the most decorated cowboy to compete in RodeoHouston and was inducted into its 2026 Hall of Fame Class on Tuesday, alongside the bull, who was honored posthumously. Murray won both the all-around and bull riding titles in Houston in 1990 and added four more titles over the next eight years, but he was bucked off all three times he drew Bodacious.

“He was just a little 2-year-old when we brought him here to Houston, he took Cody Lambert down and that’s where his reputation started right there,” Bodacious’ stock owner Sammy Adams said. “He was just a young boy, but he had such an ability that a lot of bulls didn’t have back in those days.”

But Bodacious even bucked off the very best. He tallied 136 outs during his career, earning national fame for his famous bucking of legendary rodeo cowboy Tuff Hedeman at the 1995 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.

“That was kind of the shot heard around the bull riding world, because Tuff (Hedeman) was the very best bull rider in the world,” Murray said. “He had ridden that bull before —he’s one of the eight who rode Bodacious and… when it broke every bone in his face, that’s one where everybody’s like, ‘Well, if he does that to the very best guy, what’s he going to do to us?'”

From 1992-95, only eight qualifying rides were recorded on Bodacious.

“I always say he was like the Shaquille O’Neal of bulls,” Murray said. “He wasn’t a mean bull — he didn’t really try to go after guys or hurt guys, but it was just due to the way that he bucked.”

Murray explained that there’s a typical rhythm of bucking that bull riders expect: bulls leap into the air, pushing off with their hind legs and becoming airborne, then kick up before landing and repeating the process. However, Bodacious had a special ability to start his next jump while his hind legs were still airborne, rather than waiting for them to touch the ground first.

“Bull riding is a game of timing and counter-movement, so he would throw a complete wrench in the timing,” Murray said. “And then his strength in how steep he could go and how steep he could break over just added to the ill sense of timing that he had. That’s what made him so hard to ride.”

Bodacious’ bloodline lives on, though several generations of breeding have dwindled the significant bucking style. Adams doesn’t believe that Bodacious would have the same reputation if he were competing today.

“He’s like Elvis: more famous now than when alive,” Adams said. “I think he might be the second-most famous animal after Secretariat. You mention ‘Bodacious,’ and it doesn’t matter where you are: people know what you’re talking about.”