Out West Events 2025 | American Bucking Horse Association: Producers establish new futurity 

The Miles City Bucking Horse Sale is one of five events that will form a new bucking horse futurity, the American Bucking Horse Association.  

“It’s apparent that a lot of the better bucking horses are bred up here in the north, whether it be South Dakota, North Dakota, or Montana. This is bucking horse country,” said Justin McPherson, Vice President of the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale board. McPherson has gotten involved in the ABHA as of late, though he was not an initial founder.  

“It was a brainchild of a handful of different guys just talking with each other, and they all kind of had the same idea. All of them had futurity colts that they were bucking at probably five different futurities around, and they all kind of got into cahoots and started thinking, ‘Well, maybe we ought to form an association and put all these together.'” 

In addition to the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, the four other events slated to be a part of the ABHA include: Bucking on the Yellowstone, Forsyth, Montana; Ernest Tooke Memorial, Ekalaka, Montana; Broncs in the Bakken, Watford City, North Dakota; the new Koeppen Futurity in Challis, Idaho; and the finals one day prior to the New Year’s Eve Buck & Ball, Gillette, Wyoming.  

“[We’re] just kind of trying to promote the bucking horse and the futurities that are around. And the word has, oddly enough or not, traveled pretty fast. And there’s been some phone calls from guys that have events that are not part of the original five that are wanting to come in maybe next year. So, it’s got some legs and I think it’s a pretty exciting deal,” McPherson said.  

Forming Alliances 

Craig Miller, a current board member for the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, said the idea for the ABHA was born from a desire to do something different.  

He, Mac Tooke, Stan Headings, and Kurtis Koeppen, and J.T. Martin were entering their colts in association futurities throughout the summer of 2024. They became frustrated by the high membership fees. For the money, they felt, they received little to no representation.  

Since they were each a producer of well-established, standalone events, they decided to join forces and create their own association.  

All of the futurities but one consist of three classes: a two- and three-year-old dummy class, a four- and five-year-old class, and a six-and-up class – the latter two being bucked with riders. The futurities allow for young horses to be exposed to competition and for their talent to be recognized before their prime.  

Contractors are able to see the fruits of their labor in a controlled competition setting. Miller said, “They get to know what they have, whether it’s a decent horse or a bad horse or a good horse, or if it can take the pressure of being a bucking horse.” 

The establishment of an organized association will also help pool resources in order to jackpot money for riders, which are sometimes difficult to recruit. 

“If we can put this together with a futurity system, it’ll give horses more places to get tried out and give kids more places to go to gain experience. They can still go get some money, get some confidence, learn how to ride and not get wiped out every time,” Miller said.  

For example, the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale futurity will jackpot $3,200 this year, which incentivizes young riders to enter, while mutually benefitting stock contractors who are able to see their stock compete.  

A Unique Futurity 

Though the handful of futurity events will be sanctioned by the new American Bucking Horse Association, each will preserve their own twist on the competition.  

For example, the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale futurity includes a sale at the end, thanks to Craig Miller’s innovation, which started in 2019.  

The futurity was previously a competition only, but he argued that it was part of the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale and horses ought to be sold out of the futurity.  

At this event, each stock contractor enters a team of three bucking horses – one for each class. Starting in 2019, they had to put one up for sale.  

“I knew every one of them was going to put the three-year-old for sale because that was the easiest one to ‘no sale,’ and he just wanted to buy back. So we let it go about three or four years,” he said. The futurity has grown significantly, averaging 14-18 entrants every year.  

This year, the rules have changed. “I said this year, ‘Okay guys, you can sell the three-year-old, but something else has to go with it. You can’t sell a three-year-old by itself.'”  

To be as fair to the stock contractors as possible, the no sale fee is capped at $1,000.  

Miller hoped his approach would attract the best bucking horses in the world, and it has.  

Such stars as War Bridle, Tickled Pink, Shady Jacket, and Twisted Cinches were all sold through the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale and futurity in 2021 and 2022.  

At the 2024 NFR, Tickled Pink won the fourth and ninth round and was voted Saddle Bronc Horse of the Finals.  

The Future 

The founders of the ABHA are optimistic because of the longevity of the events they produce. “We’ve all done it. We’ve been successful enough to keep going and keep it going for four or five years, which that’s a task in itself to keep ’em going year after year,” Miller said.  

Their events and finals are far enough north to attract Canadian contractors, and Miller said they are receiving calls from all around the continent from producers seeking to become involved.  

Further updates can be found at their Facebook page, American Bucking Horse Association.