For those who live the rodeo lifestyle, the workday starts in the dead of night. It’s pitch black and eerily quiet when Davis pulls up to the arena. He feels the cold, damp morning air skitter over him as he swings out of the driver’s seat and down to the dirt, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the piercing red taillights on his truck.

The bite of cold metal stings his hands as Davis puts up the barriers and starts guiding his bulls out into the night. It’s the first of many long, tiring hours ahead, so Davis sets his mind to the next task with a cowboy’s resolve. If he’s lucky, he’ll be out of there just as the last of the amber light fades over the horizon. It's an all-hours project, Davis says. I don't necessarily look at this work as a nine to five because I do this every single day from sunup to sundown. That’s a requirement in the rodeo or cattle industry.

The cowboy’s unshakeable work ethic is hardwired into Davis’ DNA. His job has no set schedule, whether he’s on the road or training at home in Texas. All his waking hours are devoted to making sure his bulls stay as healthy as possible. It’s a good, honest, hard-working way of life, Davis says. It takes a lot of work to maintain these animals and their health… they didn't just get this way on their own. It takes a lot attention, making sure they’re fed the right grain, and making sure it's consistent.

In the arena, where animal athletes earn just as many points as their riders, Davis’ bulls truly shine. A bull that can operate at this peak level is no accident or quirk of nature. Bucking bulls only give their best performance when their health is maintained with precision, dedication, and expert knowledge. This is where Davis excels.

I for sure wouldn't want to do anything else, Davis says firmly. I know this is where I always wanted to be, and I know that you can achieve whatever you want as long as you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and work hard at it.

With classic Western grit, Davis has built Dennis Davis Bucking Bulls into a leading program with nationwide recognition. For him, raising champion bulls isn’t just a job—it’s a calling. Davis’ work is wholly driven by purpose, and his skill is evident in the impressive track record of his bulls. Davis’ bulls compete in dozens of national events every year, from grassroots rodeos to sold out arenas, repeatedly scoring top points and winning hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money.

It’s clear that for Davis, only the best is good enough. Still, Davis’ success never challenges his cowboy’s sense of humility and honesty. It’s a matter of the way you carry yourself, Davis explains. It’s a group of standards that we abide by. And we don't stray very far from it. Once you feel yourself straying, it's easy to tell. I always tell my children to be giving-type people. Always give a person the benefit of the doubt. That’s part of the cowboy code and the family tradition I like passing on, is to be that humble but stern person.

Davis’ bulls are a match for any elite rider, but he looks for a certain kind of cowboy in the arena. Born and raised on a cattle ranch in Texas, Davis upholds a firm set of values he likes to see reflected in the athletes who ride his bulls.

You see that cowboy code all the way through the riders, but it's easy to tell the ones who really want to be the champion. They’re all good guys, they all try to do the right things, but once you operate at the top level, there's a certain focus and a way you have to go about doing things. There are bend-over-backwards, try-harder type situations if you're going to operate at the top.

Davis makes it clear that the key to being a champion is unwavering focus. I like a cowboy with the right mindset. A cowboy that doesn't have a lot of crazy things going on, so when he steps down in the bucking chute and it's just him and the bull, his mind is focused on getting the job done. With some of these top-level bulls, if your mind is thinking about anything else, you're not going to ride that bull. I like to see cowboys that are 100% focused, in the bucking chute and outside the chute too.

It's no coincidence that this hyper-focus is what motivates Davis in his work. “Keep yourself busy and work hard, because if you're physically and mentally occupied with something, you have no room to worry about what somebody else has going on. If you put one step in front of the other, focus on what you're doing and give it 100%, good things will come.

Raising bucking bulls is a way of life for Davis, but also the continuation of a family legacy. Davis grew up caring for cattle on his grandfather’s ranch and comes from a line of rodeo cowboys. I've been doing it all my life. My family on both sides did some lower-level rodeo. My grandparents had a cow calf operation, and just as soon as I was old enough, I started riding sheep and calves, then bulls. I was just the wild child that wanted to get on a bucking bull, Davis jokes.

In the West, traditions are passed down not through heirlooms, but through hands-on experience. Davis is proud to be continuing his grandfathers’ legacy with his own children by raising them in the trade, along with the values that have shaped his life. I'm very proud, he says. We work very close together. There's a continuation…continuing to work hard every single day, and pay attention to detail, and don't be afraid to be creative and try new things. I would like to see them continue that.

Beyond his work and personal legacy, Davis reflects on the vital role rodeo plays in preserving the way of the cowboy, since rodeo athletes are some of the most public-facing cowboys of America. Davis sees it as his duty to represent that lifestyle with respect, honoring cowboy values in everything he does.

For all of us rodeo guys, livestock contractors…it's very important, because they’re the cowboys that are getting up at 2:00 o'clock in the morning, loading up their horses, and going to work on ranches. Since rodeo is the face of this life, it's important that we carry ourselves in the right way and exemplify what it really means to be a cowboy.