Totally Texas -- Horses, cows & cowboys galore

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Will Rogers Memorial Center

3401 West Lancaster Avenue

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I can’t believe I waited so long to see it, joining the nearly 100,000 other spectators to the parade of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. First time ever watching a parade with no motor vehicles. Just horses of every size and description -- a dream come true. Okay, there were also mules, including adorable to look at zebra mules, horse- and mule-drawn wagons and stagecoaches. And riders. Some human, some not -- amazing how many riders carried dogs tucked in their pockets and saddle bags.

Official starting point is the Tarrant County Courthouse on West Weatherford between Commerce and Houston, with first riders moving into downtown at 11 a.m. The pageant goes south on Commerce to Ninth Street, turns onto Houston and continues to the courthouse. Expect to see more than an hour’s worth of horses, like the white horse troop whose picture from 2012 illustrates this post.

Then head out to Will Rogers Memorial Center for entry to the livestock show that began the whole celebration back in 1896. This year’s stock show actually opened this morning, January 18, at 8 a.m. and ends each night through closing, February 9, with a rodeo. And more rodeos during the day.

The ground are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily during the stock show. Between rodeos and livestock shows and sales, watch the likes of a celebrity goat milking contest January 19 and the Mustang Magic trainers challenge January 24 -26. And hear campfire stories presented by the Texas Cowboy Poets Association January 29 - 31.

New to the stock show this year is reciprocal admission to three local museums -- Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Cattle Raisers Museum, and National Cowgirls Museum and Hall of Fame. Stock show admission entitles you to free admission to the museums. If you’re already a museum member, you’ll get free admission to the stock show. For details, see www.fwmuseum.org/, www.cattleraisersmuseum.org/, and www.cowgirl.net/.

General admission to the stock show grounds is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-16. However, children age 2 and older must have a rodeo ticket to attend one of the rodeos. A rodeo ticket will entitle you to general admission to the grounds on the rodeo date. For tickets and complete schedule of events, see www.fwssr.com/.

(Next Friday -- all about another historic event, the Dallas Museum of Art’s new free admission policy.)

Totally Texas -- Keeping the cow in Cowtown

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Will Rogers Memorial Center

3401 West Lancaster Avenue

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Leave it to Fort Worth to make rodeo a cultural event -- right up there with its great art museums. Of course, this isn’t just any rodeo. During the stock show that began this weekend and runs through February 4, visitors can attend the Cowboys of Color Rodeo, a “Best of the West” Ranch Rodeo, a fiesta-themed “Best of Mexico Celebracion,” PRCA professional rodeo, and “Bulls’ Night Out.” And those aren’t mechanical bulls.

And where there are cattle, there must be horses as well. If you like your horses on the wild side, try Mustang Magic, this Thursday through Saturday (January 19-21). The event sponsored by the Mustang Heritage Foundation features mustang mares who were running wild only months ago. Take a look at the contestants at http://www.extrememustangmakeover.com/themustangmagic.php/-- they’ll be available for adoption Saturday night.

The trail drive era that earned Fort Worth the nickname “Cowtown” only lasted from 1866 until the late nineteenth century before passing into legend. But no place gives the legend as much boost as Fort Worth, whose old stockyards earned a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The Fort Worth stock show began in 1896 when a show (actually the second one of that year) was held to coincide with a meeting of the National Livestock Exchange. From that beginning, things only got bigger.

In 1904, the great African-American cowboy, Texas-born Bill Pickett, gave an early demonstration of bulldogging -- the sport he invented. The following year, the first rodeo -- a demonstration billed as a “Wild West Performance” -- took place at the stock show. Unfortunately for Pickett, bulldogging didn’t join the official list of rodeo events until 1938, years after his death.

This year, any visitors who want more than rodeo can see a jaw-dropping array of livestock judging (llama performance classes, anyone?); hear story-telling by the Texas Cowboy Poets Association; and watch a mounted shooting competition.

They can listen to music, eat, shop (and not just for cows), and attend Cowboy Church on Sundays. Anybody not sure what to do first can check out
www.fwssr.com/ or the stock show’s Facebook page. And of course, it has its own app. Like Fort Worth, the stock show is legendary -- with a modern twist.

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Also this week -- for those who like their horses of the iron variety, the North Texas Council of Railroad Clubs holds its 27^th annual model train show in Plano Centre, 2000 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Saturday and Sunday (January 21-22). Admission is $8, free for children age 12 and under with a paid adult admission. See
http://www.dfwtrainshows.com/ for details.