January in Texas

Folks in north Texas observe three major holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo, which starts in January. 

There were some firsts in the 2014 show. A young woman from Saskatchewan was the first female in 118 years to participate in the chuck wagon racing competition. Pretty, little Brailee was the first four-year old to show a miniature pony. The 70-member Women Steering Business of Fort Worth showed up for the first time to play with the good ol’ boys at the Junior Sale of Champions. They spent over $100,000 for prime livestock.

The Sale of Champions, which helps raise scholarship money for youngsters who exhibit livestock at the show, shattered last year’s record, bringing in $3,305,919. A High School senior named Flint took top money for his grand champion steer and left with $200,000 saying, “This will see me through Texas Tech.”

Another student, Wyatt, did not surpass his 2013 winnings, but he was still a winner. Syndicate members pitched in to purchase his 10th placed steer. He had weathered the death of his father and persisted in raising his show steer. Total participation for the 23-day stock show and rodeo was 11,137,100. A total of 3,700 bales of hay were distributed and 3,680 bales of straw. Youngsters never left their animals unattended. They bedded down on straw beside their show animals and kept watch all night. Texans use a lot of big words to describe impressive events like stupendous, humongous, blow- your-socks-off, and one-in-a-million. But no adjectives adequately describe the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. You just have to be there.

If you’ve never attended, arrange to be in Fort Worth in January 2015, and see the sights for yourself.