The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo is the oldest continuously running livestock show and rodeo in the United States. Each year the 130-year-old event draws more than 1 million attendees and is home to the world's original indoor rodeo.
Recently, Morning Edition host Andrew Garcia and I dropped in to the Stock Show looking for things to do beyond the rodeo.
Andrew remarked that contrary to how the old saying goes, this actually was his first rodeo, so he didn't really know what to expect.
We had an idea about what they were going to see and hear at the event, but were proven wrong a couple different times. But we learned a lot in the process.
The first stop was at the sheepdog trials, where Border Collies and Australian Kelpies lead sheep in and out of obstacles in under a time limit.
We thought we'd get a lot of great sound of dogs and sheep and handlers yelling, but inside of the arena it was so quite you could hear a pin drop. Instead, we heard sharp little whistles. That's how the handlers give commands to the dogs to move the sheep around.
Marjorie Baemann from Gunner, Texas, whose Border Collie Effie was competing in the trials, answered our burning question—why weren't any of the dogs barking?
"They don't bark when they herd," said Baemann. "There are other breeds that do bark to get the animals to move, but Border Collies, don't. They just don't bark."
She says they use what's called "the eye," and that's where just a stare from the dog is enough for the sheep to know that they're supposed to move.
We headed to the Poultry Barn next to catch the pigeon judging, and while we expected to hear lots of cooing, the neighboring roosters stole the show and made us quickly understand why they weren't allowed inside city limits.
Sharing the barn with their noisy, crowing neighbors were the pigeons and judging for the birds just happened to be going on just as we walked up. Despite Therese's best cooing imitation, the pigeons, like the dogs, remained silent.
Pigeon Show judge Kevin McGrew from Hempstead, Texas filled us in on what judges look for in homing pigeons (birds who have the ability to find their way home over extremely long distances) and roller pigeons (birds that tumble or roll in the air).
"My specialty is the racing homers," said McGrew. "The homers are a little easier to judge because they have different muscle structure and stuff to look at versus the rollers, because the rollers don't race, they just roll. They're more of a just a show or a fancy type pigeon."
"So some of these pigeons race?" asked Andrew.
"Yes sir, the racing homers division, race," replied McGrew.
"They race around a track?" said Andrew.
Andrew solidified his "City Slicker" status with that question, but McGrew was kind enough to burst Andrew's bubble gently and explained how the races really happen.
"They actually release the birds outside, away from their home," said McGrew. "Then they'll race back to their home, which can be up to 600 miles away."
"I think the folks at the stock show should look into your idea as another possible event," I said. "They could dress the pigeons up in little tiny racing silks and they could fly around the arena like the Kentucky Derby!"
"That's exactly what I was picturing!" said Andrew. "We need to pitch that to them for next year."
We finished up the trip with a visit to the Will Rogers Auditorium, where we were lucky enough to catch the FWSSR Invitational Mariachi Competition. The contest featured 7 high school mariachi teams from around Texas.
Dora Tovar, director of Hispanic programs at the rodeo, explained the origins of mariachi music and how it relates to the stock show.
"The lyrics of Mariachi music come from agriculture experiences. So many of the songs and the lyrics are all about ranching," said Tovar "It kind of brings it back full circle with this competition because it adds the history as to why we celebrate Mariachis. It's not just Mariachis and Margaritas, you know. It's Mariachi and ranch life and culture.
So in conclusion, even if this isn't your first rodeo (or stock show), there's a lot going on and a lot to learn. And the folks there don't mind a silly question or two.
The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo runs through Saturday, February 8th. To get a full schedule of events, go to the show's website at fwssr.com and you can find even more events in the North Texas area at KERAnews.org/arts.
