Love it or hate it, you can always smell the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo when it comes to town. And, depending on the wind, sometimes you can sniff it clear to Montgomery Plaza. While a recent interview with Barry Corbin — where the actor admitted to finding this smell oddly pleasant and “clean” — has made the author penning this article reconsider his stance on the scent, for those unaccustomed, we will warn that it is an acquired taste.
The fragrance in question emanates from this massive event’s colloquial namesake, the Stock Show, where hundreds of both mild-mannered and ornery farm animals overtake the massive Livestock Barns. There, visitors can see rows upon rows of sheep, hogs, poultry, goats, a dozen different classes of cattle, and a heck of a lot more depending on the day’s scheduled events.
All of these animals will be paraded and meticulously judged by experts in their given breeds and classifications. Think of it as a less refined, dirt-on-the-ground Westminster Dog Show. Despite contestants typically being members of the Future Farmers of America and 4-H, the judges don’t go easy on them because of their youth. Each class has a champion, and that champion is sold at the Jr. Sale of Champions — the Stock Show’s grand finale — which takes place on the event’s last day. Last year’s grand champion steer went for a whopping $440,000 — sold to the Higginbotham Insurance who’ve made a habit of being the highest bidder on the champion steer. And every cent of the winning bids goes toward the college education of the students credited with raising the winning livestock.
It’s apropos that the Stock Show events dominate the morning and afternoon schedule — our typical work hours — end before sequin-clad city folk fill Dickies Arena for the nightly Rodeo. Theirs is the cowboy work that’s the most glorious one can do that nobody ever sees.
While the Rodeo, with its bucking bulls and daring displays of courage, receives all of the glamour, the Stock Show is where one truly witnesses the fruits of a ranch hand’s labor. After all, Rodeo events are modeled after activities necessary for drovers and ranch workers to do their jobs (save for bull riding), all of which are geared toward the well-being of the animals under their care. And, given that the Stock Show competitors are overwhelmingly children and teenagers, the Stock Show is where one learns to care for these animals and to show off the return of their hard work. Ultimately, the Stock Show teaches these future ranchers and farmers the need for discipline, responsibility, perseverance, and the importance of sportsmanship.
Boiling everything down to its foundation, the Stock Show — the animals — is why cowboys do what they do. You Rodeo for show, but you Stock Show for that hard-earned dough.
