After bareback rider Bill Tutor finishes a successful 8 second ride on the horse William Wallace — one of the capable Rodeo Houston cowboys works to help him dismount. Tutor finished in 2nd place in the Rodeo Houston 2018 Super Series. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
33,000 volunteers, 2.4 million visitors, and over 26 million dollars in scholarship money to Texas students in 2018 alone.
What are we talking about? It’s the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, of course! Three weeks of festivities, action, food, and music make it a key cultural event in the Bayou City. 2018 marks its 85th anniversary.
Garth Brooks performed twice this year — both opening and closing the Rodeo. His final performance on Sunday, March 18, 2018, set a new rodeo attendance record of 75,577. Brooks was phenomenal. What an evening it was!
Garth Brooks performs “The River” before a record crowd at the final night of Rodeo Houston 2018. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Rodeo season is a great time to visit Houston, and before the tickets go on sale for 2019, I’ll post a full rodeo run-down. In the meantime, enjoy the photo gallery!
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo officially kicks off with a parade through downtown Houston. Trail riders —
who start riding in more than a week before —
participate in the parade.
The Lonestar Cowgirls, a mounted drill team from Magnolia, Texas.
“La Grande XL” — Largest transportable ferris wheel in the western hemisphere, highly visible part of the Rodeo Carnival.
Texas barbecue! Baked potatoe with pulled pork from Pappas was outstanding. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Well, fried everything is on the menu of fair-like gatherings around Texas . . . these plump little beignet-like confections? Fried Oreos! Photograph, Ann Fisher.
The inside of a fried Oreo 🙂
Mutton Bustin’ — a Rodeo favorite: five and six year olds line up to ride a sheep across the corral. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Finished with her Mutton Bustin’ duties, this ewe joins the growing herd at the end of the corral. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
The kids wear helmets and good padding and most all pop up at the end with a grin.
Perfect time to pick up a hat, boots, or other Western-wear necessities. Photograph, Ann Fisher
Steer takes a nap, awaiting his appearance in the show ring. 2018 junior auction sales totaled $15,141,680.
One of the top award winning works of art, to be auctioned for scholarship money.
After Mutton Bustin’ finished, I moved over to the pig races.
Adolescent piggies sprint around their sawdust track.
Each day, the rodeo opens with the grand entry, a parade of the colors, along with a massive column of riders, horse and mule drawn wagons, and vintage fire engines. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Teams of mules or draft horses pull the wagons in the entry parade. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Logo was designed in 1966. Our bowlegged “H” is the Rodeo Mascot — “Howdy.” Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Following the Grand Entry parade, we had the national anthem — as this rider circles the arena bareback, with no bridle — music, crowd noise, and fireworks — the girl and horse focused and on task. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
An man and his horse, waiting for the rodeo to get underway. Photograph, Ann Fisher
I never tire of watching the partnership between a well-trained horse and his rider. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Close-up of Randall Carlisle dismounting. He’ll go on to place 2nd in the Super Series, winning $20,000.
It all comes down to hundredths of seconds . . . how fast he can rope the calf, take it down, then tie three legs together. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Bareback bronc riding, one of the rough stock events. Here, Mason Clements rides Tino’s Juarez. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
8 seconds . . . and then both the cowboy and the horse receive scores. Is it good enough to make it to the next round of the Super Shootout? Clements walks away with a score of 80. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Trenton Montero rides Xceptional Margarita — for an 80 point score. Not enough to move on to the next round. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Anthony Thomas stays on Justified for eight seconds, but comes away with a 77. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Tuf Cooper of Decatur, Texas (World All Around Champion Cowboy of 2017), gets in done in 10.1 seconds to advance to the next round. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Steer wrestling (or bull dogging) — Ty Erickson on Scooter (far side) gets his steer down in 5.5 seconds, but it’s not good enough to move on. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Baylor Roche takes down this steer in 5.3 seconds, enough to put him into the final four. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Bill Tutor on bronc William Wallace. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Cody Wright has finished his ride on U R Frisky, but then the work of the rodeo cowboys kicks in — to get Wright off of the horse. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
You can see Wright slide to the ground on the far side —
Speed, agility, and close communication between rider and horse are the keys to great barrel racing.
Hailey Kinsel, on her horse DM Sissy Hayday put in an amazing performance — 14.88 seconds.
But it won’t be enough to grab first place . . . Kinsel finishes 2/100 of a second behind Nellie Williams-Miller. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Nellie Williams-Miller on her blue roan mare, Sister, will win both the Super Series, AND the Super Shootout on the final day of the rodeo. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
If this boy can catch a calf, halter it, and get it into the designated space before time is up — he’ll win the right to choose a steer or heifer to raise to show at the Livestock Show next year. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
Every night of the rodeo, there are two heats of Chuck Wagon races — really demonstrations now — three wagons per race. Photograph, Ann Fisher.
