The National Western Stock Show - Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the National Western Stock Show Tuesday afternoon with my sister Susan to walk around and take a few photographs. It was Free Grounds Admission Day, one of my very favorite days at the stockshow. And while it is of course fun to peruse the vendors on the main floor selling some of the weirdest products on earth, the best part is downstairs where all the animals are housed. Unlike at the zoo, at the stock show you can get right up in their faces and make sure they are looking you in the eye when you photograph them, such as the goat in the photograph on the left.

I think the goat in the photograph on the right wanted to be fed, or petted, or something. Heeding the warning on the sign that said that some of these goats might bite, I resisted doing either, but did manage to snap a photo. All of these animals are entered into what are called junior market shows, and have been raised by 4-H and FFA junior market exhibitors. That is all well and good, but these guys need to tell their damn animals not to bite.

And why was I taking so many photographs of goats, as opposed to, say, cows, which are all over the place at the stock show? The reason is that goats seem to have much more personality, and more interesting expressions than cows, which just tend to sit and stare at you with a blank expression. And by the way, the goat in the photograph on the left seems to be enjoying itself at the show, living the good life, admired and the object of attention, unlike back at the ranch, where it is forced to perform the chores that goats do there, whatever the hell that may be.

As we were leaving for the day, we passed the booth where you could have a photograph taken sitting on a Longhorn steer. Talk about fun! I offered to pay to have a photograph of my soon to be 81 year old sister Susan sitting on that moo cow, but sadly she declined. It seemed like a gentle beast, and so I was disappointed that she would not take me up on my offer. I could try photoshopping her image on top of the steer in the photograph on the right, but it would be pretty hard to make it look real. Some people just have no sense of fun.