A Return Visit To The National Western Stock Show

My friend Mark, sister Susan, and I paid the National Western Stock Show a second visit yesterday afternoon to see some of the things we missed the first time around. When we visited last week, a lot of the participants and their animals had not yet arrived, especially the cattle, and the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center was virtually empty. However, yesterday, the place was filled with people and their animals, and a judging event was taking place at the CoBank Livestock Arena, as seen in the photograph on the left.

Meanwhile, back in the livestock hall (aka the cattle barn), everyone was busy getting their steers ready the show - washing them, vacuuming them, giving them a trim, and God knows what else, as seen in the photograph on the right. As far as I can tell, it takes four people to get a single animal ready to exhibit. Hopefully they don't have to go through all that back on the ranch with their hundreds of heads of cattle. Now THAT could take some time. 

Meanwhile, back on the ground floor of the Hall of Education building, people were working to get their horses ready for competition, too, as seen in the photograph on the left. I am not sure what they have to do to get those horses ready, but it also seems to take three or four people to do it, too. And I must say, they do work hard to keep the floors clean at the National Western, but you still have to watch where you walk to avoid stepping in cow or horse manure. I guess it might be too hard to put diapers on those animals when are inside the building, but perhaps they should try. Just a suggestion.

What I find pretty amazing is walking through the cattle barn and seeing people leading those huge animals down the aisles on a leash, such as in the photograph on the right. I guess if you work with these animals every day, you don't think twice about it. When we first arrived at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center, there was a long line of cattle being led to the shower areas, where the participants would wash their animals. Besides that, I assume many of those people were leading their animals to the arena where the judging events take place. Also, I suppose they could also just be taking them for a walk, just to give them a little exercise, much like you might do with your dachshund or poodle. Although taking a championship steer for a walk around the neighborhood would certainly draw a bit more attention.