Houston Rodeo

March in Houston means it is time for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I had been to rodeos at county fairs before moving to Texas so I was a bit overwhelmed by my first experience at the Houston rodeo.

The food is amazing and the smell of all that food is the first thing that you experience as you exit your car or get off the train. Giant smoked turkey legs, bbq ribs, brisket, and fried everything. French fries only scratch the surface. Fried desserts are the king at the rodeo.

The midway is a child’s dream with rides galore and the largest portable ferris wheel that exists.

The rodeo is held in the football stadium which is home to our beloved Houston Texans. It is a

The events include bull riding, bronco busting, barrel racing, calf roping, and wagon racing. Each event and participant is amazing but the calf roping earns my respect due to the amount of talent that goes into riding a horse and using a lasso to rope not only the head of the calf but the back legs and then training your horse to stop and gently pull the calf’s legs up off the ground. The wagon races are my favorite from a pure excitement state. One year the wheel came off one of the wagons but the horses just kept pulling anyway.

Mutton Busting and the calf scramble. Hands down my favorite events involve the kids. Mutton busting has a 6 year old child holding on for dear life to the back of a fluffy sheep as it sprints across the stadium. The calf scramble involves releasing 20 calves into the open arena with 40 teenagers chasing after them with ropes. If a kid can catch a calf, use the rope to tie a harnass around the calf’s head, and coax it back into the center of the area then the kid can keep that calf and raise it to sell at next year’s rodeo.

The concerts are a great way to see favorite bands as well as bands you’ve never heard of. There are a lot of country music stars but it is a very eclectic mix of music to give everyone something. I’ve seen ZZ Top, George Strait, Brad Paisely, and many others