Wild bulls, Bucking Broncs, and Clowns!

It's RODEO time in San Antonio. They are serious about rodeo here.....it lasts for an entire month....two major shows and two major concerts every day. The Cowboy Breakfast kicks everything off and is open to the public but, at 5AM on one of the few cold days....I missed it.

We arrived at 11:00AM, Steve thought our tickets were for the 1:30PM show but on closer examination, they were for the 7:30PM show. Whoops! Oh well, there is a lot more to the rodeo than just the main shows in the ring.

We started in the stock barns.

Do you have any idea how many different looking pigs there are?? Kids and 4H are heavily involved with pigs, calves, sheep, chickens, etc. In addition to teaching responsibility, there is a lot of scholarship money for winners and these kids take things very seriously.

 

 

Can't miss a photo opportunity like this....they have a lot of things available for family fun.


In addition to lots of displays in this big building, there was a magic show. Cameron got picked to participate but couldn't be persuaded so his Dad had to take his spot.

The Magician made balloon animals for each of the participants and they had to make the animal noises as we sang Old McDonald.

Good thing Steve is such a good sport. Guess who claimed Steve's hat as soon as he came off the stage?



The Magician blew up a really big balloon......

which ended up covering almost his whole body and while he was inside, he was blowing up smaller balloons and twisting them into small animal shapes.

There was another area where they had a whole western campsite set up and they were cooking beans and handing out samples.

On to another building where they had live animals. This is a sloth.

This guy kept a close eye on everyone.

On to the horse barn where there were competitions going on.

After the barrel racing, we went on to BMX stunts

We had an early dinner at the concession booths.....everyone had something different...not cheap for sure but pretty good and fun. Then it was back to the stock barns again to fill a little more time.

Sand sculptures were on display and a woman was even working on another one showing how it is done.

They had displays of Texas wildlife.

They also had a whole carnival area but we didn't go there as there is just too much real rodeo stuff to see.

We never made it into the petting zoo as the line was toooooo long.

And then.....on to the main event. The AT&T Event Center is huge. Looks kind of empty before the show.

Even during the entrance, it didn't seem full of people but that quickly changed and the place was full.

One of the funnest events is the kids sheep riding. These are young kids and it is the first time for many.

Some only made it a couple of feet before they fell off. They just hang on to the fur and go.

This little girl was the winner. She hung on all the way across the ring and they actually had to pull her off before her sheep ran her into the wall. It was her first ride and she was fantastic.

 

 

On to the bull riding events........

And the calf roping.........

And the bucking broncos.....         The announcers gave a real nice little speel about how important the livestock, the broncos and bulls, are to the families that own so they are very well taken care of both during and between rodeos.

The final event was a roping demonstration by an expert vaquero from Mexico. He was fantastic!

 

By this  time, it was 9:30PM.  They take a little break while they bring the stage and all the extra set-up stuff in but we knew we wouldn't make it through the concert so we headed on home. It was a great rodeo.

 

If you haven't been to the rodeo yet.....it only lasts to the end of February.  Grab your boots and head on out.