Hog Blog

Midway re-opens Saturday

This weekend’s frigid temperatures didn’t stop all from heading to the Midway for a little fun.

 

Arlington residents Kenedy McMichael, 9, and Grace Topel, 10, didn’t seem to mind the weather Saturday as they spun around in the Fun Haus.

 

“This is just typical Stock Show weather,” said Trish Thompson, Grace’s mother. “It’s a tradition to come out here, no matter how cold.”

 

Thompson said she will always remember coming to the Stock Show as a child and sloshing around in sleet and ice.

 

Jeff Parlow, manager for Talley Amusements, said the Midway closed down Thursday and Friday because of the weather.

 

Saturday, the hoses were still frozen so food vendors could not open. Also, many of the rides were closed because those with hydraulics do not work as well in the cold, Parlow said.

 

“We’re trying anyway,” he said.

 

--Susan McFarland

Welcoming the cold weather

Not everyone is dismayed when the temperatures drop at the Stock Show.

“We look forward to the days like this,” said Carmen Ortega, who was helping customers at the Dickies booth in the Stock Show’s main exhibits hall which offers a wide range of heavy-duty clothing suited to agricultural work.  “We did real well yesterday.”

Hooded jackets and insulated coveralls and flannel shirts are among the most popular cold-weather items.

“Mostly the stuff they can wear in the barns while they are working with their animals,” said Ortega, who is working her seventh Stock Show.

- Punch Shaw

Lambs lose their coats, but still stay warm

Almost everyone in the sheep arena was sporting a wool coat on a frigid Saturday — except for the lambs. They were dressed in their finest "lamb socks," fleece and canvas blankets specially fitted for the animals.

The lambs have to be sheared when they come to the Stock Show, so the socks have to replace their natural wool coats.
 
While some lambs don fleece blankets, others strut around in leopard print getups embroidered with their names and family logos.
 
Erskine McDermott, who was manning the Hamm’s Show Supplies booth, said the socks are a must when it gets cold outside.

McDermott’s store sells the socks in all kinds of prints and colors — from Hawaiian floral patterns to stars and stripes.
 
“People almost always want to dig and find ones they like for their sheep,” McDermott said.
- Bailey Shiffler

It's dawn somewhere

The non-North American roosters were confused today.

Around noon in the petting area, the roosters starting crowing. Loud.

 

An Egyptian Fayoumis Rooster crowed and made noise through the noon hour, along with others native to Belgium and Spain. 

People walking past were surprised.

Maybe it is dawn on the other side of the world.

-- Elizabeth Zavala

Bunny foo-foo yourself

Big Bertha wasn't ready for her closeup.

 

The solid patter senior French lop rabbit slept most of the morning Friday at the Fort Worth Stock Show, while her owners, the Lackeys of Burleson, readied the other lops for the show. A sign in front of Bertha's pad read:

"I am on a diet trying to watch my figure (for the judges, of course) so PLEASE DO NOT feed me your fingers, or anything else with calories."

Several others warned of the same punishment for those wanting to pet.

Tread lightly in the rabbit area.

-- Elizabeth Zavala

No, they didn't fly it in

That's the most frequently asked question when people see a helicopter in the middle of Amon G. Carter Exhibits Hall. The copter, owned by Epic Helicopters, is based at Meacham Field. It was flown to the Stock Show grounds and landed just outside the exhibits hall, then wheeled inside, said Wes Woodard, a pilot who was manning the booth on Thursday. The company is trying to advertise its fleet of five helicopters to large ranch owners who may want to tour their spread from the air or even to hunt wild hogs. The cost for a copter hunt is $395 an hour. The company also offers more conventional aerial tours and has even had a few airborne wedding proposals. Though learning to fly a helicopter is considered more difficult than learning to fly an airplane, the company also offers flying lessons. "It is harder than flying an airplane but I always tell people if you can rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time, you can learn to fly a helicopter," Woodard said.

Bill Hanna

Overheard

All sorts of beasts and fowl are brought to the Stock Show for various judging events.

This prompted a curious grounds worker to ask, "How do the pigeons get in?"

"They just fly in over the fence," replied Matt Brockman, the event's executive assistant. -- Barry Shlachter

Crowds

January days at 60 degrees are a big reason why Stock Show attendence is up so far this year.

As of Wednesday, 347,500 visitors passed through the gates and likely stepped on bovine remembrances.
That's an increase of 4,600, or 1.3 percent, from the same period last year, reports Shanna Weaver, the event's spokeswoman.

But that was before the rain started. -- Barry Shlachter

Spotted

The results of our semi-regular, semi-official survey of license plates in the Stock Show parking lot:

Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missori and two from Michigan.

Must've brought a friend. -- Mike Lee

Stock Show rodeo performers entertain young hospital patients

Stock Show officials brought a bit of the rodeo to patients at Cook Children’s Medical Center on Tuesday. Several rodeo performers stopped by the hospital along with Hoss and Elwood Moos, two make-believe bulls who serve as stock show ambassadors.

While no real horses or cattle were on hand, the entertainers brought along a dog for the children to pet and handed out stuffed horses as souvenirs of the visit.

Devon Dawson, who voices the character of Jessie in the Toy Story movies, played her guitar for the audience. Trick rider Niki Cammaert, barrelman Rudy Burns and bullfighters Andy Burelle and Dusty Tuckness also visited, signing autographs and answering questions.

Jessamy Brown