The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

This weekend I managed to check two items off my constantly growing/evolving bucket list and had to get my thoughts down while the experience was fresh, before the high from this accomplishment subsided…

The Fort Worth Stockyards are one of my favorite top 10 places to visit, not just in Texas, but out of all the states (44) and countries (12) I’ve traveled. Its the perfect mixture of tourist attraction mixed with real authentic cowboys/ranchers that appeals to my soul. Ever since we moved to Texas and I discovered, you can just show up with horses and ride around anytime you want, I’ve been dying to get the horses and ponies up there. Even though we only live two hours away, life, kids, other equestrian pursuits, etc. always seem to get in the way. Participating in the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo (FWSSR) parade has always been a close second to riding my horses under the Stockyards banner, but it is a slightly more selective event to get into.

When a friend forwarded me an email from Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association (TETRA), a group that has had a guaranteed approved spot in the parade for the past 10 years, I instantly reached out to see if they would allow me and the ponies to join them. I figured it would be a great way to accomplish one and a half of my goals. December was spent getting my least experienced, but largest pony team prepared for the experience. The FWSSR parade is not for first time equines, although there were a few people, that had no qualms mounting up on less than prepared horses.

Soap box time: Parades are basically the culmination of everything evolution has conditioned horses to avoid. Unprepared animals with unskilled handlers, put the riders, other participants, and the public in danger. Unless you are an extremely skilled trainer, showing up on an animal that hasn’t been exposed to the noise and sights of a parade, is a very bad idea. A true horseman would never consider subjecting their animal to that level of stress. Gradually pushing your animal out of its comfort zone during training to expand its skill set is one thing, flooding it with every possible life-threatening scenario at once is just cruel. I might not be the best at any single horse activity, but I give them the basic preparation to succeed and minimize the inherent risks/stress of what we’re doing.

Summer, my auction barn pony that we saved from being purchased by kill pen buyers/horse traders, and Tinsel a Bell County Sheriff’s department confiscation made my FWSSR parade team. Summer had been in training since summer 2022, and had been team driving since December 2022. Tinsel didn’t even begin training until late summer 2023, and began team driving with Summer the week before the first 2023 Christmas parade. Getting this team parade experience in small towns with short routes was a must if I had any plans of braving the FWSSR parade. It gave me the opportunity to expose them on a small level, while determining if any adjustments to my process or equipment needed to be made.

So as prepared as any horses could be, we loaded up early Friday morning with the intentions of driving around the Stockyards before heading to parade parking and setting up camp. Of course the weather forecast predicted this weekend would be a record setting cold spell for Texas. Driving around the Stockyards was a lot of fun, but I definitely want to return on a Monday or Tuesday when everything is dead, to get my dream shots of my horses or ponies. You do need to obey traffic laws within reason at the Stockyards, so there was only so much we could do on one of the busiest days of the week on opening weekend of the Stock Show and Rodeo.

The parade experience was next level. I had personally been dreading camping out before the parade. The Google Maps images of the Red Parking lot looked like a pretty miserable place to spend the night for people and ponies. I had already decided that my animals would be bedded down in the box of the trailer, because it appeared we would be parked in a sea of asphalt. As luck would have it though, there was a huge open field right behind the parking lot, that trailers were permitted to use, a much better place for our animals to hang out, graze, and munch on hay until we bedded them down.

I’m a super efficient packer for both personal and equine travel. I have the exact necessities, with extras for contingencies and not a lot of luxuries. My friend, Lily Pad, who camped out beside of us, is definitely of the “Glamping” mindset, and came with a table, fire pit, full plate/cutlery set, basically the works. While we were eating cold chicken salad sandwiches, she was feasting on chicken breast cooked fireside. I probably would not drag all of that with me, but the fire pit is something that will definitely be added to my trailer set-up. It made sitting outside in forty degree weather before bed a LOT more pleasant. The one area I had her beat though was the coffee pot. We never leave home without that! The view of the Fort Worth skyline, while sitting fireside with friends, ponies, and celebratory adult beverages definitely made our Friday arrival worth it IMO.

Sleeping in my stock combo trailer with temps in the low 30’s, was the least appealing part of the adventure, but I do have a luxury queen mattress, and bougie bedding in that sucker despite it not being a traditional living quarter set up. With the assistance of a generator and heated blanket, we were comfortably toasty all night. After an exhausting day, I was out once my head hit the pillow. Not even the sounds of horses and ponies shuffling around, banging hay nets in the trailer box could wake me up.

Parade morning got exciting quickly. Parade Marshalls came around at 6:30am to check coggins tests and verify the certificates belonged to the horses we brought, a first time anyone at any event has actually checked the photos on my documents against the animals standing tied to my trailer. Then we went to work packing up our campsite and getting animals ready. Even though the parade didn’t start until 11:00am, all entrants had to be ready/staged by 9:30am. I had planned my parade outfit perfectly for the weather conditions, with enough layers for the low temperatures and wind, but not so much that I was hot. Thankfully, I had installed a stampede strap on my hat, because no matter how tight, I don’t own a single hat that could withstand the winds rushing between the buildings once we hit downtown Fort Worth.

Never in my life have I attended an equine event on this scale. When someone threw out numbers like 130 plus equestrian entries, 3,000 horses, I thought they may be referencing old statistics, but no. I’ve attended a LOT of large major horse events as a spectator even if I wasn’t riding, but I’ve never been anywhere with 3,000 horses all out and being worked at the exact same time. Some of these groups had upwards of 40 horses! It’s simultaneously nerve wracking/thrilling to be in an open field with that many animals. Our entry was number 72, so we literally watched 71 groups pass by us on the way to route. I saw some excellent horsemanship and reinsmanship by riders and wagon drivers. I also saw some pretty questionable participants, but over all it was a smoothly run event.

There were a few Charro groups with the most beautiful animals I’ve ever seen, ridden by some very impressive riders. Our group had the good fortune of following one of these Charro groups. Everyone in the group was dressed in black blazers with black cowboy hats and saddles worth more than my first two vehicles combined. Most of them were on black Friesians or Iberian breeds (Lusitanos/Andalusians), and demonstrated some amazing horsemanship and riding. My pony Tinsel was determined to stay as close as possible to this group. Summer, was game to flaunt her prance, so they were pulling hard the entire parade. Let’s just say, I’m feeling it in that wrist I’m technically not supposed to be using to ride or drive with per doctor’s recommendations. I tried to get adequate photos and video of the experience, but there were moments when it took everything I had to navigate the “not so thrilled to be there” horses in our group, and keep Tinsel from getting up close and personal with the Friesian executing a flawless soft piaffe in front. I really wish I knew the name of that group to look them up, but the general parade noise made it impossible to hear.

I truly can’t describe the feeling of anticipation as we crossed the Paddock viaduct bridge with the Fort Worth skyscrapers looming in distance on our way to the Tarrant County courthouse where the parade began. Because the route is circular, the first of the parade entrants were coming back down across the bridge in the opposite direction just as we were making the climb. The actual parade was incredible with large crowds all decked out in their western wear. Despite being city people, this is still Texas. I had lamented that our group may not be that impressive following the Charros in front of us, but as usual people lose their minds over fat, furry, little shetlands/mini’s decked out like miniature draft horses pulling a wagon. It was pretty gratifying that the Charros even turned around to watch my little team, and take pictures/video.

Once we made the parade route circle, one would think maybe the trip back to the trailer would be anticlimactic, but no. Half the parade entrants were still making the climb, as we were headed back down the bridge. It was crazy to be on that bridge with what I estimate to easily be 200-300 horses. I tried to video it because I’m not articulate enough to do the experience justice, but a mariachi band had Tinsel’s attention and it took all of mine to keep him on track. Summer, bless her heart, for all of Tinsel’s shenanigans chugged along like an expert.

The minute we arrived back in the parking lot, and the Charros in front peeled off in another direction, both my ponies dropped down to a slow walk on a loose rein, like they had no one else to compete with or impress. We made it back to the trailer, got everyone settled, and that’s when a wave of total exhaustion hit me. The adrenaline rush was over, and I was crashing. We sat around reminiscing and decompressing for a few before we decided it was time to pack it all up and hit the road. We all had farm stuff to do when we got home to prepare for the massive temperature drop that was suppose to happen overnight.

All I can say is “WOW.” I’m so glad that we persevered even after hearing the weather forecast had the potential to make for a miserable experience. I’m not sure I would have it in me to make this an annual event, but I would like to return with a four in hand at some point. No matter how well my team was trained, I don’t think I would want to do that large of a parade with more than four, too many things could go wrong very quickly. I definitely want to throw a shout out of appreciation to TETRA and specifically Mary Apple for her group coordination. I’m extremely grateful she allowed us to join the group. Two members even went to the trouble of making custom quilted saddle pads for the group. Very put together for a trail riding group!

Finally the real hero of the weekend was my Darling Husband for holding down the fort with a 9 month old and 7 year old while I ran off to have pony adventures! He’s too good to me❤️