With clowns, cowboys, bucking broncos and wild bulls, a night at the rodeo is fun for the whole family. The Stockyards Championship Rodeo takes place every Friday and Saturday night at the Cowtown Coliseum, America’s oldest indoor rodeo arena in the heart of the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. The rodeo involves a number of thrilling events—skilled bronc-busters and cattle ropers compete to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo, their speed with the lariat or time in the saddle measured by fractions of a second, as you and the kids breathlessly watch.
General admission is $17.50 for adults but only $10 for children 12 and under. If great seats are more important than a great deal, you can reserve box or VIP seats for all ages at $22.50. And you can win free tickets, too—the most popular entry in the weekly Cowboy Caption Contest on the Rodeo’s Facebook page gets two tix gratis.
Once you’re at the show there’s plenty to see. The rodeo begins and ends with bull riding, one of the most thrilling events—a contest between man and beast as the bull struggles to throw the rider from his back. Then there’s three kinds of roping: tie-down, where the cowboy must catch and incapacitate a calf as fast as possible, breakaway, where roping speed is the only consideration, and team, where two riders work together to capture a steer. Girls’ barrel racing is another exciting event, a female-riders-only competition that involves maneuvering your horse around obstacles along a complicated path. On Saturdays there’s also bronc riding in both saddle and ranch-saddle varieties, as well as the amazing bareback ride—the cowboy has only a single strap around the horse’s girth to hold onto, giving the bronco a considerable advantage.
The ever-present rodeo clowns keep the audience entertained with their antics while the fierce competition goes on. And there’s audience participation, too. Kids from the bleachers are invited to come down into the arena and try their hand at a calf scramble or mutton scramble—a fun and fast-paced team effort as several children on foot chase down a sheep or small calf.
And if you like the rope-tricks-and-showmanship side of the rodeo experience more than the straightforward competitive nature of the main events, come to Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show. You’ll see marvels of roping, riding, six-shooting and bullwhip action, as well as musical performance. The show schedule isn’t as regular as that of the rodeo itself, so check the calendar for details.
The rodeo can be found at 121 East Exchange Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76164.
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