Stockyards Championship Rodeo — Attraction in Fort Worth

Seeing the high online prices, I hesitated to buy. But when I got to the venue, the prices were even higher—$5 more! Lesson learned: I’m sticking to online shopping from now on! 💻🛒😂

Due to my schedule, I attended the afternoon session, and the timing worked out perfectly. Turns out, being a cowboy or cowgirl is more than just a lifestyle—it’s a unique profession! 🤠 Many of them come from ranch-level backgrounds, and raising and training horses is no easy task. 🐎

Before the competition, a 16-year-old girl performed over 10 songs in a row. Her voice was truly impressive—she’s got real talent! 🎤👏

Here are some of the standout events I experienced, and I’d love to share them with you: 🐂🐴

Steer Wrestling: Also known as "bull-dogging," contestants leap off their horse to wrestle a steer to the ground by hand. Tie-Down Roping: The cowboy quickly lassos a calf from horseback, dismounts, and ties it up. Speed is everything! Breakaway Roping: The rider chases a calf, and the rope breaks free once it’s successfully lassoed—stopping the timer. Team Roping: Two cowboys team up—one lassos the steer’s head, the other its hind legs. Perfect teamwork required! Barrel Racing: Riders race in a figure-eight pattern around three barrels as fast as possible. Precision and speed are key! Saddle Bronc Riding: Cowboys ride a bucking bronco, gripping a saddle rope while trying to stay balanced and graceful for at least 8 seconds. Bull Riding: The ultimate challenge—riding a bucking bull for 8 seconds while it tries to throw you off.

The energy and skill on display were incredible—it’s an experience I won’t...

Absolutely intolerable audio. I sat in the "Cowboy Corner" (bar seating) area, and the audio was some of the worst aural torture this side of Baby Shark.

There was a 13 year old girl singing before the event, and I couldn't tell if she was a good singer or not due to the absolutely oppressive reverb. Her high-pitched voice, the song selection, and the audio system were genuinely, legitimately painful. I don't want to bash her singing because I genuinely can't form an opinion, but

I did some assistant audio engineering work ages ago, and I'm confident the person running the sound here just turned everything up to 11 and called it good.

For speakers, there's 2 stacks of 9 uppers, no lowers that I could see, and the Cowboy Corner is situated behind the speaker stacks. You hear at least 3 different waves of reverb, one from front of house, one from the far side, and one from the high ceiling.

The audio could have been turned down at least 10dB and would have been much better due to the reduced reverb.

Absolutely will never attend this rodeo again. The announcer was absolutely unintelligible where I was sitting, and I can't imagine it was any better for the people sitting ahead of the speakers, but it might have been.

I left the venue over an hour ago, and my ears are still ringing. I've been to quieter metal concerts. If you are going to go to this, bring hearing protection - I'm not kidding....

A truly horrible experience. It’s partly on me for not doing my research better and while I’m all for understanding that other cultures do things differently and have varying thresholds and ideals on an ethical level, the animal cruelty involved in this show was disturbing. We walked out at the 10 minute mark after a baby cow was severely injured. As far as I can gather he had his neck snapped but I didn’t stick around long enough to know for sure. To add to the horrifying nature of casually seeing that, the announcer immediately went on to say that the worst part when an animal is injured like this is that the crowd loses their energy. No - the worst part is the unnecessary suffering of that animal. Even if this practice can’t be banned, it can certainly be regulated better. A lot of the brutality was unnecessary. Even after they had successfully chased down and violently roped up the baby, someone else then came along and with extreme and unnecessary aggression, unties the animal. Kneeeling down on their ribs with full force and violently tanking at their ears is not necessary. Again, I should have done my research better to understand what this was but I am appauled this is considered entertainment in 2025. Plenty of other reviews from people who were just...