February 18, 2022

FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO

Cowtown Coliseum, 121 E Exchange Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76164

“We are the world’s only year-round rodeo. Rodeos are held nearly every Friday and Saturday night.” – Fort Worth Stockyards website.

The Cowtown Coliseum was built in the early 1900s so Fort Worth had a permanent place to hold their annual Fat Stock Show.  While the annual show has moved to a larger venue, the coliseum, which hosted the first indoor rodeo, still hosts a rodeo nearly every Friday and Saturday night.  The building is the perfect size for the competition.

I arrived at the coliseum about an hour before showtime.  After finding my seat I pulled out my cell phone to pass time.  Fortunately, soon after I sat down the announcer welcomed everyone and introduced an eleven-year-old singer who entertained us until show time with a mix of old and new country songs, sung karaoke-style.  The rodeo started right at the posted start time with the traditional presentation of the colors by a rodeo queen on horseback.  And after the National Anthem was sung by the eleven-year-old the competition started. 

The show consisted of a flight of bull riding followed by saddle broncs, calf roping, bareback broncs, women’s calf roping, team roping, barrel racing, and another flight of bulls.  There was an impressive trick roping exhibition by Ketch Weaver in the middle.  I appreciated the almost business-like approach to the rodeo as the announcer and staff kept things moving.  It was entertaining, but the rodeo was the main attraction.  We were told over 200 contestants had registered tonight, but not all would get to perform in the main show, several would perform in what is called the “slack,” or competition after the main show is over and the main crowd has left.  I stuck around and watched about a dozen bull riders try their luck in the slack but gave up and headed home long before the competition was over.

It was a good night of rodeo. A side note:  the Coliseum has no restrictions on photographic equipment therefore I was able to take my camera with a telephoto lens to the show.  With the camera in continuous shooting mode I can take between five and six shots per second.  So, after a two+ hour show where I took pictures of almost every contestant, I came home to over 1200 pictures of the rodeo.  I quickly narrowed them down to 67 photos I really liked, and ended up with the 26 edited photos below.