Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

What a great day! The temple is closed for 2 weeks so off I go to see the one and only Houston Livestock Show but forget the rodeo. That part you had to pay extra for. I wanted to see the animals and they shows. I got there no problem just after it opened at 8:00am. The Livestock, most of them anyway, were in outer buildings. But the main exhibition hall had all kinds of booths and fair stuff to buy which I did. But there also was many of the steers if not all of them in the building. Lots of varieties, Brahmans, Angus, Aunju, Herferd and many others. But the best part was load in day for the hogs, and there were many. Lots of Durocs which was surprising. Crosses and Spotted and Chester or Landrace (they look alike). It was so good to smell pick again. I spent much of my time watching them walk in and all the tack the people brought in and I do mean lots. The minimum weight for hogs was 240 and max was 280 sell to 290. That is much higher than our hogs.
There was the lamb & goat auction after lunch so I had to see that. It was held in the sale arena on the other side of the NRG complex. Fortunately they had a tram to take us over and back. What an eye opener. They don't sell their livestock by weight but by dollar amounts. And they pull down some obnoxious prices. The Grand Champion lamb sold for $260,000. the Grand goat sold for $170,000. After about 60 or so animals came in they went to double lots. But they didn't bring the animals in. All kids in auction are guaranteed $1,000 from the fair fund. Soooo odd. Instead the kids stood there holding their ribbons. Very odd. What was very disappointing was the way the kids were dresses. These were FFA and $-h kids but none of them were dressed in their uniforms. They were in jeans and tennis shoes and not at all professional. I say if you're going to try and sell a product you dress appropriately. None of them were. And they brought all these other little kids and people up with them to try and milk the crowds. Not like what I am use to. But that's Texas and they don't dress for sales. I also went and watched the mule pull. A team of 2 mules pulls a platform weighted down. They have just a small amount of time to pull it as far as they can. It's so heavy they don't go very far. They pulled best when they pulled together. I ate beans and rice and funnel cake. Bought some fun things for my kids and grandkids and a new sweater for me. It was a great getaway day.

Lite crowds in the morning. By afternoon it was packed

 This is a steer squeeze for the bull riders

 Steers!

 See, not in uniform...

 Hogs!!!

 I liked the coloring on this cross

 Hog Tack

 Panels for the pens. All pens are cut in half - Hogs can stand up and sit down, that's it!

 Champion meat goat $170,000. Still no one dressed...

 You can see the big buyers up close and personal

 Grand Champion lamb $260,000. Owner gets $50,000 - rest to fair fund

 Need I say more about their unprofessional attire

 It's a big arena - auctioneers sit nice and high

 And this was the Grand Champion Steer - only $300,000. Quite a come down from the lamb. the steer cost her $30,000 plus $2,500 for feed. she gets to keep $70,000. The rest goes to fair fund

 Mini mule pull

Lots and lots of fair stuff!!!