Will Lloyd - The Battalion

Anticipation among Aggies grows for Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

By: Emily Baker

Posted: 3/8/05

Every year, for three weeks in March, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR), the second largest festival in the nation, turns the Reliant Center into an agriculture heaven. Nearly anyone from Houston can describe the impact of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as it brings famous performers, livestock and a nationally famous rodeo to H-town year after year.

"I have been going to HLSR since I was little bitty," said Matt Anderson, a freshman agricultural science major. "My family goes to the performances and the rodeo but we mainly go to look at the livestock. I have been showing cattle there since I was a freshman in high school. It's fun to go to the concerts and have fun, but showing is a lot of work, and it's a lot more fun than anything else."

As an intern with Texas A&M's ag science department, Anderson will attend several activities at the HLSR over Spring Break as an Aggie representative, helping Junior participants weigh and classify their animals as well as guiding them in the show rings.

But it is not only Texans or Aggies who have a presence at HLSR. Houston has become an international spotlight, drawing interested buyers from around the globe.

"Houston is the largest livestock show and rodeo in Texas and is an internationally known show," Anderson said. "It attracts people from all over the world. Houston is the granddaddy of them all. There is a livestock show in Louisville and Denver, but Houston is the biggest. We market a lot of our cattle to South America, so it's a time to take your best cattle, the best of the best, and show them off at HLSR."

For some students however, the rodeo aspect is viewed with much chagrin.

"I really think they should stop rodeos," said Sarah O'Day, a freshman biomedical science major. "The animals don't have an opinion. They can't say they don't want to participate. In this day and age, the participants try to make the animals seem so wild when the animals' responses are actually being provoked. A lot of the animals are aggravated with electric prodders in order to get them to buck or run faster. I have heard stories about animals that run out of the shoots so fast that they run into walls or fences and injure themselves."

As a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA, O'Day is concerned about animal safety. As a main attraction of the HLSR, Rodeo Houston is the largest in the world. Although the rodeo has implemented numerous safety measures for the animals, O'Day said many of the events are unethical. The bucking straps used to get horses and bulls to "buck" and the calf roping event are two of O'Day's largest concerns.

"The bucking horses have a strap around their abdomen to get them to buck," O'Day said. "According to PETA, Ohio and Pittsburgh have banned bucking straps due to the cruel nature of the placement of the strap. A fair amount of the people watching these events have no idea what is going on. Many times the rodeo organizers will cover up the cruelty and the audience never knows what has happened."

For Anderson, the events of the HLSR are personal, revolving around the very animals that PETA and O'Day aim to protect. As a member of the National FFA Organization, growing up around agriculture and animals is a central part of Anderson's life.

"I started my experience in 8th grade in San Antonio at a calf scramble," he said. "That is how I got my first heifer. The money won from a calf scramble is used to buy the winner's first head of cattle. My dad is an agriculture teacher, so that has a lot to do with my interest in showing livestock. My family has raised commercial cattle forever. Now I show for ranches, which means I take care of the cattle before they are shown in the ring. I wash them, clip them and show them to a judge."

The fans of the event said it provides experiences that bring people from all walks of life closer as a group.

"The common interest people have with livestock brings people together from all across the state," said Ryan Murphy, a sophomore agribusiness major. "People come for a whole variety of reasons. HLSR has a fair for kids, livestock shows for ranchers and concerts for people our age. A rodeo and livestock show is a way for people to improve their business by seeing the new technology and ways of doing things. An event this large pulls all sorts of entertainment, and it's not all country."

Anderson agrees that the event is a place for people who are involved in livestock and understand its processes to mingle with those who normally might not appreciate the many facets and intricacies of agriculture.

"All sorts of people go, whether it's for the rodeo or the entertainment," Anderson said. "Where I am from, everyone knows all about raising cattle, but that's not the case for everybody. There are usually a lot of 'city folk' at HLSR. You can spot them a mile away. They'll have on rhinestone shirts or ornate cowboy hats. HLSR is a way for people who don't know as much about agriculture to learn about the different aspects."

Besides the horses and cowboys, the HLSR boats an entertainment lineup including Kenny Chesney, Maroon 5 and Alicia Keys. Besides the musical entertainment, the grounds will house vendors selling products such as rodeo supplies, jewelry, clothes and even pickup trucks.
However much entertainment is drawn to the livestock grounds, for some the price paid to run a rodeo is too high.

"A lot of performers come and a lot of people go for the entertainment aspects, but I wouldn't go even for that, because in some way or shape my dollar would go to supporting the rodeo," O'Day said.