Fort Worth Stock Show Tickets

The Fort Worth Stock Show was first held in 1896 when the drift toward purebred livestock was in its infancy and Fort Worth was on the doorstep of becoming a major player in the world market place. Fort Worth, with its little, dusty streets and limited late 19th Century entertainment, was an improbable forerunner of today's sprawling center of art, culture and industry coupled with a supporting cast of well over a million residents. We have good Fort Worth Stock Show tickets and information through our agency.
That first year's March Show was such an achievement that organizers got together again in the fall of 1896 for a two-day event-October 12 and 13. It was resolute that most exhibitors preferred the spring dates, so the Show was established as a March event, a practice which was sustained until 1948 when the January-February dates were adopted. The move to earlier was made to fit in with a series of major livestock shows held around the country, establishing a usual circuit for exhibitor herds.

The Fort Worth Stock Show has been operated under five names. It began without a name, but the next year came up with the name of Texas Fat Stock Show. Afterward, it was the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show, then the National Feeders and Breeders Show. (Fat was a popular part of the name of early-day livestock events because cattle, sheep and swine were hallowed with a good supply of fat, which added to the taste and provided lard when rendered which had many uses in the days before vegetable oils appeared.) In 1918 the name of Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show was selected to give the event a broader scope of exhibitor involvement. The current Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show name surfaced in 1988 to better replicate modern industry trends. We have good Fort Worth Stock Show tickets and information through our agency.

Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, as an indoor entertainment event, holds particular meaning and pride for Fort Worth residents as they lay claim to hosting the "World's Original Indoor Rodeo." Wild West Show performers, many gifted in riding skills, participated as contestants in the 1918 indoor extravaganza. The initial Fort Worth Rodeo featured men and women contestants vying for a total prize of $3,000. The event included two performances daily March 11 through 16. Contests incorporated are ladies bucking bronco, junior steer riding, men's steer riding, men's bucking bronco, and a wild horse race-catch-as-catch-can with no saddle or bridle. A cowboy named Leonard Stroud was the big winner that first year. Homer Wilson and Lucille Mulhall, both Oklahoma ranchers and linked with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show, provided stock for the contest. An estimated 23,000 persons saw the inaugural rodeo's 12 performances. We have good Fort Worth Stock Show tickets and information through our agency.

Over the years, the Fort Worth Rodeo continued its lead with innovations for the sport. Steer riding was dropped here in 1933, when the late rodeo producer Verne Elliott introduced "Brahma bull riding." Bull riding, scored today among rodeo fans as most likely the most dangerous and surely the most thrilling event of rodeos, has been accepted as one of the five major events in the sport on a worldwide basis. Early day rodeo shows here interspersed horse show classes with cowboy events. Since 1996, the horse show agenda has been removed from the rodeo agenda due to more available space in new arenas. Cutting horse contests, though, continue to be seen by rodeo crowds. Such events were included in the debuting rodeo performances as "herd cutting" contests. The country heard its first live radio broadcast of a rodeo on the National Broadcasting Company network in 1932 through the broadcast facilities of its Fort Worth associate, WBAP. The station has since become part of the American Broadcasting Company network.
The Fort Worth Horse Show, measured as one of the top shows in the nation, annually draws almost 3,000 head of equine. Overall, the livestock events draw more than 21,000 head of top quality animals and the numbers continue to climb as more breeds are added. We have good Fort Worth Stock Show tickets and information through our agency.