More than 671,000 people braved freezing temperatures to attend the 118th annual National Western Stock Show that took place in Denver January 6-21, 2024.
The event brought crowds from across the Rocky Mountains and featured events like mutton busting, a Mexican rodeo, and bull riding.
Ryan Hall, riding Daiquiri, competed in the horse jumping.
“I'm competing in the low amateur jumpers. We did a power and speed class, so half the class is just based on cleanliness and the other half is based off speed and time,” she said.
Gretel Demartin from Boulder, Colorado, also competed in jumping, riding a horse named Emiliano.
“But his show name is Milan,” she said.
“Since this is my second year here, I kind of know how things work. But last year I was a little nervous, because it's like people from all over, like kids, come for like school field trips and everything, so it can get a little nerve wracking when all these people are watching," said Demartin.
"But yeah, I wasn't so nervous this year. Some people are here from like 4:30 until like 10 every night, just taking care of the horses. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it.”
Neil Miller, the stock show farrier, and his apprentice Brendan Sheridan, were on hand to help shoe horses and “repair anything that’s broke.”
For Brendan Sheridan, this was his first stock show working on his own.
“So, there's a lot of things that can happen, but then we're here to fix it,” he said.
Sheridan likens changing horse shoes to changing the tires on a car, something that needs to happen on a regular basis.
“Exactly like changing tires…every eight weeks,” he said.
Over in the Hall of Education, Sidney Allard was grooming her purebred Charolais heifer, a breed know for their white color.
“So we're clipping her right now to trim her hair and shape her hair the way we would like,” she said.
“We just want them smooth and correct in their structure, so we just try to shape their hair to accentuate their good parts and kind of hide their bad parts.”
Melissa Moseman, co-owner of J&M Show Goats in Greeley, Colorado, was showing her Boer goats, which are bred for their meat.
“So the loin across their back is their top rack. And so they're looking for a good wide one of those with lots of meat on it. They're looking for some good chunk in their butt. They're looking for good musculature,” she said.
Moseman says goat meat is not as popular in the U.S. as it is in other countries.
“A lot of ethnic groups really love goat meat. It's the number one meat in the world actually. It's very low in fat, high in protein, low in cholesterol, so it's really great for you.”
Wade Leachman, a herdsman at Rosebud Cattle Company, was at the stock show displaying an Angus bull.
“He's a very good looking dude,” he said.
Over by the food trucks, Roger Sharp, the owner of Big Bubba's Bad BBQ, says business has been brisk.
“During the stock show we go through about 600 cases of turkey legs, about 4,000 pounds of pork, and about 250 cases of pork ribs.”
Brody Erie, a professional bull rider, had come from Stephenville, Texas, to compete.
“I grew up kind of in the western way of life and my dad rode bulls. My grandpa rode bulls, so it really wasn't that hard to get into it. The challenge is obviously the physical challenge is trying to stay on a bull, you know, that obviously weighs more and is stronger,” he said.
“And as I've grown older, I think the more of the challenges for me is being away from home, being away from my wife and my family and everything like that. That's more of a challenge now than the actual bull ride.”
Copyright 2024 RMCR.
This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico including Aspen Public Radio.