National Western Stock Show
Thanks to my mom friend Molly who got this group going to the stock show, despite our unexpected snow storm the night before. I have driven past the Denver Coliseum (where the stock show is held) every day on my way to and from work for 6 years. I always see the signs and think, “I should go to that!” and never have. Finally, I had the perfect excuse… a bunch of my neighbor mom friends were all going together. Plus! There was a petting zoo!
Thanks to Amy who drove me and Grey through the snow and confusing signage to find us parking a million miles from the entrance. Thanks to the shuttle bus driver who gave us directions for where to park and then patiently waited while we hoisted our toddlers and their gear into our arms before we could board the bus.
Once inside, I was surprised by how big the complex was… and how cold! When dressing Grey, I thought he would wear his coat for a minute between the vehicle and the entrance and almost just dressed him in a light sweatshirt to save on the bulk in the diaper bag. I’m glad he was wearing his Baby Carhartt Coat instead. As an added bonus, he blended right in with all the western wear.
Parking had taken longer than anticipated, so we didn’t have much time to wander the booths. Honestly, we didn’t really want to have to carry the kids around too much anyway and we were mostly just here for the petting zoo and the rodeo. We found another one of our neighbors in line and then all tried to convince our children to touch the goats and sheep. Grey took a while to warm up to the idea, but eventually unglued himself from my hip and ventured towards some of the smaller animals.
He absolutely loved the baby goats and even braved a llama who was taller than him laying down. As someone who considers herself a bit of a cowgirl, I am a little embarrassed that my kid just wanted the speck of fluff off his hand when I asked him how he liked all the animals…
Then we all ventured back into the cold to cross over to the rodeo arena. There we found our last missing member of the group. Speaking of missing, Grey somehow lost a boot in the transfer which was miraculously recovered right before we left.
Grey sat in his own seat (which was just a seat for a no-show) through most of the performance, eating out of his snack box and staring wide eyed at the events.
The show opened with the bucking broncos. We were all horrified to see one of the riders dragged around the arena underneath the pounding hooves of the wild animal when his hand got stuck in the ropes. I covered Grey’s eyes and muffled a scream as he was clearly knocked unconscious and his head bounced around like no human head should move. Medical teams rushed to his aid and he was evacuated to the hospital. The performance resumed and later the announcers shared the good news that he had regained consciousness in the ambulance. One of my neighbors shared an article about his recovery in the hospital days later. His outlook seemed much better than what I had feared watching the incident. I suppose that’s rodeo. As someone who has spent a decent amount of time riding and caring for horses, I have come to acknowledge the power and strength these animals possess. I am just grateful Grey was too young to have a clue and relieved he didn’t just see someone die. I hope that Grey will have many opportunities to learn to love and respect horses by caring for the two that live at the ranch with his Superpa.
As we all shook off the trauma from the broncos, we proceeded to enjoy the rest of the displays of horsemanship, teamwork, skill, and sheer daring from the other performers.
All the moms grinned at each other during the Mutton Bustin’. I know I was calculating how much longer until I was going to plop Grey on a sheep and let it go.
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