Tag Archives: yards

Some Long Horn Cattle!

Twice a day at the Fort Worth stock yards, they do a drive of the long horn cattle.  They take them through the street up the center of the yards with the crowds gathered around.  They are very specific about where you can be.  There are markers that you must stay behind and they police latecomers closely to not try and get in front of those that have been waiting.  Also, you are not allowed to be low down.  Crouching is not allowed.  I think it might be so you can move away quickly if required.

The cowboys herd the cattle on horseback.  The cattle themselves seemed pretty docile on this occasion.  They are not kidding when they are called long horn cattle.  The horns on these creatures are absolutely enormous.  They move relatively slowly up the street so, once they had passed us and the crowd started to disperse, I was able to walk up the street quickly and get to the other end before they had all gone through.

Fort Worth Stock Yards

A work trip to Texas included a weekend where I was free to do some exploring.  I decided that the Stock Yards in Fort Worth would be worth a look.  I knew a little about it but not much.  There were the buildings left from the time when the yards were actively trading cattle.  These are now repurposed for the tourist business.  They also have some of the surrounding buildings like the hotels and bars that probably are still serving much the same purpose as they always have.

A lot of exhibits were set up with people in costume cooking or working with traditional crafts.  These were in a variety of tents.  They didn’t seem to be getting a lot of visitors and I felt a little conspicuous photographing them as a result but I guess that is all part of the attraction.  There was more to come but that will be another post.