A Visit to the Stock Show

I love the National Western Stock Show and try to get there at least once during its 16-day run. I usually go the final weekend to see the stock dog trials, and this year was no different. I lucked out, too, because a neighbor gave me a pair of general admission tickets.

It's hard to get good photos in the Stadium Arena because the light is a little dim, and the dogs and sheep are moving pretty fast most of the time.

Look at 'em go!


(I was using the Hyperlapse app on my iPhone for this.)

Then we wandered into the barns to see some of the few animals remaining on the last day, including this lovely bovine, No. 4:

And her friend, Dolly, who wanted to slip us some tongue:


We met some nice mules ...

... who won lots of ribbons and had very tidy owners

Then we headed upstairs to the "Hall of Education," which is a giant marketplace of all things ranching, plus anything else that might interest the typical National Western visitor.

(This little notice in the stairway struck me as very good advice. Not only for general hygiene but because of bird flu and swine flu concerns.)


I didn't really have a need for saddles, cattle confinement systems or parasite control, so I headed directly to my favorite vendor:


Lakeside Scissor Sales is based in Sacramento, California, and they've had a booth at the Stock Show for 30 years. They sell not just every kind of scissors, but also all kinds of pliers, tweezers, manicure tools, dental picks, magnifying glasses, keychains and accessories, jewelry making tools, eyeglass repair kits, you name it.

I have purchased all kinds of useful items there over the years, my favorites being really good tweezers, including a foot-long set; miniature clamps that I use in the kitchen mostly as bag clips; a stiletto; and a pointy manicure tool. This time I got thread snips and more mini clamps.

Finally, we headed to the Western art gallery, where a friend of mine had some paintings being shown. Only we discovered that her paintings were actually on display in the private National Western Club. No worries! A volunteer took us down there and led us around to see the art in the dining room and bar.

I just love Mai Wyn's oil paintings on aluminum and stainless steel. And her Colorado work is so interesting and different from her Wisconsin pieces (of which I have a couple). I'll have to do a post about those sometime.

So it was a nice, somewhat quick visit to the Stock Show. Next year I'll try to go earlier in the show's run as well. Time just got away from me this year.