Since I moved to Texas, I’ve had a blast from my opportunities to photograph the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo alongside my longtime friend, Glen Ellman, who is Fort Worth Fire Department’s photographer and has had countless covers and photos in Firehouse Magazine over the decades.
I didn’t grow up on a ranch, and I didn’t have the opportunity to participate in 4-H as a youth. That really put me at a disadvantage for understanding what’s important to cover at the Show. However, my favorite part is the willingness of anyone who’s at the event—whether a young kid showing an animal for the first time or a longtime rancher who has a deep, permanent tan from years working in the sun—to explain the what, why and how of what they are there to do. Every year when the event ends, I am beyond humbled by the grit, dedication and hard work that goes into raising and tending to livestock, whether it’s a 2,000-lb. Brahman bull or a 2-lb. rabbit.
Each January when the show kicks off, I watch families from all over the country pour into town. People who haven’t seen each other in a year, a few weeks or since the previous week’s stock show are excited to be with their friends. It reminds me of arriving at Firehouse Expo, or any fire service event.
Although they come to town with the goal to have their animal named Grand Champion or to be the big winner in an auction, the level of these folks’ dedication is similar to firefighting, where companies thrive on having solid turnout or water-at-the-nozzle times or a perfectly detailed rig, with its array of tools grinded and oiled.
I’ve spent many hours in the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo barns watching kids move a beast that towers over them and is 20 times their weight. It’s a challenging task, but, through repetition, they get better at it, just like the firefighter who trains. The parents, much like a senior man or company officer, keep a watchful eye, to ensure that everything gets done and is done right. After a long and exhausting day, many catch a nap next to their animals.
I haven’t spent as much time in the Show’s rodeo arena, but the dedication that those riders have is admirable. Thousands of hours riding, falling and getting back up, just to survive, for example, a back-breaking eight seconds on a bull. Bull riders can be eliminated in just two seconds and then have to pack up their gear and head to the next rodeo for another chance to place in the top group of contenders.
Having been positioned over the pens where riders get ready, it’s obvious to me that it takes a team for the rider to get out of the gate. The tension is high, and the group is focused on its tasks.
A few years ago, I asked a bull rider in his late 20s why he competed. Beyond chasing the big earnings, he shared, “When that gate opens, you never know what you’re going to get. That eight seconds can be an eternity, or it can be a disappointment in a split second. No matter, you need to be ready to dismount, land and get away from the bull, and you better be quick.”
The stock show and rodeo mirrors the fire service when it comes to dedication, pride, attention to detail, passing along knowledge and teamwork. The teamwork isn’t always evident, but the more that you see it, the more that you realize that it’s what makes, or breaks, the event for the participants. That could explain why so many firefighters who I met here in Texas come from the rodeo circuit: the adrenaline rush and the thrill of the unknown.
Bobby Halton
In 2022, we lost far too many from the ranks of fire service legends, and, and as the year ended, we lost retired fire chief and longtime Fire Engineering Group Editor Bobby Halton. Bobby was a strong advocate for the fire service and had the incredible ability to rally firefighters to a cause. I first met him when he started working with Firehouse Editor Harvey Eisner and started speaking at Firehouse conferences and writing for this magazine. He brought great aspects to Firehouse from his career in New Mexico. I hope Bobby and Harvey are catching up with all of our friends who have passed.
