It’s hard to buck exhaustion at rodeo
By final week, whipping fatigue is key for dedicated exhibitors, volunteers
Steven Riddle approached the young woman slouched in a chair at NRG Center. A worried passerby had spotted her and called for help.
He woke her gently and learned she was suffering from exhaustion and not a more serious ailment. Riddle apologized for interrupting her nap. As a member of the safety committee for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, he’s used to seeing extreme rodeo fatigue.
“Some of them just lie on their livestock, and they don’t care who’s looking,” he said.
The rodeo is a beloved Houston tradition. It’s an annual reunion of friends, a chance for students to
learn new skills and self-confidence, and a jackpot for scholarship money.
It’s also an exhausting three weeks.
By the final week people are sleeping in nooks and crannies of the convention center. They’re sitting in massage chairs on display with zero intention of purchasing one. They’re clutching coffees and propping up feetpinching, calf-straining boots. Some volunteers have ditched their Western footwear for flipflops or sneakers.
But they’re pushing forward and completing their duties. It’s what Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo CEO Joel Cowley describes as “rodeo mode.”
“Everybody’s got that little voice in the back of their head that allows them to feel sorry for themselves. You turn that off, and you get out of bed in the morning and you come,” he said. “… As tired as you are, when you see people having a great experience, it motivates you to press on.”
20 days of hard work
Rodeo employees and volunteer leaders have worked every day since the show began. Other volunteers work three or four shifts over the 20-day event which concludes this weekend.
Volunteer Timothy Bell needed a nap after waking up at 4:30 a.m. to judge a livestock show Monday morning. He had time to kill before meeting a friend that afternoon.
Without hesitation, he headed upstairs to the plush, blue leather chairs on the second floor of NRG Center. The chairs are a mainstay for cowboys with hats tilted over their faces and weary volunteers seeking a reprieve.
“I know where it’s quiet,” Bell said, refreshed from his nap, “or at least quieter.”
Terrell Johnson, from Blanco, was assuming a similar sleeping position downstairs. He sat in a camp chair in front of the Angus steer and Charolais steer that his 13-year-old son, Jack, and his 10year-old daughter, Sidney, were preparing to show.
They had left Blanco at 5 p.m. Sunday and arrived at the offsite staging area around 10 p.m. They slept in their truck before getting permission at 7 a.m. Monday to bring the cattle to NRG Center.
“Truck seats aren’t very comfortable,” he said. But it’s a nice way to spend spring break with his children.
‘Their Friday Night Lights’
Chris Boleman, executive director of agricultural competitions and exhibits, said many students come to Houston as part of stock show season. They may have participated in Fort Worth, San Antonio or Austin shows before coming to NRG.
So, yes, they’re tired. But that doesn’t show when they’re exhibiting.
“This is their Friday Night Lights, to put it in high school football terminology, for kids in Texas,” Boleman said. “They’ve been working all year to come here. So they’re going to rest when they can, and they’re going to work hard the other times and do what they have to do to make the most of their experience.”
As for the employees and volunteers, Cowley said they share the work. Managers and committee leaders are mindful of fatigue and try to ensure that everyone gets rest. There’s also a health committee operating a clinic.
“There’s something exciting about putting on an event like this,” Cowley said. “It truly is a labor of love. And no labor is too great when it’s a labor of love. That’s the way I look at it.”
That’s how Carson Joachim, chairman of the commercial exhibits committee, felt as he braved the seemingly neverending Starbucks line for an iced Americano. He said the enthusiasm of the retail and food vendors he works with is contagious. He’s also on the mutton bustin’ committee and said it’s fun to be part of an experience kids will remember for the rest of their lives.
Ultimately, helping create scholarships makes it all worthwhile. But it doesn’t prevent the foot pain.
“The feet are what primarily get tired,” Joachim said. “I’ll sit down, take some ibuprofen, get a pick-me-up.”
Kandy Borden is a 13-year veteran of the Romancing the Range vendor booth, which sells apparel and accessories. Her xperience taught her a trick for preventing sore feet. Borden picked it up after begging a nearby vendor to stretch her boots during her first few rodeos.
“I’ve learned from years in the past to buy a boot that’s a lot bigger than my feet,” she said, “because they’re more comfortable.”