The parade of animals, cowboys and cowgirls has opened the Houston event every year since nineteen thirty-eight. But the city has grown a lot since its first Livestock Show and Rodeo. Today, very few American children grow up in rural areas with horses and cows.

But children still love horses, as noted by one young parade watcher.

GIRL: “Cause I’m gonna ride them when I get bigger.”

Every year, groups of people gather in different parts of Texas and ride horses and covered wagons into Houston. They set up camp at Memorial Park in the city. The visitors sometimes come from hundreds of kilometers away.

Houstonian Santo Cruz says the trip by horse helps him reconnect with history.

SANTO CRUZ: “I wanted to have a feeling of how our ancestors had to cross this prairie, at one time or another, you know. There was no cars.”

The event brings horse riders together. Gerald Barkley of Crockett, Texas, and his friend Donald Kimble of Terrell, Texas, meet at the Livestock Show and Rodeo every year with friends they have made on the trail rides.

DONALD KIMBLE: “We all get together and enjoy each other and which some of us haven’t seen each other in a year, so that brings out all the good to me.”

But they also say the rides honor an important Texas tradition.

GERALD BARKLEY: “They promote this way of life so it doesn’t fade away from existence.”