Fort Worth Stock Show has new horse show manager

It’s not just about the cattle.

It is easy to understand why so many people think of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, which digs its spurs into its opening day for the 120th time on Friday, as a cattle show. A veritable sea of bovines is to be seen during the show’s 23-day run, which culminates with the Sale of Champions — the deep-pocketed event where the show’s champion cattle, and other stock, sell for staggering sums.

But the reality is that horses, not cattle, are probably the most commonly found competitors and entertainers at the Stock Show. There is an equine-centric event, from traditional horse show contests testing general skills (performance classes) to highly specific equine talents (cutting horse classes), every day. Not even the cows can match that consistency.

Riding herd over all these horse shows this year is Lauren Lovelace, the new horse show manager. She replaces longtime manager Bruce McCarty, now executive vice president of the event.

But, as the saying goes, this is not Lovelace’s first rodeo.

“For some reason, I have always loved horses,” said Lovelace, who grew up in Grapevine. “I don’t know where it came from. My dad was a football coach and assistant principal, and my mother was a teacher and assistant principal.”

Lovelace’s passion was barrel racing, and she began competing at the Stock Show at age 16, the first year she was eligible.

“But I never won here,” Lovelace, 34, said with a laugh.

She did win elsewhere and went on to pursue her love of horses in the classroom. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science from Texas Tech University.

“I learned a lot about the ag industry as a whole. It was extremely valuable to me,” said Lovelace, who helped produce horse events as part of her education.

Her involvement with the Stock Show began in 2005, when she served as a temp in the media room. Her background allowed her to move through the ranks in the Stock Show’s front office, where she has served as assistant operations manager and assistant horse show manager in recent years.

Lovelace’s new position comes with a long list of responsibilities that includes organizing all the horse show entries, hiring judges, arranging for the cattle needed for the cutting events and making sure that all horses coming on the grounds have the proper health documents.

“And the ribbons. We have huge ribbon orders. And then we have to organize them for each class and designate the people who will give them out,” said Lovelace, who is also the president of the Fort Worth Farm & Ranch Club and the secretary-treasurer of the citizen support group for the Fort Worth Mounted Patrol — the police officers on horseback seen regularly at the Stock Show and elsewhere.

In her capacity as horse show manager, Lovelace works with several breed associations that have competitions during the Stock Show. Several are presented by one of the best-known associations, the American Quarter Horse Association, which has a strong historical link with the Stock Show.

“We have been associated with the Stock Show since the AQHA began in 1940,” said Craig Huffhines, executive vice president of the Amarillo-based organization. “A group of ranchers came together in Fort Worth in 1940 to establish an organization to develop the standard for what a quarter horse was going to be. The AQHA was born to create an athletic, docile partner to be used on a ranching operation. And that happened right there in Fort Worth.”

The first AQHA registration number went to the grand champion stallion at the 1941 Fort Worth Stock Show. “That was a horse by the name of Wimpy, from the King Ranch,” said Huffhines, referring to one of America’s most famous horses.

In present times, the relationship between the two entities continues to flourish because the show’s facilities are so welcoming to competitors.

“The location is great, because there are so many horse operations in that area. And, in terms of the venue, it has the sort of modern conveniences that make some facilities more attractive than others, from stalling to the creature comforts,” said Huffhines, a former executive vice president of the American Hereford Association.

Still, Lovelace isn’t resting on the horse show’s reputation. “We are kind of hemmed in right now because of time and space,” she said. “But when we get the new [multipurpose arena in 2020], that will be an opportunity for us to add more horse shows. So there is a lot of opportunity for us in the future. I’ve got a whole file of ideas to start working on.”

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Fort Worth Stock Show has new horse show manager."