Photo booth at Fort Worth Stock Show has been capturing cuteness for 30 years

It is a Stock Show attraction that can knock the needle right off an “awwww” meter.

The Little Britches Pony Club photo booth, just inside the entrance to the Sheep Barn, gives Stock Show visitors the opportunity to get their pictures taken with kid goats or astride a pony.

And, apparently, people like the cuter-than-a-puppy photos Little Britches provides. The stand has been part of the Stock Show for 30 years.

“We started with Polaroids,” said James Milam, who helps out at the booth and looks after the stock at Little Britches owner Larry Rinehart’s LBR Ranch in North Richland Hills. “We have generations of customers who come here every year.”

It is not hard to find proof of Milam’s observation. On Saturday, for example, there was a family of four standing around the pony (Little Britches has two separate photo areas; one with a pony and the other with baby goats) because all of them were too grown up to be mounted on the small, gentle horse named Cowboy.

“We have been doing this since 2001,” said Allan Mcanally of Glen Rose, who was joined in the booth on Saturday by wife Belinda, daughter Katie and son Keith. “We run cattle and we have shown here for years. So this is a tradition for us.”

Originally, just the Mcanally offspring where photographed atop the pony. But the family has been visiting the booth so long and so consistently that now all four members pose with, not on, Cowboy.

That is why when Belinda Mcanally paid for the family’s photograph mounted on a wooden plaque, she was thanked by booth operator Derek Whisenand with the sort of warm hug usually reserved for an old friend.

While the people may be doing the work in the Little Britches booth, the stars are the infinitely adorable kids and ponies.

“He and his brother [Shiloh] are usually our Stock Show ponies. They’re good in the booth, they’re good with the kids, and they’re patient,” said Sarah Rinehart, who is also found in the pony booth, camera in hand. “And [the ponies] are just fine with it because they get loved on all day.”

Milam takes care of rounding up the young goats at this show and the approximately 13 others where the service sets up shop annually, when he is not looking after the stock at the ranch — 15 ponies, two miniature horses and a miniature donkey named Sourdough. And, for Milam, not just any goat will do.

“Larry [Rinehart] likes the Nubians. But I like the Nigerians,” said Milam, referring to different breeds of goats, as he pointed to one of his favorites in the booth. “Look at those ears. He looks at you like he knows what’s going on.”

Since most of the human photo subjects are very young, the response to the livestock in the booth can vary.

“They sort of fall into two types. There are the kids who are really excited and they don’t want to get off the pony,” said Sarah Rinehart. “And there are the ones who are a little scared, so you have to sit there and take time to pet the pony and show them that there is nothing to be afraid of.”

In addition to the shows like this one, Little Britches also does birthday parties and church events, where Milam says Little Britches can provide a special service.

“At some of those church events in places like Dallas, those kids have never even seen a pony,” said Milam, who has worked at the Stock Show booth for the past eight years.

Milam also passed along a particular question that a young Stock Show visitor once posed, which he feels sums up what it is like to be part of Little Britches.

“Hey, Mister,” the youngster queried. “How much does it cost to work in your booth?”

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Photo booth at Fort Worth Stock Show has been capturing cuteness for 30 years."