The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo is 10 days away, and a handful of families who would have competed are having to sit this one out through no fault of their own.
“It's a lot of work,” said 10-year-old Cash Grubbs.
For the better part of a year, he’s been taking care of his steer, Medium Rare.
Every day, Medium Rare gets the salon treatment, but Grubbs said the animal gives as much as he receives.
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“To be responsible and hard work always pays off and sometimes gets you tons of dollars,” said Grubbs.
“They are not cheap animals by any means,” said mom Becka Grubbs.
Becka Grubbs said her son has been raising Medium Rare and their daughter Taylor, 12, has been raising Chocolate with one goal in mind: Participating in the Fort Worth Stock Show.
“It’s almost like the Super Bowl of Stock Shows in this area,” she said.
Both siblings showed steers at last year's stock show. Yet this year, despite all their preparations, they aren’t allowed to participate.
“I was really excited until I found out that I couldn't enter,” said Cash Grubbs.
The Grubbs say they did everything by the book. They submitted their entries and fees through Denton County's 4-H Program well ahead of the stock show's Nov. 15 deadline.
“On Nov. 16, we got a call from our extension office saying hey, by the way, we missed the deadline and my husband's like surely you're joking and unfortunately they weren't,” said Becka Grubbs.
Denton County's 4-H Extension Agent Steven Baringer blames it on an office error. In an email he said the error affected five families.
“We have expressed our apologies to the youth and families for the error,” said Baringer. “We attempted to submit the entries to the Fort Worth Stock Show, but the entries were past their stated deadline and were not accepted."
Becka Grubbs said her family drove to the Fort Worth Stock Show to submit her entries when she learned of the error.
“They said sorry, we just can't accept your entries,” she explained.
In a statement, Matt Brockman, communications director for the Fort Worth Stock Show said:
"In order to facilitate and operate a fair and equitable Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, rules for livestock shows are clearly outlined in our official rulebook known as the “Premium List” which is made available to all exhibitors on September 15 each year. In addition, the Stock Show’s staff participate in numerous programs and meetings each summer informing county AgriLife Extension Agents and high school Agricultural Science Teachers that are responsible for submitting entries on the rules and entry deadlines. The rules and entry forms clearly state when entries can be accepted (September 15) and the deadline (November 15), giving all exhibitors 60 days to submit entries.
To conduct a fair competition for the roughly 30,000 entries in all the various shows and competitive events, dozens of rules ranging from entry, animal arrival, animal health regulations, fitting and grooming, exhibition, stalling and auction must be applied equitably. Creating an exception to any rule sets a precedent that makes enforcement and compliance of all other rules untenable."
The Grubbs will have to spend more time and money traveling out of the area, and out of state to attend different stock shows to auction steers they'd planned to sell in their own backyard.
"We followed every step of the process only to find out that we, for real, can’t enter. After all the thousands of hours of work, thousands of dollars, it's all for naught," said Becka Grubbs.
