Thousands of trail riders begin journey to Houston for the Rodeo

Monday, February 19, 2018
Trail riders heading to Houston
The trail riders are on their way to Houston for the Rodeo.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's that time of year again in Houston!

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo starts next Tuesday, which means thousands of trail riders are on their way to town.

There are 11 trail rides and at least one of them is on the road this morning.

The Mission Trail Ride will travel Monday from Eagle Lake to the East Bernard area.

The trail rides will all meet on Friday at Memorial Park. They will then spend the night there and participate in the Rodeo parade Saturday morning.

You can watch live Rodeo coverage and the parade on ABC13 starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Another element of the Rodeo to look out for is the art competition.

The Reserve Grand Champion was Janice Khang. The high school senior in Katy ISD created a piece called "Horsing Around."

The 2018 Grand Champion is Pasadena ISD's Emilio Recio.

He told ABC13 it took months to create his work "By Dawn's Early Light."

"My heart was beating. It was just so tense, coming to the last few people. It was always my dream to get grand champion ever since I was little. It was incredible," Recio said.

Both of the students' paintings will be auctioned. They stand to win tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship money.

Is this your first Rodeo? Here's what you need to know

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