21st Cowboy Days event planned for Las Cruces

Culture, skill, and entertainment are the focus of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum’s 21st-annual Cowboy Days celebration. The fun is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 7 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 8 at the Las Cruces museum. The family-friendly admission this year is $10 per carload. Pets are not allowed at the festival. Lienzo Charro El Pedregal, a group made up of Daniel Castro of Vado and his family, will perform trick roping and traditional Mexican charrerada demonstrations from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day. “The best part of what we do is that we’re able to do it as a family,” said Castro. “My kids are by my side learning part of our culture and tradition through our shows. It’s important to us to keep our heritage alive for future generations.” Another addition to Cowboy Days this year is horse training demonstrations by Josh Armstrong. He has trained reined horses in the Mesilla Valley since 1986 and has won the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and the European Championships. He has taught throughout North America and Europe as well as in Japan and the Middle East. His demonstration will be from 1-2 p.m. each day. These exciting demonstrations will be in the Museum’s Round Pen where the popular Parade of Breeds cattle program also will be held (12-1 p.m. and 2-3 p.m. each day). While culture, skill, and entertainment highlight Cowboy Days, food also is a big part of the event. Crews from the Museum’s chuckwagon and the Lonely Goat Ranch chuckwagon from Roswell will offer some free samples, and there also will be an array of food vendors selling everything from hamburgers, turkey legs, and snow cones to Native American cuisine from Jemez Pueblo. A wide variety of craft vendors also are part of the festival, and the Museum will sell plants from its Greenhouse...MORE