Pigs hog the spotlight on day one of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – It’s day one of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, and the swine barn has the heaviest traffic as thousands of youngsters show their pigs.

Twelve-year-old Jayecee Treibs from Fredericksburg fed her black and white Berkshire pig a marshmallow treat as they prepared to go into the ring. Her father raised steers when he was in high school, but Jayecee likes pigs.

“They just have a good personality and they’re like dogs–they’ll love on you,” said Jayecee. “She’ll lay down when I scratch her belly.”

She said raising a pig for competition at a stock show takes a lot of work. It’s more than fattening them up.

“The judges like to see good bone structure, flat feet,” she said.

And there’s something about the way the pigs walk.

“They need to look like they’re tracking so they don’t look like they’re swimming,” said Jaycee.

Tracking?

“They want them to track good,” said her father, Kyle Treibs. “That means the back feet follow directly behind the front feet. The judges don’t want them to be kicking out when they walk, they don’t want them to waddle.”

That can be pretty difficult for a 250-pound pig. A woman who raised pigs when she was in high school says the judges also like to see a straight back and “a big ole rump.”

In addition to the stock show, the Family Fair on the grounds of Freeman Coliseum and the AT&T Center features Swifty Swine Pig Races, a petting barn, pony rides, extreme dog show , exhibits and vendors.

Cody Johnson performs tonight after the 7 pm rodeo at the AT&T Center.