The rodeo dirt woke up on February 24 and decided to take a rain check. It was supposed to be the day the careful mix of clay, sand, and topsoil was scheduled to be moved into NRG Stadium for the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. But because of the previous weekend’s rains, the dirt was a tad moister than its optimal level of 12 to 18 percent—and a true diva gets out of bed only when she’s ready.

Every year, the same collection of dirt is driven into the arena a week before the rodeo begins. It’s otherwise waiting patiently on an HLSR property located off 288 and Reed Road, about three miles from NRG, until it’s summoned by the truckload. If you think such precious earth would remain locked up inside a secure fortress, you’d be mistaken. It’s anticlimactically covered with a tarp in the middle of a parking lot all year, though sometimes it gets denuded to allow for aeration. However, the team just completed construction on a new facility befitting the dirt’s gravitas, where it will settle into its next hibernation until the 2026 rodeo calls it back into service.

The dirt used in the 2025 festivities is about three years old. HLSR switches it out every decade, sourcing it from North Houston Trucking, which also handles the logistics of bringing it all over from its parking lot home to its once-a-year workplace. When the rodeo doesn’t need it, the dirt doesn’t have to pick up any freelancing on the side—one gig is all it needs.

“The rodeo is the only event that dirt is used for. We don’t use it for any other events on this property. It’s a totally different dirt than what they use when Monster Jam or the monster trucks come. Supercross is a whole different dirt,” says Bobby Richardson, HLSR’s director of buildings and grounds says.

After basking in the sun all day this past Monday, the dirt was primed for a Tuesday morning departure. At 7:45am, the first trucks rolled into an otherwise quiet and empty NRG Stadium, releasing large mounds onto the concrete floor, the dump body flaps clapping back with a humongous bang echoing throughout the arena. It takes 40 trucks carrying more than 550 loads over six to eight hours to fill the grounds with 4,000 cubic yards of dirt, layered evenly at 18 inches deep.

These aren’t arbitrary numbers. HLSR dirt serves as a cushion for all the active hoofed mammals participating in the month’s pro rodeo competitions—and for the cowboys who take quite a few tumbles.

“You want to make sure that you have a stable surface for the animals’ footing. The stadium has a cement floor, and so you bring in the dirt and build it up…that way, their feet as they’re turning and twisting [and] their hooves don’t go through the dirt and hit that cement where it’s slippery,” Richardson says. “You want them to have good footing. It’s all about the welfare of the animals.”

He and his team run daily checks on the dirt to make sure the moisture levels remain stable. Too dry or too wet increases the risk of one of the animals suffering an injury out on the field. Richardson mentions that he’ll ball up handfuls of the dirt to gauge the quality in different areas. If it feels too dusty or crumbly, it may require some tilling to dredge up moister layers from the bottom.

“It’s kind of just a feel that you’re looking for. Each event is different. Your barrel racers, they like their dirt a certain way, where your ropers may like their dirt a different way. Your bulldoggers...they’re going to want it a different way,” Richardson says. “So you try to find that happy medium in there.”

With so much care put into the dirt, you’d think it might tempt some rodeo goers. Baseball fans have been known to sneak some dirt home as a souvenir, especially after significant games. Chief show operations officer Mike DeMarco, who oversaw the dirt commute on Tuesday, doesn’t believe this happens much at the rodeo, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any daring escapes.

“I’m sure these cowboys take dirt out of here one way or the other,” he laughs.