There is a cattle auction every Tuesday starting at noon at the Sumpter County farmers Market (524 North Market Boulevard Webster, Fl). The wooden enclosures were distinctive and easy to find as was the definite smell of manure. I walked along the tall wooden fencing until I came to a wooden staircase that lead to a walkway along the tops of the enclosures. This in itself was an exciting sketch opportunity, but there were no cows, just an empty maze of wooden gated pens. I passed several guys in cowboy hats and just assumed I would find the auction at some point.
I finally had to ask a cowboy walking towards me, on the narrow walkway, where I could find the auction. He pointed to a narrow alleyway, between the enclosure and a cider block building. I met a fellow who looked like he had been working the enclosures for most of his life. He pointed me in a direction. That lead me to another wooden gate with a heavy sliding medieval bolt latch. I heard cows now, but sensed that once again I was heading in the wrong direction. I took a right into a narrow alleyway with a 5 foot high wooden wall, that had multiple doors that could be opened and closed. From here I could look up at the stadium seating, but this clearly wasn’t the entrance. I was back stage in the wings. Large curved metal bars would have had to be scaled to get to the seating, so this was a dead end.
There was one metal door that had seemed locked on a previous try, but it was just jammed. With a stiff pull, it squeaked open, and I found a seat among the buyers. I made sure to not scratch my nose, or rub my bald head, fearing that I might bid on a full grown heifer by mistake. The auctioneer took a seat in a cushy leather chair above the curved bars I had found previously by mistake. Two young women kept track of the cows that were to be auctioned. They must have been running the electronic boards which showed each cows tag number, weight, bidding price and buyer. Buyers chatted to one another, waiting for the auction to begin.
Then I heard some woman shout yeahaa, yeahaaaa, git, git! I saw her waving a rag back stage and a cow clamored out with her calf. They were both terrified, turning to look at the large crowd in cowboy hats, looking down at them. A fellow was behind the wooden gate doors I had wandered into and he would open a door and slap the cow on the but with a rag on a stick. This was to get her to turn and keep moving, I suppose the point was to show that her legs worked. She never had a moment of peace. She stopped for a second to look at a cowboy in the audience and he waved a flag in her face as well.
The auctioneer chattered an a fast animated pace. I didn’t follow anything he said at first but the goal it seemed was just to keep making noise while mentioning the highest bid. Cowboys raised small cards or two raised fingers to keep the bids coming. The cow and calf sold quickly and they were shooed out through another door. Cattle kept coming into the Road Warrior style cage all morning, each reacting in its own way. One bull with long horns stomped his front feet and threatened to charge a cowboy in the front row. A quick slap n the rump turned him to threaten someone else.
I sketched quickly thinking I only had two hours to complete the sketch, but the auction kept going long after the sketch was complete. I exited when there was a pause in the auction. This time in the maze of enclosures there were plenty of cows, calf’s and bulls. They stared at me through the wooden fence as I walked past probably wondering what their fate might be. I looked onto their dark wet eyes and wondered the same thing.
.