Emory Thomason nervously held out a handful of feed to the horned beasts in front of her, and as she took a step forward, the animals grew excited, jumping toward her hand.

The 4-year-old screamed at the eager creatures, dropped the feed and ran back to the protection of her grandparents, with her younger brother following her lead.

The goats apparently were too much for Emory and her 3-year-old brother, Aidan.

So were the sleeping cows.

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Riders displaying the six flags of Texas make their way south on Elm Street through the Square during the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo parade on Saturday in Denton.

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Perhaps the petting zoo at the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo was a scarier place than intended for the pint-size city slickers.

Michael and Sheila Thomason of McKinney brought their two grandchildren to the fair Saturday in hopes of finding afternoon entertainment for the children before country singer Dale Watson performed in the evening.

The couple have been longtime fans of Watson and wanted to relive their rodeo days from decades past.

And in a sense, it was rodeo that brought the couple together. Specifically, it was the attire that Michael Thomason sported during his earlier days of riding bulls and bareback horses, his wife said.

“I was attracted to the cowboy look — the tight jeans and boots,” Sheila Thomason said. “You could say it was the Wrangler butt that attracted me.”

The couple’s grandchildren howled for attention. Aidan had once again lost his yellow balloon in the fair’s commercial exhibit building, and his grandfather batted the balloon away from one of the whirling fans overhead.

Before he gave Aidan his balloon, he said, “Don’t lose it. You’ve gotta hold onto it.”

The situation repeated itself once more.

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A group of riders participating in the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo parade make their way around the Square on Saturday.

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The foursome walked the exhibits through a sparse afternoon crowd, looking at jewelry from vendors and artwork from judged fair entries. While it wasn’t exactly chilly in the exhibit hall, it was a lot cooler than outside.

Before entering the hall, Emory and Aidan attempted to go on the alligator ride, which was one of the many carnival ride options, but the steel handles were too hot to hold onto and the ride had to be stopped.

When Aidan tripped and fell on a steel ride, he started crying.

“It’s just a little too hot,” said Sheila Thomason, adding that fair organizers “don’t need to be doing this in August.”

Perhaps that’s why the rodeo isn’t as popular with kids nowadays, Michael Thomason mused.

After all, he grew up without air conditioning, and whether you were inside or outside, it was all the same temperature, he said. With that in mind, he recalled, you might as well have some fun during Texas’ sweltering summers.

When Michael and Sheila Thomason were in high school, there were high school rodeo teams and rodeo was a part of life. But now, kids stay inside where it’s cool and play on computers, Michael Thomason said. Rodeo is rarely thought of, let alone high school rodeo teams, which are now considered a rarity.

Cowboys have lost their mystique over the years, and rural life in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is becoming extinct, he said. And those Wrangler jeans don’t seem to fit him right anymore.

“I’m getting too old,” he said.

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The Texas Plowboys drive antique tractors in the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo parade on Saturday.

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But not all members of the younger generation have given up on the rodeo lifestyle.

Keli Cummings, 16, was showing off livestock at the fair, but her passion is barrel racing and she practices six hours a day — every day.

She said she ignores her friends who refer to rodeos as being a place for hicks or hillbillies. It’s an unfair characterization, she said.

“People aren’t into it,” Keli said of the rodeo. “Everybody would rather sit at home on a computer rather than get out and get dirty. If they had to live it for a day, they wouldn’t knock it.”

Each time Keli practices, she feels like she’s improving her timing. It’s like any other professional sport, she said.

“You and your horse have to be fit,” Keli said. “It takes a lot of arm and leg muscles to ride. You can tell if you take a day off.”

While Keli’s high school doesn’t have a rodeo team, she’s still able to find competitions to enter. She simply has to work a little harder to find them, she said.

Back at the exhibit hall, another squeal escaped Emory as the Thomason family rounded a corner. But this time she seemed pleased as she ran toward a white picket fence.

Beyond the small fence lay a large Jersey cow named Elsie, the mascot for the Borden milk exhibit.

Emory patted Elsie’s tuft of hair and touched the tip of one of the cow’s horns. Yep, Michael Thomason said, his granddaughter just might be a cowgirl one day.

Hours later, the hot sun dipped in the sky and Dale Watson began singing for the audience. And with that, the Thomason family got what they came for.

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.