FORT WORTH, Texas — Twice a day, just a few miles from downtown, Texas longhorn cattle _ icons of the Old West _ mosey down a street, hooves clicking on the brick pavement and heads bobbing under the weight of intimidating horns that stretch nearly 7 feet from tip to tip.

Tourists visiting the nation's 17th-largest city line the sidewalks and gleefully snap pictures as a few cowboys on horses herd about 15 of the animals down the block, onto a side street and back into their large pen.

This is the Fort Worth cattle drive, starting its 10th year this summer in the city's historic Stockyards. With 284,000 visitors so far this year, the event is already on par to break the attendance record of 366,000 set in 2007, officials said.