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Penning takes skill on horseback
Published 11:53 a.m., November 23, 2009
Team penning is a western equestrian sport that evolved from the common ranch work of separating cattle into pens for branding, doctoring, or transport. On Sunday team penning competition took place at the Red Horse Ranch Arena (RHRA) in rural Fergus Falls.
As noted by the spectators at RHRA Sunday afternoon, team penning is a fast-paced event that gives a team of three riders on horseback from 60 to 90 seconds (depending on the class or the sanctioning of the event) to separate three specifically identified cattle from a herd of 30, and put them into a 16-by-24-foot pen through a 10-foot opening at the opposite end of the arena.
The sport features 30 head of cattle, typically yearling beef cattle (mature cows or bulls are not allowed), with numbers affixed to their back, three each wearing a number from 0 through 9 or with colored collars attached. Timing starts once the line judge has dropped his flag as the lead rider's horse crosses the foul line.
At that time, the announcer indentifies the cattle to be separated by calling out a randomly drawn number or collar color. The riders must round up the three head that have been nominated, take them to the opposite end of the arena, pen them and call for time.
Teamwork, as noted Sunday afternoon at RHRA northeast of Fergus Falls, is the key with all three riders working in harmony. This enables them to drive the cattle to the pen while keeping the rest of the herd back at one end of the arena.
The history of the sport dates back to 1942 when brothers Ray and Joe Yanez, along with Canadian cowboy Bill Schwindt, were sorting steers from a herd of cattle on a Ventura County, California, ranch. During a lunch break the trio reportedly came upon the idea of organizing what were routine cowboy chores into a competitive sport, one in which cowboys could showcase their horsemanship.
The first organized competition took place at the Ventura County Fair in August 1949.
Today, the sport is a fast-growing western horse sport in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. In North America, the primary team penning sanctioning organization is the United States Team Penning Association (USTPA), headquartered in Ft. Worth, Texas. There are an estimated 93,000 active team penners in North America.
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