SPORT
It takes team work to round up a mob Team penning is a sport for all ages, and also delivers a huge adrenaline kick for participants and audiences alike writes DANNII CUNNANE.
T
eam Penning is a fastpaced event giving a team of three riders a total of 60 to 90 seconds (depending on the class) to separate three head of specifically identified cattle from a herd of around 30 head. Once they’ve been separated from the herd, the team’s job is to get the separated cattle to the opposite end of the arena and in to the ‘pen’, hence the name Team Penning. But there is a catch - no more than four head of cattle are allowed to cross an invisible line known as the time or foul line at one time or the team is automatically disqualified. Of course the other variable – the cattle! The sport takes place in 60 30 metre arena. At one end is the
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mob of cattle, at the other a gated pen that measures up to five metres.
What is the Run? The ‘run’ is the time it takes the team to perform all the tasks required in the event. A team consists of three members, a ‘first man in’, a ‘second man in’ and a ‘turn back’, each having an individual role. To start a run, the riders cross the time or foul line in the direction of the herd and the timer starts. The first man in locates a cow with the correct identification and cuts it from the herd, the turn back blocks the rest of the herd (dirty cows as they are known) from breaking out. Once the first man has cut his
HORSEVIBES MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2018
cow out, the second man in follows the same procedure and again the first man in cuts the third cow from the herd. From here all three cows are herded down to the pen. Time is called when all three cows and the riders are in the pen and one of the riders raises their hand above their shoulder to signal that their run is completed. Sounds simple doesn’t it?
