Team penning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since August 2006.

Team penning is a western equestrian sport that evolved from the American ranch work of separating cattle into pens for branding, doctoring, or transport.

Today it is a fast-paced and exciting event that gives a team of three riders on horseback from 60 to 90 seconds (depending on the class) to separate three same-numbered cattle from a herd of 30.

Teamwork is the key with all three riders working in harmony to cut out the correct cattle and drive them to the pen while keeping the wrong numbered cattle back.

The history of the sport is thought to date back to 1949 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, ostensibly one in which cowboys could showcase their horsemanship.

The first organized competition is thought to have taken place at the Ventura County Fair in August of 1949.

The sport is widely promoted as the fastest growing western horse sport in the United States, Canada, and Europe.