Team Roping
Two cowboys, a “header” and a “heeler” work to rope a steer in the shortest time possible. The steer gets a head start before the
header leaves the box. The header throws his rope to catch the steer with one of three legal head catches: around the head and one
horn, around the neck, or around both horns. If the cowboy fails to give the steer the head start, the team receives a 10-second
penalty. Once the header has caught the steer, he wraps the rope around the saddle horn (dallies) and turns left with the steer in
tow. The heeler then ropes both hind legs of the steer and dallies his rope. Once the slack has been taken out of both ropes and
the contestants are facing each other, the flag drops and time stops. If the heeler only catches one leg, a 5-second penalty is added.
If the heeler throws his loop before the header has turned the steer left, that is called a “crossfire” and the run is disqualified.
Team roping description is provided courtesy CPRA.
Team Sorting
The cowboys are faced with a herd of 10 calves, with each calf numbered zero to nine. A judge then calls out
a number. Say the judge calls out "three." The riders will then begin sorting the cattle, moving them from one pen to
another, beginning with the number three calf and moving on sequentially.
Order is essential, which is why one contestant will focus on isolating the appropriate calf while the other makes sure
that the remaining calves don't move prematurely into the other pen. If a calf gets through to the other pen before its
turn, the sorting team is disqualified, though only for that particular round of competition. The riders must herd as
many calves as possible to the other pen -- in order -- within 60 seconds.
In ranch sorting, a variant of cattle sorting, there are 12 cows, with 10 numbered from zero to nine and two
remaining unnumbered. The unnumbered cows are called dirties. The dirties are supposed to remain in the original
pen, while the contestants herd the numbered cattle, in order, from one 60-square-foot (5.6-square-meter) pen to
another, channeling them through a 12-foot-long (3.6-meter-long) passage. Ranch sorting can be done with up to
three riders on a team and one or two dirties. The size of the pens and the passage between them may also vary.
Barrel Racing
Barrel racing is a timed rodeo event, where the fastest time is what matters most. Cowgirls compete in the arena against each other and the clock.
Barrel racing is about cooperation between horse and rider. Because of the competition and money involved, finding a good horse is very important to the competitors. A top of the line barrel horse can cost up to $50,000.
For the barrel racing event, the arena is cleared and three barrels are set up at different marked locations. The riders then enter the arena at full speed, quickly rounding each barrel in a cloverleaf pattern and then exiting where they entered. A stopwatch or timer is used registering down to a hundredth of a second.
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