Saw this done in Abilene& Ft. Worth at Ranch Horse competitions, but never thought of it as something I could participate in.
Went to 1 last night locally & knew several of the participants & even help work the gate letting the cowboys & cowgirls in & out of the pens.
I really enjoyed being down there & being a part of it. Now I want to see if I have a horse that I can compete on.
I have never considered myself as a real cowboy, I'm just a 60 yr old man that enjoys horses & trail riding.
Any advise?

Go for it-

We called it Team Penning in the circles I competed in. Lots of fun. More fun with experienced partners but fun no matter the crew. Last time I competed was at the IL State Fair 20 years ago. Had two girls on Barrel horses for partners. Finished 4th. I was there to spectate and had a girl ask me to ride her horse, which used to our family's horse. We had bred, raised, trained and my cousin Won National, World champion ships on him from Upstate NY. Sold to an IL girl and she did well with him too. He wasn't really much of a Sorting kind of cow-horse but had a great handle and liked cattle so of course I said yes. Never travel without boots, spurs and a legal shirt and hat! One never knows what opportunity might pop up. Give it a go.

Bwana, Where are you located?
Texoma Cowboy Church in Wichita Falls has Team Sorting and Team Penning quite often. We had 40 events in our arena last year from bull riding through them all. Pull up TCC facebook and they will be listed as they come up. The sorting even includes youth classes. Team roping etc. You could handle several events.

Its a great ole mans sport, and you would be surprised how quick most horses take to it..as in most cowboy diciplanes you will get all the help you can stand from fellow team peners!! Go for it...

I have done it more than a few times just on our ranch horses, but I roped calves most of my life and when I was 70 I took the normal old mans jump for a tie on calf roper, and started team roping as a tie on heeler ( legal for over 50 years old ) and never looked back...At 81 Im still doing it, so you got a lot of years to learn..You can even combine it with team sorting with the same horse, works like a charm.

Again, you will be swamped with help, advise, and everyone will by there helping you out in every way possible..Sometimes to distraction!!

mulerider, I live in Monroe, La.
Just a little too far for me.
Thankfully there is an arena less than 20 miles from me that has them often, plus a Cowboy church about an hour from here that has them monthly I believe.
An old decrepit cowboy buddy of mine has an arena about a mile from me that I can aggravate into working with me. He's the one that started this anyway.

There is one in Tyler-not sure what all they have there.
Go for it and good luck!

Well, tomorrow morning I will enter my 1st team sorting event.
Just hope I don't fall off!

1 team I was on came in 3rd.
I think with a new well trained horse, cutting saddle & horse trailer I could move up to second & win $50 instead of the $31 I got this morning!

For all you cowboy hands, there's a difference between team sorting and team penning. You guys crack me up.

Well of course there is, but the point of this whole thread is what's required to get involved in some sort of horse discipline for a beginner and team sorting or penning are close enough alike to fit his needs..YOur post cracked me up, spoken like a true Okie!

Bwana Cecil,
Now your thinking like a team roper, expend $50,000 to wind $3500. been doing that all my life, wouldn't change a thing!

Ray, I was laughing about this with a friend of mine when he reminded me how much per pound that deer meat in my freezer cost.
It's about enjoying life & boy I do enjoy it.

BC,
Story of my life, $50 a pound deer meat and high dollar horses winning low dollar jackpots!! YOU are now one of the millions of the horse world, its all about living the good life, profit is for the golden 15 that make the National finals.

Bwana,
Glad you're enjoying it and yeah, it's crazy what we'll spend on our hobbies.

Ray, speaking of making the money....about 7-8 years ago at the USTRC finals 2 Arizona high school kids won BOTH the #12 and #13??? I think each one of them took home $100k.

I think I'll try writing my horses off as a medical expense. They help keep me sane!

Heeler 75 and BC,
Everytime I read the Super Looper, I see 12 year olds winning $50 to a $100,000..what's that about..Then an 85 year old man won $100,000 in Arizona this year in the 15...Wish I had started team roping earlier in life, but everyone calf roped in my day. I started team roping at 70 and that was 11 years ago..If I made 500,000 this year, maybe Id break even!!

I WOULD'NT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY

WSTR #13 finals payed $248.000.00 for 1st place

http://wstroping.com/form-312-13-wstr-finale-x.html

quote:

Well of course there is, but the point of this whole thread is what's required to get involved in some sort of horse discipline for a beginner and team sorting or penning are close enough alike to fit his needs..YOur post cracked me up, spoken like a true Okie!

Could not agree more Ray. Love the Internet Police... However to be fair, people on the internet really don't know you or me so it's all just typing I guess to them.
I have never done Competitive Team sorting under the fine point of the law. Team sorting to avoid starvation is another matter; sorting 100 Heifers about 3 times a month to ship off the ready to drop ones. Then sort the replacement for sickness etc. Or working with a team of fellows sorting momma cows and calves by tag number for shipping and reuniting coming out of the pastures here in the Great Plains. I have as noted, competed in Team Penning and won a few. Had great horses and great team members. Doubt either Team Sorting or Team Penning take anything different in Horse or Rider to win but what would I know right? Just a "Cowboy Hand"
and a laptop.

I can't argue that and that's about as good a place to make a good horse as I know of..they gotta have a job or they will never be worth killing.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I can't argue that and that's about as good a place to make a good horse as I know of..they gotta have a job or they will never be worth killing.

Good fun and not too stressful either. Don't have to be a hell of a rider either, just understand cow psychology.

Grizz

FELLOWS, I'M IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't even really know what I'm doing, but I certainly have a horse that does.
My horse, Hank, wins the $$$$$$$, I just pay the entry fee & climb the stairs to collect our earnings.

Every cowboy on the face of this earth, at one time could not ride a horse, rope, or become reasonably good at any discipline, we all had to learn all that stuff.

When a newbie team roper or any other dicipliine shows up I guarantee he will get way more help and suggestions than he can compute, it can be overwhelming..At some point you just get tired of all that help, it gets confusing, because you have so many things to think about in a mini-second, but just remember all of your competitors want YOU to get better!! I will forever remember when I started team roping, that so many of the best ropers spent their entry money on me to rope with them knowing damn well I wasn't that good at it, I have made it a point to pass on that same to new ropers, what goes around comes around, and now those same guys are making money roping with me.. Its the cowboy way..

In my rookie start I finished 4th for the year in the open division.
And Ray is right about everyone wanted to help you get better.
Did have a pretty good collision today with another rider, neither man nor beast were hurt & we both somehow managed to stay in our saddles & finish.
By the way, the other rider won the buckle in both the open & draw divisions.
He deserved them.