Team penning

Today it 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' x 24' pen through a 10' opening, at the opposite end of the arena.

[1] 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.

At that time, the announcer identifies the cattle to be separated by calling out a randomly drawn number or collar color.

The riders must cut out the three head that have been nominated, take them to the opposite end of the arena, pen them and call for time.

[1] The history of the sport is thought to date 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.