Cattle Events

Learn more about cattle events, or western disciplines involving cattle, such as cutting, barrel racing, roping, team roping, cattle boxing, sorting, etc. Many of the events trace their roots back to ranch work with cattle, and they make up today's modern rodeo. Although rodeos can have a large variety of events, the following are the most popular with horses.

• Cutting involves a horse's natural ability to "read" a cow in order to cut it out of a herd during competition.
• Calf and steer roping involves the rider roping the calf or steer while mounted, and in tie-down roping, he quickly dismounts and ties three legs together in a timed event. Breakaway roping does not involve tying the calf's legs.
• Team roping (aka, heading and heeling) involves two mounted ropers. One ropes the head of the cow and the other ropes the hind feet in the quickest time possible.
• Cow horse boxing is an event that involves a reining pattern and working a single cow.
• Cattle sorting competitors must sort a numbered cow out of the herd. However, how the sorting is done depends on if it is team sorting or ranch sorting.
• Team penning requires sorting three cattle with the same number out of a herd and across a finish line.