What is Working Cow Sport?

Series Summary

Cowboys on horseback have driven cattle for centuries. Cowboys and cowgirls still drive cattle today, but not just for work; some work cattle for sport as well. Working cattle with a good cow horse in team penning and ranch sorting can be exhilarating. Of course, successful team penning does not happen by accident. Ranch sorting and team penning require skill, practice and teamwork. Learn about working cattle and team penning with a cow horse in this free video series featuring horseback riding instructor Kathy Kentala. Kathy will teach you about competing in team penning and ranch sorting. She will demonstrate team penning and ranch sorting techniques and strategy, how to control a cow with a cow horse, and how to facilitate team effort in ranch sorting. Additionally, she will tell you how to choose a good cow horse and how to cut a cow from the herd.

Video Transcript

"The popularity of a working cow sport has brought many of our riders, even though they're novice at the sport of horseback riding to enjoy the competitive sports of team penning and ranch sorting. We're typically out and on our way to many rodeos around Texas as well as some of the big shows with the United States team penning association. One of the first things we need to do is learn how to read a cow. As we've learned to ride, we've learned how to what we call, track a cow. There are some very specific things that we can understand about cow language. Many of the experts call it reading a cow. Just like many things with horses, cows move away from pressure. As our rider goes out and tries to simply control her cow, she's not ever wanting to just chase it. The cow, by nature, is going to want to return to the herd. Her cow horse, very savvy in the game, is doing a lot of the work to help and assist her in learning and keeping that cow in it her control, rather than allowing it to go back to the herd. This is one of the first and most important things we can do. It helps teach us not only to look at the cow and determine which way is that cow going to turn and run, but also it helps us to learn more about the specifics of how cows move. We start out at a walk, and hope that we can figure out things like the angle and the position of the cow and where we need to position our horse."