I parked my bicycle outside the building and went inside to have a look. While lots of lights lit the inside I noticed the same thing now since my cataract operations: inside large buildings things look blurry. Not sure why; whether it has something to do with less light. I'll have to ask my eye doctor tomorrow.
A large rectangle made up of temporary metal corral panels covered much of the floor. This was the ring for the penning competition. I went over to the north side and looked through. It was near where the cattle were returned after being roped. A person stationed at this NE cattle exit would undo one or both of the lassos if they were still on the steer/heifer and let it back into the passage way. This passage led the entire east length of the corral back to the SE corner where the steer/heifers would again be released for another team's ride. Not sure how many head they had, but it was enough to keep the competition flowing smoothly with no waits for cattle.
The person whose lasso still was attached to the cattle would ride their horse along with the cattle to this passage until their rope was unhooked. Man, these horses were big. I moved to the west side partly to get away from the horses and also to get a better view.
The riders were half-and-half between cowboy hats and baseball caps. Only one rider lost his hat during the ride. The few women riders tended not to wear hats.
It didn't feel cold in the arena but sometimes I could see 2 white streams of air come from the horses' nostrils. One time when the judge was waiting for the next team to get ready, his horse took a "bathroom break". Steam rose from the floor under the horse where he had urinated.
The steer/heifer would enter the ring from the SE corner and 2 people on horseback (the team) would follow on each side. The rider on the cattle's left would lasso its head, then move to the left across the ring before they ran into the north fence. The rider on the right would lasso the cattle's hind legs as the first rider and horse pulled the cattle along. The cattle need to keep moving their legs so the legs can be lassoed. Many times the second roper took longer and the lead horse reached the west corral and had to turn south to keep moving.
The cattle had horns strapped to their head. Anywhere the lasso would hold on its head was acceptable; whether around the head and neck (preferable so the lasso wouldn't slip off), horns, nose, wherever. Ideally both legs would be lassoed. Once the cattle was stopped time was taken. If only one leg was lassoed the team received a 5 second penalty. If neither leg was lassoed: no time.
The heat is 4 attempts with an average of the 4 times. When a team did not get a steer/heifer lassoed it meant "no time" and the team was eliminated. No more chances. At the end the 6 teams with the lowest times competed one more time to determine the winners.
This team penning competition was arranged and run by an outfit from Billings, MT in conjunction with Wrangler western wear who were trying to expand it in North Dakota. In Montana team penning is rapidly gaining popularity. A few years ago the cattle pastured at my place where taken out a few times on loan for a local penning competition. No wonder the cattle came back kind of tired, but kind of ornery!
This competition was held yesterday and today. The penners are ranked in ability and the better teams competed yesterday, and the beginners and novices were competing now. 89 teams started today although there were only around 2 dozen teams remaining when I stopped by. This event was not advertised or promoted as I heard nothing about it. The entry fee for each team is $60 - which can go quickly if the team can't rope their cattle on the first try and are eliminated.
I know all this because I talked with a Native man standing nearby and also watching. He looked to be in his late 50s. He said he had earlier competed riding his "paint" but now was out of the competition. His son was still in it. This guy said penning was something recent the last decade or so. Before that he would rodeo. He said he once was in the final 6 in a competition for a $11,000 first place prize but ended up third. Sometimes the prizes include saddles and he had won 6 or them. So some money can be made, though most don't make money. Especially considering the cost of the horses, saddles, horse trailers, gas. They do it for the challenge and sport of it.
The event wasn't set up for spectators. To watch one stood in the dirt sawdust muck also used inside the corral, leaned against the corral and looked through it. Horses were tied to the outside of the corral and once one horse had an itch on his head. I stopped leaning against the corral as I was afraid between the horse scratching and me leaning our panel would fall over.
Teams with the top 6 times, and done with their runs, remained in the SW corner of the corral. The rest exited out the NW and then rode their horses along the western side of the corral, along where I and others stood to watch. A number of horses were tied to the corral and lassos where hung. Occasionally a rider would come and exchange lassos and I would hand them the one they wanted and tied to the corral the one they didn't.
While mainly a male sport, nothing says it has to be one. While 90 to 95 percent male there were a few women riders. I like watching a woman who knows how to ride a horse. Man, that's sexy! A nice looking woman sat on her horse waiting a short distance from where I stood. I thought of asking her what this was all about (I hadn't talked to the Native fellow yet), but she was watching the other teams. Later I saw she was in the queue for her next try. She was the person who lassoed the cattle's head. Her team did well as she was in the final six. I think she finished 3rd or 4th. Her partner had her same last name - not sure if he was her brother or husband. Husband mostly likely.
A few teams had problems. There was the lasso loop that went around one hind leg of the steer and one front leg of the horse. The horse didn't like that and the loop wasn't closed and they got a 'no time'. Or the lasso that went around a front leg of a steer. Not good either. A few lassoed the cattle's legs but then the rider lost grip of the lasso. 'No time.' Some lead riders had trouble keeping the cattle moving as they didn't maneuver and turn their horse smoothly when reaching the western corral. Or they simply ran out of space as they approached the "top 6" teams waiting in the SW corner. A few cattle made it to the NE exit before being lassoed. The cattle knew this was their exit and ran fast. They had the routine down by now.
Speakers on portable stands were placed around the building. The announcer would call out the team member's name and call the play-by-play, then the final time. While waiting a minute for the next team to get into position the announcer would call out the 2 or 3 teams next in the queue. Old time country-western music also played over the speakers. I didn't recognize the songs. Part way through the event a woman announcer took over for a short while. When she announced the music changed to more of a rock type. Lynyrd Skynyrd for example. Later when the male announcer came back the music was again country-western. During the "final 6" competition the music was suddenly switched to be "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf. Huh?
"Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space"
All of the 6 final teams won money. Not much money as the winning team got $435 for each of the two team members. If this team had used a certain brand of lasso they would earn an extra $1000 bonus each. They weren't and didn't get the bonus. After they won they got a victory lap around the ring led by a young woman on horseback holding some kind of flag. It was a quick lap as people and teams and horses rapidly began to exit. It was after 4 pm on Superbowl Sunday and many people had to load their horses and drive a ways to get home.
I wasn't expecting this today as I planned on a quick bicycle ride. So I didn't have my camera along.
I could have gotten a few good photos. After leaving the arena I had to scrape the dirt sawdust muck off my shoes before getting on my bicycle again.
No comments:
Post a Comment