April 2002

In support of our mission statement for educational development, here is the 11th edition of Info Gaits.

Team Penning with your Tennessee Walking Horse

Team penning is a fun horse sporting event. It is as the name implies, performed by a “team” of three riders and you must “pen” your cows within 90 seconds.

There are 30 cows in the arena, three each numbered 0 through 9, e.g., 3 cows with the number “0”, 3 cows with the number “1” etc. The game plan is for each rider to sort out one of the three cows with the same number and herd each one back to the opposite end of the arena and pen it in a small pen set up at the far end of the arena. Sounds pretty easy, but the herd instinct in the cows is often overpowering, even for the most cow savvy horse, making it difficult to break out a single cow and forcing it away from its buddies.

Picture an imaginary line across the center of the arena. As your team enters the arena, generally side by side, opposite the herd you approach the center line and stop. When the herd has been quieted and your team is ready, the first team member rides into the herd. As that rider crosses the imaginary line, the announcer will tell you what number cow you have. The first rider enters the herd, slowly is always better then rapidly, and brings out a cow and heads it towards the pen at the opposite end. Another team member then gets a cow and brings it out, then the third will do likewise. The two riders not bringing out a cow, work the imaginary line so the cows already out of the herd don’t return, and they watch to see that none of the herd makes a break for the ones leaving. After all three cows are headed towards the pen, the three riders will then guide the cows into the pen. One rider takes the sweep (outside), one on the wing (inside) and one takes the hole, which is the space between the arena fence and the pen fence. With all three cows in the pen, the riders are at the opening of the pen and when one or all of them raise their hand, the timing stops.

In the perfect world, that’s the general order of business. However, quite often the cows do not cooperate. That’s when you and your horse have to know how to read the cows, how they think, how to make them move and in which direction to make them move. Most horses that do team penning are Quarter Horses, Paints, Apps, etc., but any horse can do it. I ride my Tennessee Walker and he loves it. My friend has shown me the world of cows and has imparted some of her wisdom. I know I will never be anywhere near as good as her but it is such a rush and so much fun for both me and my horse.

Contributor: Flo Fahey