Setup and Rules
Ranch Sorting and its sister discipline, Team Penning, are regulated by the United States Team Penning Association (USTPA), headquartered in Ft. Worth, Texas. The USPA was founded in 1993 in Fort Worth with the purpose of attracting more participants and educating them to the sports of Team Penning and Ranch Sorting.
Ranch sorting is performed in two pens that are fifty to sixty feet long with a twelve to sixteen foot opening between the pens. The corners of the pens are cut at 45 degrees. Both pens are the same size and sorting can take place from either pen to the other.
At the beginning, there are eleven calves at the end of one of the pens with numbers on their sides for identification. The judge raises the flag and when the riders cross the gap between the two pens the clock starts and the competition begins.The judge raises the flag and when the riders cross the gap between the two pens the clock starts and the competition begins. The team of two riders have to move the cattle one at a time from one pen to the other in numerical order, starting with a random number called by the judge. The fastest time wins. If a calf gets from one pen to the other out of order, then the team is disqualified.
Read more about this topic: Ranch Sorting
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