What is Team Roping?
Team roping also known as heading and heeling is a rodeo event that features a steer and two mounted cowboys or cowgirls. The first roper is referred to as the "header," the person who ropes the front of the steer, usually around the horns; the second is the "heeler," who ropes the steer by its hind feet. Team roping is the only rodeo event where men, women and children compete equally together in professionally-sanctioned competition, in both single gender or mixed gender teams.
Origins
Cowboys originally developed this technique on working ranches when it was necessary to capture and restrain a full-grown animal that was too large to handle by a single man.
Modern Event
The steers are moved through a series of narrow runways from a holding pen and lined up to enter a chute with spring loaded doors. One steer at a time is loaded into the chute. On each side of the chute is an area called the box. The header is on one side (usually the left, for a right-handed header) whose job is to rope the steer around the horns, or neck, then turn the steer so its hind legs can be roped by the heeler, who starts from the box on the other side of the chute. A taut rope, called the barrier, runs in front of the header and is fastened to an easily released rope on the neck of the steer of a designated length, used to ensure that the steer gets a head start. An electronic barrier, consisting of an electric eye connected to a timing device, is often used in place of the barrier rope.
When the header is ready, he or she calls for the steer and an assistant pulls or trips a lever, opening the chute doors. The freed steer breaks out running. When the steer reaches the end of the rope, the barrier releases. The header must rope the steer with one of three legal catches: clean horn catch (around both horns), a neck catch (around the neck) or a half-head catch (around the neck and one horn). The header then takes a dally, that is a couple of wraps of the rope around the horn of the saddle. Once the header has made the dally, he will turn his horse, usually to the left, and the steer will follow, still running.
The heeler waits until the header has turned the steer. When he or she has a clear way, he throws a loop of rope under the running steer's hind legs and catches them. As soon as the heeler also dallies tight, the header turn his horse to directly face the steer and heeler. Both horses back up slightly to stretch out the steer's hind legs, immobilising the animal. As soon as the steer is stretched out, an official waves a flag and the time is taken. The steer is released and trots off. There is a 5 second penalty for roping only one hind leg and a 10 second penalty for breaking the barrier.
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