Team Roping
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.
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, but it is also legal for the rope to go around the neck, or go around one horn and the nose resulting in what they call a "half head," the second is the "heeler," who ropes the steer by its hind feet, with a five second penalty assessed to the end time if only one leg is caught. Team roping is the only rodeo event where men and women compete equally together in professionally-sanctioned competition, in both single-gender or mixed-gender teams.
The first roper, called the header, waits behind a barrier while the steer is given a head start. If the barrier breaks, the team is given a 10-second penalty.
- The header pursues the steer and must lasso it with one of three legal catches — around both horns, around one horn and the head, or around the neck. In the case of any other catch by the header (considered illegal) or a miss, the team is disqualified.
- The header makes his catch and dallies his rope, then must change the direction of the steer to position its legs for the heeler. The heeler must rope both of the steer’s hind legs while being careful not to catch the front feet. Catching only one hind foot results in a five-second penalty.
The clock is stopped after the steer is caught, there is no slack left in the ropes and the horses are facing one another.
