Team roping is a very popular event. It involves a team of two riders, the “header” and the “heeler”. As in other timed events, the steer starts the clock by breaking the stall fence.

The participating team gets a 10-second handicap if it breaks the fence. The header catches the steer’s horns with his loop and ties the other end to his saddle’s pommel to stop the steer’s full-ahead run, while the heeler ties its hind legs.

As soon as the animal is tied, the ropes are tight and the horses are stopped, facing each other, the judge drops the flag and the clock stops. Steer roping events are those who required the closest skills to those needed by cowboys in free range pastures.

In such settings, occasionally, cattle and calves have to be tied in order to be treated, and this is the only way to proceed miles away from the corral.