Let's Learn About Rodeo - PRCA Jr. Rodeo

BARREL RACING

In barrel racing, the contestant and her horse enter the arena at full speed. As they start the pattern, the horse and rider trigger an electronic eye that starts the clock. Then the racer rides a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels positioned in the arena, and sprints back out of the arena, tripping the eye and stopping the clock as she leaves.

The contestant can touch or even move the barrels, but receives a five-second

penalty for each barrel that is overturned. With the margin of victory measured in hundredths of seconds, knocking over one barrel spells disaster. BREAKAWAY ROPING

The roper begins her run from a “roping box,” with a barrier rope across the open front. The box is adjacent to a chute, containing the calf. One end of the breakaway barrier is looped around the calf and released as soon as the calf reaches its advantage point. If the roper

beats the calf out of the chute, a 10-second penalty is added to her final time with a “broken barrier.” Once the calf is caught by the cowgirl’s loop, the horse is trained to come to a stop to remove the rope from the saddle horn allowing the calf to “break away.” This also allows the flagger (judge) to know when to stop the clock. A fast run is in less than 3 seconds.