A rodeo club, which is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversay next year, is putting on a team penning weekend event in Echo Bay.
The Bar River Rodeo Club practices three main disciplines, team penning, arena sorting and ranch sorting.
“It’s a very friendly group. We try to encourage people to compete, but not with the intention of taking it from being a friendly atmosphere,” said Aileen Pollari, one of the directors of the club.
Team penning is a rodeo event in which small teams of riders on horseback attempt to coax three specifically-numbered cattle from a larger group into a pen.
Pollari said the sport encourages newcomers by allowing them to team with more experienced riders.
The club’s youth are particularly encouraged to compete in the events.
Up to three cattle can be corralled into the pen within the time limit, but Pollari said with young riders it is often more important to get a ‘clean run’ and pen one or two.
The groups of 30 cattle are rotated every few runs to avoid exhaustion.
The group continues to train, even during the winter.
“Everybody is itching to go in the springtime. We usually have a clinic and practices in the winter so everyone is up to par,” she said.
Pollari said a core group of club members travel after the local show season ends.
“When we go down to southern Michigan we end up competing with a lot higher calibre of people riding for money, professional riders. We are very proud of this club for doing a good job of competing at their level and holding our own,” she said.
The number of people participating in the group has increased over the past few years as the club approaches its twenty-fifth anniversary next season, but is still very much family-based.
“Once people come, not many end up leaving,” said Pollari.
(PHOTO: Team Penning event with Bar River Rodeo Club in Echo Bay, Ontario. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)