The BC Team Cattle Penning Association (BCTCPA) was in Barriere at the North Thompson Fall Fair grounds on March 23 through 24 for the March Double Header for 2024.
In cattle penning, teams of three horse and rider combinations use their combined skills and horsemanship to separate cows and herd them into the penning area in under 60 seconds. The object is to separate the three cows with your assigned number and herd them into the pen at the far end of an arena within a specified time. The team with the fastest time wins.
Russell or ‘Russ’ Armstrong is 34 and a realtor but his real love is cattle penning. Armstrong has been involved in cattle penning as a sport since he was a child with his twin brothers and parents. Armstrong was 12 when he started cattle penning and his two younger twin brothers were 11. The family owns property in the town of Armstrong and actively continues their involvement in the team sport.
Armstrong and his wife are expecting their first baby in May and his wife, who also enjoys riding, is looking forward to getting back to being actively involved again next year.
As the former president of the BCTCPA he’s been coming to Barriere and the North Thompson Fall Fair Grounds annually to participate in two main penning events each year, both in the spring kicking off the season for the teams. He told Black Press, “We love coming to Barriere every year. I can’t say enough about the people who help us out from the fall fair organization. I don’t think they know how much we all look forward to coming here each year and we are so appreciative of what they do for us. It involves so many cattle and horses coming in and the people here are incredible. If we need something, they do their best to accommodate us. They’ve even built us another judges’ stand overnight in the past. Unreal. They go above and beyond.”
Armstrong also commented on the hospitality of the town of Barriere and how businesses, like local restaurants, even extend their hours to meet the needs of the riders while staying in hotels, or camping.
“There are so many welcoming people here. It’s just a great place for us to come and many that don’t even know the sport come out to watch and enjoy the events. It’s free and people that have thought they couldn’t do it become interested enough to try sometimes, having just come out to watch. It’s a lot of fun.”
Armstrong calls penning a “horse sport” and explains there are 30 cows in the arena down at one end and each one is numbered. The numbers are glued onto each side of the cow ahead of time. There are three of each number, zero to 10, and three riders on each team, all on horseback. There is a foul line halfway up the arena and a pen with a gate to start from. A number is called out for the riders, and they sort the three cows with that number out of the herd.
The teams can’t allow any of the other numbered cattle up past the halfway point in the arena. Two of the team members are keeping an eye on the rest of the herd while one rider goes in and quickly drives the cow with the correct number to separate it, the next rider swaps in to now push two of the same number together. Armstrong said,
“You are working together as fast as you can to kind of massage the herd to get the right numbered cows out and manipulate them up the arena fast to the pen and time stops. It’s one of those things when sometimes it goes well and fantastic and other times it goes completely wrong,” he says with a laugh. “It works kind of off a handicap system similar to roping. You are rated on your ability and beginners would be numbered one and the skill levels go right up to number seven.”
Classes range from an open class which is any combination and that is usually the highest level.
Team penning encourages youth coming up as well and Armstrong feels this group in B.C. is a very “close-knit group” that include extensive volunteer hours and they “work hard, work together and have fun.”
The BCTCPA first two shows each year for over a decade have been in Barriere at the North Thompson Fall Fair Agriplex, and Armstrong adds, “We can’t say enough about what these people do for us here. Penning is particularly demanding in regard to facilities. Not so much for the riding but more so for the cattle. For an event like this weekend, we’ve brought in about 200 cows on site that have to be fed, watered, penned, sorted, numbered, handled. It all must be done safely. These folks in Barriere, we’ve kind of grown together. They love having us and we all work so well together. We want to praise this facility and the volunteers. It’s just been a great partnership.”
The next cattle penning team event in Barriere will take place on April 20 – 21. To find out more information about the BCTCPA visit their website.
