Being one of the fastest growing equestrian sports in the world with an estimated 93,000 active riders in North America alone, Team Penning is quickly becoming one of Australia’s primary sports too.

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Thought to date back to 1942 with the idea of organising what were routine cowboy chores into a competitive sport, Team Penning is an exciting, fast paced event where riders can showcase their horsemanship and cattle handling skills.

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Teamwork is the key to this event. Three riders work together to separate three same numbered or collared cattle from a herd and then pen them into a yard located at the opposite end of the arena within a time limit. Incorrectly collared or numbered cattle in the yard will incur a penalty.

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Encouraging a mixture of age groups, abilities and skill levels, Team Penning is a fun and social yet competitive event.

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The Gympie Horse & Rodeo Association runs in conjunction with the Australian Team Penning Associations rules and regulations.

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A sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia; Rodeo Timed Events are based on the skills cowboys use on a daily basis.

 

Today it is a sporting event that consists of events that involve horses and other livestock designed to test the skill and speed of the human cowboy and cowgirl athletes who participate.

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The Gympie Horse & Rodeo Association timed rodeo events generally consist of the following: rope and tie, team roping, breakaway roping – ladies, open and junior, steer wrestling, steer undecorating, open and junior barrel racing.

Mounted Games were the inspiration of H.R.H. Prince Philip. When the late Col. Sir Mike Ansell was Director of the Horse of The Year Show, Prince Philip asked if he could devise a mounted competition for ordinary children which would be fun and which did not necessarily involve owning an expensive show pony.

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In 1957, the Horse of the Year Show, (then held in Harringay Arena, UK), staged the first Mounted Games Championship for the Prince Philip Cup and the competition was an enormous success from the start. However, Pony Club rules stated that riders must finish competing in the games when they reached the age of 14 years. Mr. Norman Patrick, the then Chairman of the Pony Club Mounted Games Committee, felt that there was a need for an organisation where riders could continue to play the games past this age and so decided to form his own organisation.

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Novelty days at Gympie Horse and Rodeo consist of sporting events for horse and rider, offering 7 different events each time. (Barrels, bending, bounce pony, key hole, Flag race etc…) It’s all about having fun! And encouraging young people to ride and learn to enjoy all kinds of sport connected with horses and riding.

Held on 7 dates through the year with High Point prizes awarded at the last event for 6 different age groups.

 

We also hold a Memorial Day for George Hawkins, George was an older gentleman who loved the night time events that were held especially the barrel race. Gympie Horse and Rodeo have a memorial perpetual trophy for senior barrel race winner that has been run in his honour every year since 1997.