Western disciplines and the moves in them

Added money

Prize money the show puts in on top of the entry fees. The number quoted when an event wants to say how big it is.

Bareback riding

The bronc event with no saddle and no rein — just a leather rigging handle over the withers, and an arm that takes everything.

Barrel racing

Three barrels, a cloverleaf pattern, and a clock that decides it. Knocking a barrel over costs five seconds, which is the whole race.

Barrier

The rope across the front of the roping box that releases as the calf or steer gets its head start. Breaking it early costs ten seconds.

Boxing

Holding a cow at the short end of the arena, mirroring it left and right. The whole cow work at lower levels, and the start of it at higher ones.

Breakaway roping

Roping a calf with the rope tied to the horn by a string, so it breaks free at the catch. Nobody gets off, and nothing gets tied.

Bridle horse

The finished horse in the vaquero tradition, ridden in a spade or half-breed bit on a loose rein after years in hackamore and two-rein.

Bronc riding

Riding a bucking horse for eight seconds, one hand up and never touching the horse with it. Half the score is the horse's.

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Bucking chute

The narrow gated pen a bronc or bull leaves from, with the rider already on board. Where most of the nerves happen.

Bull riding

Eight seconds on a bull with one hand in a flat braided rope, the other in the air. The event with the shortest rides and the longest injury list.

Bull rope

The flat braided rope round a bull's chest with a handhold woven in. The rider's hand is wrapped into it and does not simply let go.

Bullfighter

The person who steps in front of the bull once the rider is off or down. The comedy name is historic; the job is not funny.

Cloverleaf

The three-barrel pattern a barrel racer rides: one turn each way round the first two barrels, then the long one at the top.

Crossfire

A heel catch thrown before the steer's hips have come round behind the header. Illegal, and one of the commonest disqualifications.

Cutting

Separating one cow from a herd and stopping it going back, in two and a half minutes, with the rider's rein hand down after the cut.

Dally

Wrapping the rope round the saddle horn rather than tying it on, so it can be let go. From the Spanish dar la vuelta, give it a turn.

Derby

The next class up from a futurity, for slightly older horses — commonly four- and five-year-olds, depending on the association.

Eight seconds

The qualifying ride length in bronc and bull riding, timed from when the horse or bull's shoulder clears the chute until the whistle.

Fence work

The cow-work half of working cow horse: run the cow down the arena fence, turn it against the fence each way, then circle it both directions.

Futurity

A class for horses of one age, usually three-year-olds, entered and paid for long before they are old enough to compete.

Hazer

The second rider in steer wrestling, galloping the other side of the steer to keep it running straight. Wins nothing, and is essential.

Header

The team roper who goes first, catching the steer's horns or neck and turning it left for their partner.

Heeler

The team roper who catches the hind feet once the steer has been turned. One foot instead of two costs a five-second penalty.

Herd holder

One of two riders holding the remaining cattle at the back of the arena so the herd stays settled while a cow is being worked.

Herd work

The cutting run itself: riding into the herd, driving one cow clear, and then keeping it from going home.

Hooey

The half-hitch that finishes a calf tie. The tie has to hold six seconds after the roper steps away, or the run is void.

Horsemanship

A pattern class where the rider is the one being judged, with the horse's way of going counting as evidence about them.

Mark out

The rule that a bronc rider's heels must be over the horse's shoulders when its front feet first land. Miss it and the ride scores nothing.

Mounted shooting

A timed course where the rider bursts balloons with blank-firing single-action revolvers. Five seconds added for every balloon missed.

Pickup man

The mounted rider who collects a bronc rider off the horse after the whistle and gets the horse out of the arena.

Piggin' string

The short rope a tie-down roper carries in their teeth, used to tie the calf's three legs together at the end of the run.

Pole bending

A timed weave up and down a line of six poles. Same clock and same five-second penalty logic as barrel racing.

Ranch riding

A judged pattern of gaits and simple work, rewarding a horse that looks like it has a job rather than one that looks polished.

Rank

Said of a bucking horse or bull that is genuinely hard to ride. A compliment about the animal, and a warning about the draw.

Re-ride

A second attempt granted when the animal did not perform or something went wrong through no fault of the rider.

Reining

A judged pattern of circles, spins, stops and lead changes, ridden one-handed on a loose rein. Dressage at speed, roughly.

Rollback

Stopping, turning 180 degrees over the hocks and leaving again in the new direction without a pause in between.

Roping box

The corner pen a roper starts from, either side of the chute. Getting a horse to stand quietly in it is half the training.

Rundown

The gallop up the arena that a sliding stop finishes. Judged on building speed gradually rather than leaving at once.

Saddle bronc

The bronc event ridden in a stripped-down saddle with a thick rein on the halter. The one the cowboys call the classic.

Score line

The head start the animal is given before the barrier drops. A long score suits a fast horse; a short one suits a fast start.

Showmanship

An in-hand pattern class judged on the handler: how the horse is led, set up and turned, and how tidy both of them are.

Slide plate

The wide, smooth shoe fitted to a reining horse's hind feet so it can slide. Not something to hack out on down a road.

Sliding stop

The reining stop: hind feet locked and sliding, front feet still walking, on sliders and prepared ground.

Spin

A 360-degree turn with one hind foot staying planted, ridden in sets of whole turns. Overspinning by a quarter turn costs a penalty.

Steer wrestling

A rider drops off a galloping horse onto a steer's horns and wrestles it to the ground. The fastest event in rodeo, measured in a few seconds.

Team roping

Two riders, one steer: the header catches the horns and turns it, the heeler catches both hind feet, and the clock stops when the ropes come tight.

Tie-down roping

Rope the calf, get off, throw it, tie three legs. The horse's job is to keep the rope tight while the roper works.

Trail class

A judged course of obstacles — gates, poles, a bridge, a back-through — ridden slowly and scored on manner as much as accuracy.

Turnback rider

One of two riders who keep the cut cow facing the cutter instead of running off down the arena. Unpaid, and the run depends on them.

Two-rein

The stage between hackamore and bridle, where the horse carries both a bosal and a bit and the rider holds both sets of reins.

Western dressage

Dressage tests ridden in western tack and western gaits, on the same letters and the same scoresheet logic.

Western pleasure

A rail class judged on the horse being pleasant to ride: quiet gaits, level topline, and no visible asking from the rider.

Working cow horse

A reining pattern and then a single cow worked down the fence. The event that asks a horse to do both halves of the job.