The following
are specific rules that pertain to animal care that we hope will answer
any reservations concerning the USTRC treatment of animal. Please note
that all of these rules are tied to the motivation of non-ability to win a
competition, or loss of entry fees.
|
| All bridle catches are considered illegal. |
| | In describing the legal catches permitted in roping a steer, we
state "All bridle catches are considered illegal." This means that any
steer roped where the rope is even remotely near the mouth of the animal
is an automatic no-time. |
| 7.3 Time Taken- Steer must be
standing up when roped by head or heels. |
| We want to convey to the
roper immediately that there is no need to throw an animal to the ground,
and the opposite is true, if they knock an animal down or yank the animal
down, they will not be allowed to throw their rope until he is back on his
feet. |
| 7.6 Heeler Ropes Front Foot- If the heeler ropes a front foot or feet in the
heel loop, this is a foul catch. Should the front foot or feet come out of
the heel loop within one second of the team calling for time, time will be
counted. Judge will not allow any extra time for a front leg to come
free. |
| With recreational ropers
there is sometimes a tendency for beginner ropers to not know what they
are roping and accidentally rope front legs instead of rear legs. Please
notice that flagger does not allow the heeler to apply pressure when this
occurs. |
| 7.7 Header Ropes Any Leg- Should a header rope a front leg, he is not
allowed to fish it out, this is an automatic no time. |
| This is one of the biggest
USTRC innovations in the team roping industry. When a header accidentally
gets a front foot in the loop, we do not feel it is reasonably safe at 25
or 30 MPH, for the contestant to turn the steer and try to get the
misplaced foot or leg to come free. Any attempt to do so may result in an
animal cruelty violation and the contestant will be expelled from the
competition. |
| 9.2 Contestant Disqualifications |
|
A. Being under the influence of liquor and/or illicit drugs in the arena;
consuming alcoholic beverages and/or illicit drugs in the arena.
B. Rowdyism or quarreling within the arena.
C. Mistreatment of stock.
D. Not being ready to compete when called upon. |
| We make
mention of mistreatment of animals in the most general term in our Section
of Major Offenses |
Section 10 of our
rule book concerning our judging, ropers are instructed as to what the judge
will be looking for.
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| 10.8 Visibly Injured Steer- If the steer is visibly injured as the run begins,
including broken horn, the team must declare themselves by pulling up
immediately. |
| 10.9 Broken Horn- If
in the opinion of the judge a non-visible broken horn existed prior to the
beginning of a run, he has the option to declare a rerun. However, no
rerun shall be a awarded where clearly the broken horn was caused by the
run itself, or if the judge suspects the broken horn occurred during the
run. If run is completed and time taken, even though a broken horn is
clearly visible, time shall stand and field judge will remove that animal
from the draw. |
| Broken horns occasionally
occur during normal handling of livestock. Although it is considered a
major injury by ropers since they are expected to rope the horns, in
actuality horns are made of cartilage type material similar to very hard
fingernails in humans. In normal agricultural practice, cattle are routinely
dehorned for ease of handling. It is well stated by the veterinarian
community that in 95% of the cases, breaking or cutting of horns does not
involve a nerve stimulation or infection potential. |
| 12.1 Sportsmanship- USTRC
reserves the right to disqualify any roper who does not act in a
sportsmanlike, reasonable, or professional manner. Disqualified ropers
forfeit all fees. |
| This rule is very general in nature and designed to give our
officials broad discretion in handling mistreatment of cattle an horses as
sportsmanship. This rule and 9.2.4 are the two rules that are primarily
used to deal with individuals that might think it necessary to strike
their horses. |
| 12.2 Go-Round No Time- As a result of the USTRC full
round format, any team that is out of the average will receive an
automatic no-time as a result of a broken barrier. |
| A broken barrier carries
with it a 10 second penalty. Since obviously the team has no chance to win
fast time money, we do not want our animals exposed to any
handling.
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| MORE ON USTRC'S DEVOTION TO ANIMAL WELFARE |
USTRC and Animal Welfare
USTRC Rulebook Section 11: Treatment of Livestock |
