Goat tying styles and performance in collegiate rodeo competitors
Project Abstract
Goat tying is a rodeo event involving dismounting a horse, and flanking and tying three legs of a goat. Flanking is defined as picking a goat up and setting it on the ground on its side. Flank and gather (FG) is a style where riders scoop the legs with the right hand and then place them in the left. Catch the flank (CF), stuffing (ST), and funneling (FN) are other methods that involve the goats’ legs landing together so the right hand is not needed for gathering. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) if flanking method affects performance, and 2) where errors most often occur during a run. It was predicted that riders using FG would have more successful runs, and that most errors would occur while tying. Goat tyers (n=17) competing in the Ozark National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), completed a survey about preferred flanking method and horse experience with goat tying. Rider runs (n=73) were videoed at 5 rodeos and evaluated whether participants flanked the goat as reported in the survey, considered a successful flank, and where horse or rider errors were made. Not every rider competed at every rodeo. Seven riders used FG, followed by CF (n=4), ST (n=4), FN (n=1), and other (OT) (n=1). Of those styles, FG had the highest success rate (n=16 of 24 attempts; 67%), followed by ST, FN and OT (n=12/20, 3/5, and 3/5, respectively; 60% each), and CF (n=6/19, 32%). Using Microsoft Excel, results of a chi-square test for independence examining the relationship between flanking method and success rate were non-significant, χ²(4, N=73)=5.83, P=0.21. Rider errors were grouped into five categories: dismount, approach, flank, gather, and tie. Most errors were made during the approach (31%), regardless of flanking method used. A chi-square goodness-of-fit test was used to compare observed frequencies of different errors to expected distributions. There was a significant deviation from expected values, χ²(4, N=165)=24.79, P
Conference
June 2-6, 20
Conference Name (full, no abbreviations): 2025 Equine Science Society Symposium, and National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics
Dates: June 2-6, 2025
Sponsoring Body: Equine Science Society and National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics
Conference Website: https://www.equinescience.org/ESS-Symposium/2025-Meeting/Program
Funding Type
Travel Grant
Academic College
Hutson School of Agriculture
Area/Major/Minor
Animal/Equine Science
Degree
Bachelors
Classification
Junior
Name
Shea Porr, PhD
Academic College
Hutson School of Agriculture
Recommended Citation
Baxley, Marie; Porr, C.A. Shea; and Powell, Thomas, "Goat tying styles and performance in collegiate rodeo competitors" (2025). ORCA Travel & Research Grants. 192.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/orcagrants/192
