THE PENNING TAPE
Peter's production company, Handshake Films, produced this video on the sport of team penning. As Peter summarizes it: "Team penning is when three riders enter an arena, gallop across a start line and separate three same numbered steers from a herd of thirty, then drive them over the start line to the opposite end of the arena into a holding pen under a two minute time limit. The fastest time wins."
Peter first has the cameras go along with his own team. Peter's team was probably picked to show that the sport is open to all kinds of people. He rode with a woman and a young teen-age boy. (The fact that the woman is a beautiful blonde - well, that's just Peter.)
According to Casey Tibbs who does the opening spot, team penning doesn't require a fancy cutting horse or any special equipment. There are pro and amateur divisions. Competitors can ride in family units, with friends, etc.
Peter did more than half the narration while the camera showed both ground level and aerial shots of the action.
Kristina
Peter
Josh
Peter covered all the basics, showed us what everyone was doing and the basic strategies of the sport.
A team of national champions also did a healthy chunk of narration on the more advanced strategies.
National Champion Team Penners
Mike Quick, John Smalley and John Luis
Peter appeared on a TNN talk show (and probably others) promoting the video. Thanks to Cru the Lawmaniac for this clip.
NiteOwl Review: Without setting off our gush alert, we have to say this is one of the best instructional videos we've ever seen. By the time it's over, even those who have never seen a horse will at least be knowledgeable spectators of the sport. The one of us involved with a search and rescue dog unit loaned the tape out to team members when they were trying to come up with ideas for a video on an entirely unrelated subject. This is a group that watches tons of instructional videos in the course of their training as everything from police dog tracking to map and compass instruction to labrador field trial work is relevant to some aspect of their work.
This video got a total thumbs up as one of the best they'd viewed. The use of the stop action, the overhead shots, demonstration of each aspect of the narration, etc. made this a must for anyone involved with team penning, even as a spectator. It was also useful to pick apart for a group trying to make a video (even on as disparate a subject as a video telling children what to do if they got lost in the woods). And, of course, even if none of that interests you, Peter narrates most of it and makes plenty of appearances throughout.
Production Note: There are a lot of great overhead shots which give an overview of all three horsemen and the steers. We thought they must have used some kind of construction crane but Peter said a friend came out with a helicopter and did the aerial shots for them.
Buy The Penning Tape: You can occasionally find the old VHS version on eBay.
Directed by John Denos
Written by John Denos
Produced by Handshake Films

Appearances
Peter Brown - Host
Kristina Wayborn - Teammate
Josh Baxley - Teammate
Mike Quick - National Champion
John Luis - National Champion
John Smalley - National Champion

Official Peter Brown Fan Site