Tie Down Roping

1. Legal catches, etc., governed by PRCA Rules. Any catch that holds is legal.
2. Roper or ropers must complete legal catch within 60 seconds to receive points either for time or score.
3. All 4-H ropers must have passed Nebraska 4-H Horsemanship Level 3 to enter or assist a partner at the 4-H Rodeo.

Scoring

The Tie Down Roping horse is scored on a scale of 0-100, with 70 points denoting an average performance on manners in roping box, scoring out of box, speed to calf, rating speed of calf, stop, working the rope, and manners while roper returns and mounts for legal tie to be determined.

A Nebraska 4-H Tie Down Roper receives points for the time taken to complete a legal tie, plus points for the score received from the judge for the working ability of their horse. Their time yields points and their mount's score yields points. The roper with the greatest total points places highest. See chart on page 138 for combining the two values.

Tie Down Roping

1. Must be tied hard and fast.
2. Contestant must rope calf, dismount, go down, rope and throw calf by hand and cross and tie any three feet. To qualify as legal tie, there shall be one or more wraps and a half hitch. If calf is down when roper reaches it, the calf must be let up to his feet and be thrown by hand. If roper's hand is on the calf when the calf falls, the calf is considered thrown by hand. Rope must hold calf till roper gets hand on calf. Tie must hold and three legs remain crossed until passed on by the judge, and roper must not touch calf after giving finish signal until after judge has completed their examination. If the tie comes loose or the calf gets to its feet before the tie has been ruled a fair one, the roper will be marked no time. Animal belongs to contestant when they call for the animal, regardless of what happens, except in cases of mechanical failure.
3. Two loops will be permitted, catch-as-catch-can; and if the roper miss, they must retire and a no time will be allowed. If the roper intends to use two loops, they may recoil rope or use a second rope tied to the saddle. Roping the calf without releasing the loop from hand is not permitted.
4. There will be a 60-second limit in elapsed time in the calf roping. A whistle indicating no time shall be blown by the timer at the end of the 60-second span.
5. Contestant must adjust rope and reins in a manner that will prevent horse from dragging calf. Catch rope must be run through a neck rope on the rope horse to prevent horse from running off and dragging calf. Jerk lines and tack collars are prohibited. Contestant must receive no assistance of any kind from outside. If horse drags calf, flag judge may stop horse and any penalty for such offense can only be assessed by the flag judge.
6. The field flag judge will pass on the tie of the calves through use of a stopwatch timing 6 seconds from the time the rope horse takes its first step forward after the roper has remounted. Rope will not be removed from calf, and rope must remain slack until field judge has passed on tie. In the event a contestant's catch rope is off a calf after completion of tie, the 6-second time period is to start when roper clears calf.
7. Flagger must watch calf during the 6-second period and will stop watch when a calf kicks free using the time shown on the watch to determine whether calf was tied long enough to qualify.
8. Roper will be disqualified for removing rope from calf after signaling for time, until the tie has been passed on by the field judge.
9. Automatic barrier should be used for calf roping. 10. Contestants will start from behind a barrier. There will be a 10-second penalty assessed for breaking the barrier. At indoor shows, length of score will be the length of roping box minus 4 feet. The minimum length of a score at outdoor shows will be the length of roping box minus 3 feet. The maximum length of score, when automatic barrier is used, will be 18 feet. Any deviation from the above must be approved by all contestants and show management.
10. Neck ropes on calves must be tied with string. No metal snaps or hardware shall be used on neck ropes in the timed events. Adjustable slide shall be used on all neck ropes for cattle used in the timed events. 
11. There shall be two or more timers, a field flag judge, and a barrier judge. Time to be taken between two flags. Arena conditions will determine score, length of score to be set by arena director, and time event spokesman or director, if present.
12. Animals used for this event should be inspected and objectionable ones eliminated.
13. If there must be a rerun of calves to complete a go-round, all calves must be tied down before any stock is drawn. If a fresh calf has to be used after one go-round is completed, the calf must be roped and tied before the drawing. However, if extra calves have been tied at that rodeo, they will not be considered fresh.
14. Electronic barrier may be used, if available.
15. The roper should ride into the box and call for their animal in a reasonable amount of time. If the judge feels an excessive amount of time is being used, the exhibitor can be disqualified.
16. Contestant may receive no assistance of any kind from outside.

Method for Combining Time and Performances for Final Ranking in Nebraska 4-H Tie Down and Team Roping