ATLANTA - Even though he admits he's slowing down, there's still plenty of cowboy left in 62-year-old Joe Graham.

The Atlanta cattle broker has another world championship to prove it.

Graham partnered with Charles K. Hirons of Waltonville and Nancy Syfert of Shelbyville to capture the team penning title at the American Quarter Horse Association Bayer Select World Championship Show in Amarillo, Texas, earlier this month.

"It feels real good," said the folksy Graham, who also won a team penning world championship in 1996 while finishing second in 1994 and 1999.

There were 41 classes of competition in the event, which is the world's largest, single-breed championship horse show open exclusively to amateur riders age 50 and older. Graham and his teammates were among the nearly 1,000 entrants who participated at the Amarillo National Center.

Team penning is a timed event in which 30 numbered cattle (three No. 1s, three No. 2s, etc.) are placed at the opposite end of the arena from the pen. Each three-rider team is given a designated number after the cattle have settled, and the object is to pin your three cattle in the fastest time without crossing a foul line.

"The foul line can be any place from 30 to 40 percent of the length of the area, and that line is measured from the end of the arena where the cattle are toward the opposite end," Graham said. "The judge doesn't tell you the number of your cow until you cross that line and the cattle are settled.

"When the judge raises his flag the team of riders takes off and when they cross the line the time starts and they call your number. The first person cuts out the first number he sees and the other two partners turn the rest of the cattle back. If the herd gets out of hand and four or five of them get out of line, you're disqualified."

Graham, who didn't take up the event until 1991, said teamwork is essential for success.

"At the level we're penning at, most everybody is good enough to pen with anybody at any time anywhere," Graham said. "But it always does seem like it's an advantage if you have three people who pen together all the time, and we do quite a bit.

"If you're pretty much a professional at it like we are, you'll ride with different people at different times. It's kind of like going to a dance. When you're at the dance you dance better with some people than you do other people."

Buying and selling cattle for a living gives Graham an edge in team penning, although he said it isn't a necessity.

"It's kind of a natural thing to me because I'm in the cattle business and I handle cattle all the time," Graham said. "That is a plus and it helps you in this kind of event. In the business you learn how to read cattle and know what to expect.

"There's always an element of luck in this game because there is no way to really 100 percent know what any animal will do. For that reason I say the game will never really and truly be completely dominated by any one person. There are people of all different walks of life and different occupations that play the game."

Graham isn't planning on getting out of the "game" anytime soon.

"I'll stay course as long as I can ride the horse," Graham said. "That's about the best I can put it."

---

What is your game?

"Our Games" runs Mondays in the Pantagraph. Its stories will focus on the games that we play and those who play them. If you have a story idea, contact the sports department at sports@pantagraph.com or (309) 829-9000.