Mounted Shooting

Mounted shooting is the fastest growing equestrian sport. It requires horsemanship, speed and accurate shooting. Prior to this weekend, I had seen demonstrations of mounted shooting, but had never seen a competition. The runs are completed in a matter of seconds, so if you look down or blink, you'll miss a lot of the action.

There are four national mounted shooting organizations: The Cowboy Mounted Shooters Association (CMSA); Mounted Shooters of America (MSA); Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) and Cowboy Sports Association. CMSA has recently become affiliated with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). Mounted shooting has spread beyond the United States. There are clubs in Germany, Sweden and Japan. There may be clubs in other countries as well, but those are the ones I know of. I've become a fan of the Japan Cowboy Shooting Network on Facebook.

I'm most familiar with the CMSA and the MSA. The MSA Northern Colt Championship is going on right now at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and will conclude tomorrow (June 2, 2013). A number of MSA World Champions are competing, so this has been a chance to see some of the best mounted shooters in the world. Contestants have come from all over the United States and some have come from Canada to compete. Two of the best are brothers from St. Michael, MN, Chad and Charlie Little. In Stage Two yesterday (May 31, 2013), they posted the exact same score. The videographer for the competition had the two performances playing side-by-side today on a split screen at their table.

The adult shooters use real guns, loaded with blanks, to shoot at balloons while their horses gallop through the pattern for that stage. The rider needs to change guns for the second half of the pattern. Every missed balloon (there are a total of ten) adds five seconds to the time. Knocking over a barrel (the riders have to go around a barrel before the second half of the pattern) also adds five seconds to the time. In rifle competition, shooting the rifle with only one hand is a violation of the rules. For the rifle competition, the first five balloons are shot with a .45. The rider needs to return the .45 to his or her holster, pull out the rifle from its scabbard and shoot the remaining five balloons with two hands on the rifle.

Besides missing balloons or knocking over a barrel, a rider can be hampered in the scoring if his or her horse doesn't want to perform. I saw more than one horse who balked at running the second half of the pattern. Not only does the rider lose precious time, he or she will generally miss the first balloon in the second half, sometimes more, sometimes even all five depending upon how unwilling the horse is. Any horse, no matter well he or she normally performs, can have an off day.

Children compete as well, but they use cap guns instead of real guns. Mounted shooting is a family-friendly event and both CMSA and MSA offer family memberships.

Competitors need to follow a dress code. They can opt for either modern rodeo clothing or old west style clothing. The old west style clothing needs to be as authentic as possible. For example, a rider opting for that style needs to wear jeans with buttons instead of a zipper.

For Xbox owners, there is a game called Top Hand Rodeo that includes mounted shooting as one of the events. I watched two people playing it yesterday and it looked like an extremely addictive game. The shooting is controlled by the player actually mimicking the action of shooting a gun at the on-screen balloon. At the end of a run, the on-screen cowboy or cowgirl reacts appropriately to the results. If it was a great run, the on-screen character will rise his or her arms in triumph. If it was a not-so-good run, the cowboy or cowgirl will look down and shake his or her head in disappointment.

I'm looking forward to the last day of the MSA Northern Colt Championship tomorrow. Every once in a while - especially when watching the women competitors - I wonder if there's an Annie Oakley inside me waiting to be set free. . .