Television and movie cowboys need to take lessons for accuracy shooting at bad guys from their running horses.
Participants in mounted shooting competitions are sure enough fast and many never miss their target. The wannabe cowboys on the silver screen typically take multiple shots and often still don’t get the outlaws.
Enthusiasm and interest in mounted shooting indicate it could become the leading equine sport of the future.
Certainly, mounted shooting action was fast and furious for both competitors and spectators at the EquiFest of Kansas in Salina.
“Shooters and their horses came from seven states for the Wild West of EquiFest Mounted Shooting,” said Jana Barcus, Paola.
Sanctioned by United States Mounted Shooting (USMS), two days’ action was produced by the Kansas Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association (KCMSA).
Barcus serves as secretary of the KCMSA, affiliate of the national Cowboys Mounted Shooting Association (CMSA). Matthew Jobe, Windsor, Missouri, is the KCMSA president, while Billy Lane Barcus, Paola, services as vice president. Event secretaries were Tess Shoemaker and Jennifer Justus.
“Mounted shooting is as close to the Old West as you can get short of a time machine,” Jana Barcus said. “This adrenaline-pumping arena sport has cowboys and cowgirls nationwide slapping on six guns and tuning up for the rides of their life.”
Object is to negotiate an arena course using two single action cowboy revolvers, each loaded with black powder blanks. Powder granules burst the balloon targets mounted on poles up to a range of nearly 20 feet away.
Shooters from Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota were winners in the Wild West at EquiFest.
Big winner from Kansas was Brad Bandy of Junction City. He was a cleaner shooter not missing any targets taking home $61.42 along with 13 clean shooters. Sixth in the 1D-Division, Bandy had the second overall fastest time of 36.552-seconds. Times included Stage 1, 14.067-seconds, eighth; Stage 2, 13.212-seconds, third; and Stage 3, 9.273-seconds, fifth.
Overall big winner was De Chapman, Palmer Lake, Colorado. Riding ChickaDe, Chapman was a clean shooter while recording fastest total time of 35.809-seconds in three stages. Chapman was sixth overall riding French, 39.847-seconds; seventh riding Edge, 40.005-seconds; and 29th riding Pistol Pete, 55.943-seconds. Chapman was second and fourth in the 1D-Division.
Aigdanlee Huber best known as Tator from Chapman won a saddle as top shooter in the 3D- Division riding Fire. A clean shooter, Tator on Fire was 10th overall with 40.787-seconds. His 16.338-seconds time was 17th in Stage 1; 14.769-seconds, Stage 2, eighth; and 12.259-seconds, Stage 3, 18th.
A clean shooter, Tanya Klassen, Pretty Prairie, rode Hot Shot, to be fourth overall with 39.208-seconds. Fifth place in the 2D-Division, Klassen was 13-662-seconds in Stage 1, fifth; 14.949-second, Stage 2, 11th; and 10.597-seconds, Stage 3, 13th.
Another clean shooter, Sandi Mills, Cheney, was second in the 3D-Division on Trixie, placing 19th overall with 47.791-seconds.
Placing third in the 3D-Division, Scott Vanderhoofven, Andover, scored 44.062-seconds on Moon to be 11th overall.
Kristine Day, Chapman was fourth in the 3D-Dvision riding Cobra while scoring 56.197-seconds to be 31st overall.
A clean shooter from Pretty Prairie, Tina Goering rode Hot Shot to place fourth in the 4D- Division and timed 50,235-seconds to be 21st overall.
Additional saddle winners included clean shooter Eric Smith, Russellville, Missouri, first 1D- Division; clean shooter Mark Thompson, Groton, South Dakota, first 2D-Division; and Jeff Gannon, Higginsville, Missouri, first 4D-Division.
Matthew Jobe, KCMSA president, placed second in the 4D-Division, and his 39.277-seconds in three stages made him fifth overall.
Awards for second through sixth in each division in order were BE saddle pad, custom tooled gun case, C Bar J Clinic, spur straps; and Gut X Supplement.