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What Is Cowboy Mounted Shooting? How Does Mounted Shooting Work? How To Get Into Competitive Shooting If you think that this sounds fun, the first thing to do is find a local competition. How to Get Started in Mounted Shooting Once you have decided to try cowboy mounted shooting, you'll need to learn the rules and start practicing. Traditional — long-sleeved Western-style shirt, five-pocket jeans, chinks or chaps, Western boots and a cowboy hat.
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Give Cowboy Mounted Shooting a Shot So now that you know what cowboy mounted shooting is and how to become a competitive shooter, all you need is the right gear and some practice to get into the sport of cowboy mounted shooting. Shop Mounted Shooting Supplies. The sound of the gun will become familiar and will not be a threat either. When the food-gunfire association is made the sound of gun fire will not be such a tremendous threat to the horse.
Gradually move closer and closer to your barn as you continue to fire the pistol during each feeding until you are shooting the pistol immediately adjacent to the barn. If possible, keep yourself in view of the horse when you are shooting. When you are firing a. You can start the mounted training phase while the horse is still getting accustomed to the distant ground fire. At some quiet moment, while at the walk, draw the pistol and index the weapon. Indexing is just the rotation of the cylinder while the hammer is being cocked.
You will hear the noise of the revolver as the cylinder turns and pins and springs inside the pistol are placed under pressure. A Colt will make 4 audible clicks as the hammer is drawn back into the firing position. Other models may make 3 or 4 audible clicks. Let the horse smell the pistol. Show it to your horse. Rub his head or neck while holding the pistol in that hand. Do this repeatedly until the horse ignores the pistol as a new or scary object. At first just cock the pistol. Lower the hammer manually.
To do this you press the trigger while holding the hammer and gradually, quietly, let the hammer drop into place. You are gradually getting the horse familiar with the sound of the weapon. First make sure the weapon is unloaded. In fact you should not have any cartridges on you or in the pistol during this phase.
The unintended discharge of a loaded pistol can scare the hay right out of the horse, you, your riding partners, and worse, it can be fatally dangerous. The key to training a horse to accept gun fire at close range is to take each step gradually, letting the horse know it will come to no harm as a result of your firearm. During this phase it is best to leave all your cartridges in the box, locked up back at the ranch house, not in your pocket or in the gun belt loops. When you reach the point where your horse has accepted the pistol being fired with.
I usually take my horses out for a walk on a halter and let them graze grass for 10 to 20 minutes each day. I do this just to give them an opportunity to nibble grass in my lawn or some other area they generally are denied access to. They enjoy the change; they know they are eating forbidden fruit. They seem to nibble faster when the grass is in an area they can see every day, but is not part of their normal paddock or pasture graze.
When your horse has been feed the morning ration, and you have fired a dozen or so. This is the most dangerous step. Your horse will no doubt raise his or her head and look a little startled. Wait until the head goes back down for another bite and repeat this process.
You will find that after three or four. Just be patient. Each horse will require different amounts of time to adjust. If you are not yet comfortable with your pistol, or handling both the lead rope and the weapon at the same time, get a helper to either hold the rope or to do the shooting. The danger is that you will focus all your attentions on the weapon or the horse. You need diligence at this step.
Do not think you must do this alone. Get a friend to help. While walking and grazing your horse, wear your pistol in the same holster you will wear when you ride with the weapon. I prefer a right handed cross-draw, on a belt at the same level as my pants belt. Being right handed this holster is carried high on my left waist, on my belt line.
I strongly advise against one of the so called fast-draw rigs that have the pistol tied down low on your hip. This type of holster rig is a made-by-TV fiction. People, now and years ago, who carry pistols in belted holsters for business will almost always wear the pistol high at the waist- not down on the thigh.
It may look cool to have a fast-draw rig, but you will find this type of holster is uncomfortable, and in truth, no faster to draw a pistol from than a holster high on your waist. Many modern holsters have a leather strap that will button down over the hammer, holding the pistol securely in the holster.
I have used holsters with and without a separate button-down strap and have never had a pistol fall out of my holster while riding with either. It is a personal choice but the button-down strap is an extra safety measure you may wish to consider when you select a holster. You are now firing your pistol on a regular basis while your horse is eating and the horse is calm when you do so.
You have been taking the horse for a graze on the lawn on a lead rope while you dry fire the pistol. So far the horse has failed to become startled by this activity. You have progressed slowly, step by step. You are riding your horse with your pistol in its holster and from time to time you are taking the pistol out of its holster and dry firing it. Your horse is not threatened by this and shows no negative reactions.
So far so good. Now it is time to increase the noise level your horse will accept. Do this by going back to the stage when you were firing the.
Do these same steps over again, but this time do it with. You will find the modest increase in noise minimal and progress will be faster. When you are shooting the. You have accustomed your horse to the sound of a. You have been dry firing your pistol both on the ground and while in the saddle. Now it is time for the next big step- firing the pistol while the horse is on a lead rope and you are holding the rope! If you have taken your time, this will be anti-climactic.
Expect the horse to shy a bit because the horse has not been this close to the gun fire before. Then put one. Expect the horse to raise its head, maybe even back away a few steps. Speak to your horse and reassure him or her to calm down. First at a trot, then lope and finally at a gallop. If he becomes overly excited when the pace quickens, transition down before advancing again in speed.
While most trainers use the above method, or a version of it, the same results are obtainable even out riding the trails. After a few hours of riding I find a long ridge and put my horse into a lope.
When my horse starts to tire, I break him down to a walk and shoot a round. If he reacts to the gunfire, I lope him longer, then break down to a walk and shoot again. Many prefer to start off with their horses loose in a pasture or corral where the horses are free to move at liberty.
Another choice is to begin with therelatively quiet pop of a cap pistol, then progress to. When first introducing your horse to balloons, do it in a safe area and manner. Begin with a balloon that is about one quarter filled with air. At this point he has learned to accept a single balloon while being handled, but he needs to accept them in numbers.
This article first appeared in the September issue of Horse Illustrated magazine.
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