Riding like cowboys: Locals try mounted shooting

By MEGAN HUGHES

news@yourdailyglobe.com

SAXON, Wis. - Area riders had an opportunity last weekend to see what it's like to ride a horse while also shooting.

On Sept. 7, members of Mounted Justice - a Wisconsin-based group - held a mounted shooting competition on the Iron County Fairgrounds in Saxon, Wisconsin, with a shooting clinic held the day before.

The Sept. 6 clinic aimed to teach local equestrians the basics of the sport of mounted shooting, including how to handle their equipment safely and how to begin the process of training their horses to tolerate the sound of pistol fire in the event they wish to continue in the sport.

The clinic was held on Friday afternoon, and was led primarily by Mounted Justice directors Tim McDonald and Shaun Bagley, along with member Bryan Moodie and other member volunteers who assisted in the handling of horses.

The clinic began with a safety lesson on handling firearms. The firearms being used were single-action 45s, loaded with blanks that fired at half the power of the standard ones used in the sport. McDonald said the reason for this was that, with half the power, the blanks also were half as loud.

That is not to say the blanks were totally harmless, of course - a point that McDonald warned participants of repeatedly.

"At point-blank range, you will get at least a third-degree burn," he said during the demonstration.

Club members spent the better part of an hour and a half on the safety demonstration and then walked participants through a short course of practice "balloons" (empty water jugs painted in blue and white), so they could practice their aim and get used to handling a pistol.

The sport of mounted shooting is one that both men and women enjoy, according to McDonald.

"Right now, some of the top shooters in this sport are females," he said, "There are a lot of ladies that I would not want to compete against."

If at any point participants - while riding their horses - grew uncomfortable with the pistol in their hands, they were advised to toss it into the dirt, which would be far safer than attempting to un-cock it.

"I have never seen one go off from being dropped," said McDonald.

During the initial pistol training, the participants' horses were tied along the riding arena's fence, alternating with horses from the riding club members.

According to organizers, this is a method the club has been using for a while to get horses trained to not jump at the sound of the shots, as they will turn to the horses around them to gauge their reactions.

When a horse sees that its neighbors are not bothered by the sound, then it is less likely to be concerned as well.

Following the pistol lesson, riders mounted up and began acclimating their horses even further by taking test runs through a mounted shooting course.

For more information about Mounted Justice, including future clinics, see the group's site mountedjustice.com.