Shooting like the cowboys of yore

TISDALE — The cowgirl drew her 0.45mm Ruger Vaqueros as she rode towards her target. Once she got in range, a loud bang reverberated. As the balloon popped, she sped to her next target.

Barbie Harder of Carrot River was one of six riders demonstrating  the sport of cowboy mounted shooting at the Tisdale Rambler Rodeo April 7. The others were Kristen Wiens of Tisdale, Lucas Thiessen of Humboldt,  Kristy Thiessen of Humboldt, Chris Epp of Rosthern and Marissa Epp of Rosthern.

The goal is to shoot all of the balloons, which are placed in an arena in a random order, within the fastest time.

“I watched it about seven years ago at Agribition and it was the first time there was shooting at Agribition, so we went down and watched and it was something I felt I needed to do,” Harder said.

“I’ve always rode and thought it was an exciting sport I wanted to try, so I started it.”

Harder has been shooting for three years.

I had a three-year-old colt and decided that’s the route we were going to go in so after he got out of training, the first place we went was a mounted shooting clinic,” she said.

“From there, we got a gun and got certified – you have to have your restricted gun licence to do this sport – got it all done and now we’re shooting.”

The horses have to be gun broke to compete. That process begins with a bull whip and as the horse gets used to the sound, they’re then exposed to successively larger bangs. Both rider and horse wear earplugs.

Wiens became interested in the sport in the same way as Harder.

“We went to Agribition three years ago and watched it and I said, ‘that’s what I’m going to do,’ and that was it.”

She’s been doing it for a year, riding a former ranch horse.

“That’s all he did, was work with cows and stuff so when I got him, I was just hoping that it would work and I got him home and just started working with primers and then kept going and going with half loads and then full loads and then here we are.”

The sport requires participants use the same type of weapons that would be found in the wild west.

“What we shoot is black powder, black powder in the shell. There’s no projectile coming out. It’s just the burning embers of the powder that comes out that pops the balloon,” Harder said.

The range is about 17 feet, but, if they’re feeling lucky, riders could shoot a bit further away from the balloon to go faster – at the risk of not popping the balloon.

Competitors also have to dress in a certain way.

“You have to be dressed in the old western attire,” Wiens said.

“You have to wear chinks or chaps; have to have holsters, hat; have to have these things.”

There’s six levels, beginning at level one. As a competitor wins four of them, they move up to the next level.

To be successful, lots of practising is a must.