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The Rundown: Gun Slingin'

Get hooked on AQHA’s newest event, cowboy mounted shooting, at Battle in the Saddle July 5-9 in Oklahoma City.

By Tara Christiansen
The American Quarter Horse Journal
June 10, 2011

cmsa

Cowboy mounted shooting requires a high degree of speed and agility from the horse and skilled shooting from the rider. Journal photo.

Are you a fan of fast-action events? Get your fix with AQHA’s newest event: cowboy mounted shooting. And what better way to get hooked on this shoot-’em-up sport than at Battle in the Saddle July 5-9 in Oklahoma City? The cowboy mounted shooting classes, sponsored by AQHA and the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association, an AQHA alliance partner, will offer competitors the chance to gun for $10,000 in added money.

Cowboy mounted shooting requires a high degree of speed and agility from the horse and skilled shooting from the rider. In competition, a horse and rider run through a pattern of poles with balloons on top. The shooter must shoot the red balloons with one gun and switch guns before starting the rundown back to the finish line, while shooting the blue balloons. Each missed balloon is a five-second penalty.

Cowboy mounted shooting is an AQHA-approved event. April 14 in Tunica, Mississippi, the first AQHA cowboy mounted shooting points were added to the official record of American Quarter Horses. AQHA-pointed cowboy mounted shooting classes are held at existing CMSA events. Points and placings will be recorded on horses’ and exhibitors’ records, and all points are eligible for existing awards, including Register of Merit, Incentive Fund and year-end high-point, to name a few. 

At the Battle in the Saddle cowboy mounted shooting competition, five AQHA divisions will be offered. To compete in the Battle in the Saddle’s cowboy mounted shooting classes, all riders and horse owners must be current, card-holding members in good standing with AQHA and CMSA.

Here are a few particulars of the event:

  • The event will start at 8 a.m. July 8, and at the end of the class all AQHA and CMSA points and class paybacks will be tabulated.
  • The top 20 in the revolver class will come back for a two-stage runoff for $9,000 in added money in the Battle in the Saddle finals, held Saturday night.
  • The top 10 in the rifle class will come back Saturday night to run for $1,000 in the finals.
  • The estimated start time for the Battle in the Saddle finals on Saturday night is 7 p.m.

The following AQHA class divisions will be offered:

  • Open: For anyone to show in. This will be the division for the CMSA levels 5 and 6 competitors in all AQHA-CMSA events. In addition to the CMSA level 5 and 6 competitors, the open division is where all professionals who earn remuneration for training and clinics can show, regardless of CMSA classification.
  • Amateur: All rules and regulations set by AQHA for amateur eligibility apply. Amateur status for CMSA contestants is open to levels 1,2, 3 and 4, unless rules or regulations for amateur status are not met.
  • Select: All rules and regulations set by AQHA for Select amateur eligibility apply. At the age of 50, an exhibitor in good standing with AQHA and CMSA can show in the Select division. This includes all the senior levels 1 through 6 in CMSA, meeting the required rules and regulations of the Select amateur status.
  • Youth: All rules and regulations set by AQHA for youth eligibility apply. Due to the nature of the sport, competitors ages 12-19 are eligible for the youth division for AQHA-CMSA. Upon turning 19, exhibitors are no longer eligible to compete in the youth division.
  • Novice amateur: All rules and regulations set by AQHA for novice amateur eligibility will apply, and CMSA contestants must be at levels 1 or 2. Once the novice has earned a combination of 25 AQHA points or $5,000 cash, in any equine discipline, he is no longer eligible for the novice status and must move into another AQHA division. Once an AQHA novice amateur competitor has reached the required points or money earned limits, he must move to the amateur, but yet may still compete in CMSA level 1 or 2. Note: In the novice class, novice points are tabulated on the exhibitor and not the horse.

All entries for the Battle in the Saddle cowboy mounted shooting competition can be found online at www.cowboymountedshooting.com or by calling CMSA’s office at (888) 960-0003.

All CMSA points will apply toward qualification to the 2011 CMSA World Championship October 19-22 in Amarillo.