Cowboy Challenge

The Tree City Saddle Club located in Greensburg, Indiana held a Cowboy Challenge on Sunday.

Jordan, Saber and I went down to have some fun and see how well we could negotiate the course and stay within the time limit.

The course was layed out with 10 obstacles: 1. Walk over three poles 2. Sidepass down a pole to the mailbox 3. Take out the mail and then place it back into the box 4. Approach traffic cone and pick up the tennis ball on top, and then place it on the 2nd traffic cone. 5. Open the rope gate, walk through, and close the rope gate 6. Cross the bridge 7. Pick up the rope and drag the tire pass the cone 8. Cross the trap 9. Go through the cowboy curtain and 10. Back through the "L". Then cross the time line.



I don't have a video of my run as the camera malfunctioned. The video above is of Jordan and Saber. I did place third on the first go and won 15.00 the difference between the top three places were only by a 10 of second. I placed 1st on the second go and won 10.00. So it wasn't to a bad day for us. I am very proud of my 3/4 Arab, he is did everything that we ask of him and he is also turning into quite the packer of young riders. Not only did he carry Jordan and Rachel Abrams rode him in the second go. I can't ask much more of him than that. As most of the top trainers in the country will attest too, these type of horses are worth their weight in gold!

Next shoot for Saber and I will be in Rushville on October 18-19. So check back folks and see how we are doing as the shooting season is coming to close for us.

Ride fast, and keep your powder dry.

Indiana State Shoot

The Indiana State Shoot was hosted by the Indiana Rough Riders, of which I am a member in good standing.

We had 60 shooters attend, 38 shooting on Friday night at the Eliminator, yours truly also shot but, shot poorly I might add. Saber keep getting lost on the patterns when he would turn and then have to run back through the smoke. Just wasn't our night and I have found yet something else to desensitise him too! SHEESSSSS.

Anyhow Saturday and Sunday we had great weather, lots of fun people to hang out with and we also had some of the top shooters in CMSA in attendance, John Clark, Amanda Porter, and Steven Wilson just a name a few.

Steven is featured this month in the Western Shooting Horse magazine and I just happened to have my copy with me. Steven was kind enough to sign it for me and he is soft spoken and easy going. It is easy to see why he is so popular within the sport of Cowboy Mounted Shooting. Don't let the tender age of the kid fool you either. He is blazing fast with his guns, and his horse is smokin fast! I told him I really liked his buckskin horse.

Anyway here are few pictures that I took over the weekend including Cowboy Church on Sunday morning with Randy Gunn on horseback at the pulpit.

Cary Barrows getting ready to head back over to Baker Arena for more balloon slaying.

Ashly Boyce and Hannah Sheldon working hard on college homework in- between stages.

They haven't even taken time to remove thier holsters or guns. Now that is dedication to shooting I tell ya!

Randy Gunn background, foreground Bob Chattin and Rocky.

To learn more about Randy Gunn visit his website at http://www.gunnpoint.us/

Marty Luftman attending Cowboy Church from the back of the arena.

This is probably my favorite picture of the whole weekend. Left to right, Daniel Sutton who trains horses like I was taught training by my grandfather and father, the old vaquero way. Next Steve Miller, Vice President of the Illiana Rangers, and the last fellow I did not get a name so if anyone knows please email me so I can add his name to the photo.

Yours truly being awarded my Level Ladies 2 BIG check for winning my division at our state shoot. I also won a buckle and once I get it I will post a picture.

John St. Clair, need name for the fellow in the middle, and Teresa Wilson.

THis charming lady is Ann Woulms also known as IndyAnnie, Annie is our awards chairman for the Indiana Rough Riders. She does a great job of coming up with cool and usual gifts for our winners of our shoots.

Shooters waiting for the awards cermony to begin.

Rain, rain, do you like rain?

As you can tell from the pictures around here it is wet. It is soggy, and just darn messy.

The Rough Riders and 1st Ohio decided to reschedule our Border Wars for a drier weekend later this fall. Probably a good thing since we are getting rain from the west and then hurricane Ike is headed up to the Ohio valley by Sunday night. It is quite possible to get 6" of rain in 48 hours after the soaking that we are getting now.

Yes it has been dry here, to dry for my liking since I do like to have GREEN lawn instead of straw of landscaping.

So Saber gets another day off and I get to work on my gun skills for another week.

The ice cream social that I have been trying to get off the ground is going to have to wait until the State Shoot now. I know that the Illiana Rangers can handle 7 more days. Right Jim?

So my friends I have nothing more to report until after the 21st of September.

Until then keep your irons & powder dry.

Miamitown Ohio

1st Ohio held another fun shooting event on Labor Day weekend.

Saber and I traveled over on Saturday night to socialize and get ready for a fun day of shooting on Sunday.

Sunday morning dawned beautiful and the morning gave way to heat and humidity. The runs were fast and the times sizzling.

There were only two ladies in the Level 2 division today and I found myself in 1st place after the first stage. Saber ran smooth and clean and I shot clean with a good time to start the day.

After that things went down hill for me. The horse was doing great but I made mental errors and my time paid for it.

The last stage of the day I did shoot clean and we did run fast, but it was not enough to over take the lead and we came in second for the day in our division.

I discovered that Saber is now working great and it is time to start fine tuning my skills to match his speed and turns. So back to Brad's with the trailer and the horse and we are going to start working my shooting skills and markmanship.

More later on this subject as I have two weeks to get prepared before our Border Wars with 1st Ohio.

Below are some pictures that I took on Sunday so enjoy them.

This is the Ron Hubert clan. The family was part of our balloon setting crew for us all day Sunday.

My good friend Nancy Latham and her good freind Lynette McCellan

Below is Sue Morlock

Arabians & Half Arabians excelling in the sport

I received my latest issue of "the Modern Arabian" in the mail this past week. On the cover was a Cowboy Mounted shooter and the publication dedicated a very nice 10 page article called Ready, Aim, Fire.

The article covered that in's and out's of our sport and showcased some very nice purebred and half Arabian horses. Kudos to AHA for showing that our Arabian horses are just as versatile as that "other breed" we hear so much about within CMS.

One point that the article keep coming back to was how much "heart" our Arabians have when it comes to shooting. Not only do the have the ability to with stand the gun fire and the sights and smells, they also look out for their riders. Time again owners said that their horses put them were they needed to be for shots and wins. Even Frank Turben stated when asked by Marsha Hayes, What made Witez Dynasty known as "Tez" such a great shooting horse? He responded after a few moments of silence "He went where I thought."



Yep, the magic between the Arabian and rider is beauty and poetry in motion, even if it is fast motion. Our Arabians can run and they run FAST, my own half Arabian A Saber Salute can out run me on the stages. I am still new to this sport and I look forward to day that I shoot as fast he runs. Not only are they quick but they are very, very agile. My black Arabian stallion APMJ Blackjack is probably the cattiest horse I have on the place and he really likes the shooting. My biggest problem is going to be in my 2nd stage of childhood, being able to keep up with him when he turns. He is just plain quick and fast and sometimes my old body just doesn't go with him.


One thing that I would like to express to readers of my blog, if you own an Arabian or Half Arabian and you belong to the AHA. Please log on the website and sign your horses up for the Open Event Incentive Program. They now included CMSA as one of the host associations for the OEIP. I would really like to see the caterogy grow and take off as one of the largest groups for points tabulations that OEIP has to offer.



Also I would like to say way to go Grey Meckfessel and Pepsi, they were also featured in the article. I have video of Gary and Pepsi on my YouTube site as well if you want to see this great pair in action.

YouTube & Misc.

As the summer has progressed, I have either taken videos or pictures of my CMS friends. When it was my turn to shoot, friends have taken over my camera and videoed in my absent. Either way you can view videos of various shoots held in Indiana that I have attended and enjoying watching some of the other members in action.

I will be attending at least 4 more shoots held in the state in the next three months so there will be lots more to see. So remember to stop back by soon, pull up a chair & pour yourself a drink . Relax and enjoy my novice summer of Guns~N~Horses.

Some History

I began riding at a very early age, first in front of my father in the saddle when I was 1 year old.


My little sister Debbie is between my dad and I. I think I am three in this picture taken in the summer of 1964. Notice the horse has a very short tail. This was he fashion back then

By the time I was 4 or 5, I was riding alone on a pony and working cattle along side my grandfather and my father. This entailed gathering cattle off the US forest service land or BLM land, sorting cattle for sale in the fall or driving cattle from one allotment to another. These allotments were 6 square miles or larger, covered in sagebrush, rocky tabletops, or pine forests where cattle could hole up and hide from you. Our cattle were not tame by a long shot and if they heard you coming, they would high tail it with calves in tow as fast they could run from you. If you or the stock dogs couldn't’t get in front of them to turn them, you prayed they would hit a fence and then drift the correct way to the holding pens. Otherwise, you came back the next day and tried it all over again. It would take at least 4-5 cowboys to do this and we would start very early in the morning and ride until very late afternoon on most occasions. I began roping at age 8 and like heeling much better than heading. My father and I would team rope at the county fair or at local brandings around the Harney County area. I was of course riding a bigger horse because the pony just couldn't handle the calves, as they were just about as big as he was.

One thing about that pony he taught me how cuss and it wasn’t much to my mothers liking either. But he was a very cantankerous little pony. He and I had many discussions on who was in charge much to my mother’s dismay. I have tried to clean my act, and I still slip on more than one occasion. Dang it…….

This is Scotch the pony; notice the hobbles on his front feet. He had a nasty habit of leaving camp and taking the other horses with him. I am standing at his shoulder my smallest sister Beverly at his head. Taken at Rainbow meadow 1967.

Gathering cattle in the spring of the year was quite fun for me as I would get to be out of school early by 3-4 days. When work was to be done on the spring round up all hands were called into service even a girl. I must say I was much more tomboy than girl! The cattle were moved from the winter grounds on the valley floor of the Harney Basin up into the summer grazing pastures of the High Desert. Ponderosa pines were in abundance and I loved trailing the cow and calf pairs through those forests to reach the high meadows of my grandfathers Upper Ranch. The ranch was the base camp for all operations in the spring. On most days, it is normal for us to travel 30 miles a day out from the ranch to gather cattle and move them to separate areas of the 10,000 acres that he had in forest service permits or private ground. I forgot to mention that grandfather ran 2500 head of brood cows 300 head of top Hereford bulls and had remuda of 45 horses. The cattle were left up in the hills until late fall and then gathered to be brought back down the Harney Basin. I wasn’t allowed to leave school for the fall roundup. That was one discussion I wasn’t willing to cross my grand father about. He was a big stickler for school education.

My family also had a cattle operation and we had about 1100 acres of private ground and ran about 326 head of brood cows, 6 horses for working them, and my mother had a flock of Suffolk sheep that numbered about 115 head. We put up our own hay for all of the animals and I worked for my grandfather in the summer in the hay fields. I started out being a rake jockey and making 8.00 a day and in junior high graduated to Swather operator, which I held until I graduated from High school my last year I was paid 25.00 a day. Big money for a school kid back in those days. The average haying season ran from late June until late August. We were able to get one cutting of wild hay, and then two cuttings of alfalfa. Grandpa told me that I was the best he had at cutting a clean field and keeping the windrows straight. He never gave out compliments and I always cherish anything he had to say that was positive.

I trained horses for my Dad and my grandfather in my spare time, and it was my job to start the colts for them when horses were purchased. My dad & grandfather taught me natural horsemanship long before it became a “new thing” and I learned how to turn out nice, soft, supple, horses that would work cattle one day and become a 4-h horse on the weekend.

In 1978, I was chosen to represent our county on the Harney County Fair court. This was a very high honor and sought by many country gals with a country/horse background. This wasn’t your garden-variety beauty contest. We had to be pretty to look at, be graceful, poised (which I had a few problems with) and well mannered, but we also had to ride very, very well. The reining pattern of choice for our horsemanship test was the old pattern with one large & small figure 8’s, correct flying lead changes, rollbacks, spins, and sliding stops. We were judged on our Rodeo Grand entries that were fast, furious, and you needed a good stop on your horses. You also had to have a horse that would tolerate parades with all the noise, pomp and circumstance that goes with environment. Contestant scores were based 75% horsemanship and 25% on the rest.
These are tryout pictures from 1977.

The following summer, in 1979, we traveled to over 35 rodeos in 13 weeks. Two large parades, the Portland Oregon Rose Festival, and the Snake River Stamped in Nampa Idaho, plus assisting with choosing the next court for 1980. It was a grand summer. I learned a lot about public speaking, standing up in front of crowds and working a crowd for benefits.
Yep I have even rode an app or two!

After I left home, I kept horses in my life; I spent many years in the horse show ring and dealt with many crappy snobbish people. Arabians are part of my life now and I love their spirit and intelligence. They get a bad rapt for being stupid, but they really are not, they love to please and I haven’t found one that you can’t do it all with. Just look at Saber, shooting horse, western pleasure, sport horse, English show horse, and of course sidesaddle in western, English and jumping. I have jumped him aside 3’6”. I have been invited to Equine Affair twice, once in Kentucky and then Ohio to showcase jumping aside. I have also been invited to ride in the parade of breeds at the Kentucky horse park for sidesaddle demos in 2002 – 2006.

One thing that I love about CMSA is the people, they are a breath of fresh air and it feels like home to me. Cowboys and Cowgirls working to one goal. Have fun, Socialize, and ride fast horses, with blazing guns.

Just a side note: In 2003, I was published in the Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul ~ I wrote a story called Great Grandma Hazel and the Sidesaddle. My sister jokingly tells folks that our family is now cultured since I have been published. I just have to smile at her and get embarrassed, as I never thought it would make the cut in the first place. Just goes to show what happens when you least expect good things to happen.

I have been doing sidesaddle since I was 11 the story tells about how I got started riding and why.