Print
Comment
Rate
Making a name on mounted shooting circuit
 |
| Tough sport: Diana Olson has won at the mounted shooting world championships. (Thelma Grimes/photo.) |
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
She jokes that competing for five years in mounted shooting has only made her thumb bigger and lungs better, but Diana Olson has made her mark on the sport and is lending her expertise to fellow riders in Southern Arizona.
As she exercised her lungs to blow up balloons before a lesson with John Wiest of the Tombstone Ghost Riders, Olson talked about a sport she and many riders have come to love.
Mounted shooting is one of the fastest-growing equine sports. It features contestants on horseback, shooting .45 caliber blanks at 10 balloons before crossing the finish line.
In running one of more than 50 specified patterns, riders are scored on accuracy and time. They run between four and six patterns per match, and the competitor with the lowest combined score wins.
Many riders profess it is a humbling sport, and the only way to move from one level to the next is to win. After several years of competition, Olson now competes at a Senior Ladies Level 4.
Olson, who has been involved with horses her entire life, said it can be a tough sport that relies heavily on the horse performing well with guns firing, an audience applauding and the need to run a fast course.
Olson gave Wiest pointers at her ranch in St. David, where his horse was at times overly excited to get started.
Wiest said it can take months to get a horse used to the sound of the gunfire but noted contestants can perform well and move up the levels quickly if they have a steady horse and are good with a gun.
Olson said while mounted shooting has been around for a long time, its popularity is starting to grow for a variety of reasons.
A lifetime member of both the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association and the Mounted Shooters of America, Olson said she enjoys it because there are no politics.
"Everyone is competing to win, but we all support each other," she said. "You get some higher level competitors right in there rooting for the level one group. You can get two guys before a race discussing the pattern, and sharing with each other the best way to run it."
Olson also called it a pure adrenaline rush, where even the best of riders are humbled by the tough sport.
Cowboy mounted shooting originated in Arizona and became a recognized sport in 1992. It now has grown to every state and several other countries. It is a multifaceted equestrian sport in which contestants compete in timed events using two single-action .45 caliber revolvers loaded with blank ammunition to break balloons while negotiating a specific course on horseback.
"It is a combination of a Wild West show, exhibition shooting, cavalry drills, reining competition, barrel racing and historical reenactment," said June Underwood of the Old Pueblo Peacemakers, a Tucson shooting club. "A truly unique aspect of the sport is the emphasis placed on a period clothing, firearms and other equipment typical in the American West during the late 19th Century."
The Old Pueblo Peacemakers has organized a tournament to be held in Benson on Feb. 14 and Feb. 15. The weekend's events are being hosted by the Arizona Rangers, Benson Company, which has revitalized the Territorial Days celebration.
Olson said she is excited about competing in front of the home crowd, and about how popular the event is becoming. About 60 contestants are expected to compete.
Wiest will be one of them, noting that Olson has helped him improve in the sport, and he hopes to be competitive in the local event.
"This is a hard sport," Wiest said. "I'm finally, after a year of working with Diana, doing a lot better. I'm actually running some good patterns, rather than going all over the place like I was."
Even though she is lending her expertise to others and spending her evenings training horses to prepare for competition, Olson has her own goals to achieve. She still wants to reach level 6, which is the highest a competitor can go in the sport.
Olson has been a certified Range Master for the last five years, and is responsible for the safety of the participants and overall running for the match. She has been handpicked range master at the world championship the last four years, and in 2007, she was invited to the Appaloosa Horse Club World Show in Texas to participate in the mounted shooting showcase.
She jokes that competing for five years in mounted shooting has only made her thumb bigger and lungs better, but Diana Olson has made her mark on the sport and is lending her expertise to fellow riders in Southern Arizona.
As she exercised her lungs to blow up balloons before a lesson with John Wiest of the Tombstone Ghost Riders, Olson talked about a sport she and many riders have come to love.
Mounted shooting is one of the fastest-growing equine sports. It features contestants on horseback, shooting .45 caliber blanks at 10 balloons before crossing the finish line.
In running one of more than 50 specified patterns, riders are scored on accuracy and time. They run between four and six patterns per match, and the competitor with the lowest combined score wins.
Many riders profess it is a humbling sport, and the only way to move from one level to the next is to win. After several years of competition, Olson now competes at a Senior Ladies Level 4.
Olson, who has been involved with horses her entire life, said it can be a tough sport that relies heavily on the horse performing well with guns firing, an audience applauding and the need to run a fast course.
Olson gave Wiest pointers at her ranch in St. David, where his horse was at times overly excited to get started.
Wiest said it can take months to get a horse used to the sound of the gunfire but noted contestants can perform well and move up the levels quickly if they have a steady horse and are good with a gun.
Olson said while mounted shooting has been around for a long time, its popularity is starting to grow for a variety of reasons.
A lifetime member of both the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association and the Mounted Shooters of America, Olson said she enjoys it because there are no politics.
"Everyone is competing to win, but we all support each other," she said. "You get some higher level competitors right in there rooting for the level one group. You can get two guys before a race discussing the pattern, and sharing with each other the best way to run it."
Olson also called it a pure adrenaline rush, where even the best of riders are humbled by the tough sport.
Cowboy mounted shooting originated in Arizona and became a recognized sport in 1992. It now has grown to every state and several other countries. It is a multifaceted equestrian sport in which contestants compete in timed events using two single-action .45 caliber revolvers loaded with blank ammunition to break balloons while negotiating a specific course on horseback.
"It is a combination of a Wild West show, exhibition shooting, cavalry drills, reining competition, barrel racing and historical reenactment," said June Underwood of the Old Pueblo Peacemakers, a Tucson shooting club. "A truly unique aspect of the sport is the emphasis placed on a period clothing, firearms and other equipment typical in the American West during the late 19th Century."
The Old Pueblo Peacemakers has organized a tournament to be held in Benson on Feb. 14 and Feb. 15. The weekend's events are being hosted by the Arizona Rangers, Benson Company, which has revitalized the Territorial Days celebration.
Olson said she is excited about competing in front of the home crowd, and about how popular the event is becoming. About 60 contestants are expected to compete.
Wiest will be one of them, noting that Olson has helped him improve in the sport, and he hopes to be competitive in the local event.
"This is a hard sport," Wiest said. "I'm finally, after a year of working with Diana, doing a lot better. I'm actually running some good patterns, rather than going all over the place like I was."
Even though she is lending her expertise to others and spending her evenings training horses to prepare for competition, Olson has her own goals to achieve. She still wants to reach level 6, which is the highest a competitor can go in the sport.
Olson has been a certified Range Master for the last five years, and is responsible for the safety of the participants and overall running for the match. She has been handpicked range master at the world championship the last four years, and in 2007, she was invited to the Appaloosa Horse Club World Show in Texas to participate in the mounted shooting showcase.
 |
 |
|
| School districts concerned | Animal control: Beware of rabies |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bensonnews-sun.com.
