What is Cowboy Mounted Shooting?

It is one of the Nation's fastest growing family oriented equestrian sport which combines barrel racing and pole bending and tests horsemanship and shooting skills all into one cowboy sport.  Mounted contestants in this fast action timed event use two .45 caliber single action revolvers- each loaded with five rounds of special black powder blank ammunition.  Courses of fire are set in a variety of patterns.  The first five targets of a course may require the horse and rider to stop, turn, change leads and accelerate rapidly.  Contestants holster the first pistol and draw the second pistol for the rundown, shooting all five balloons while heading for the timer line.   

Scoring is based on elapsed time plus a five-second penalty for each missed balloon, dropped gun or knocked-over barrel.  An average course of fire normally takes a contestant between fifteen and thirty seconds to complete. Various classes are established for each gender from level 1 for beginners to level 6 for experienced shooters.   Senior Divisions for men and women are also available for our more “seasoned” riders and also range from level 1 through 6.    

In addition to the pistol and shotgun classes that we offer, we also have a rifle class. Competitors run two stages shooting the first five balloons with a pistol before holstering their gun and pulling out their rifle to round the rundown barrel. When running the rundown, shooters drop their reins to lever, shoot, and steer their horse without the aid of their hands-because both hands must be on the firearm during the rundown. This daring, high speed class is a favorite amongst most of the shooters and is always a crowd pleaser for the speed-driven and riflemen.  

Who are the Lake Erie Mounted Vaqueros? 

The Lake Erie Mounted Vaqueros was started in 2009 by a handful of enthusiastic horse lovers who wanted to experience the fast growing family sport of Cowboy Mounted Shooting.   Our membership consists of a variety of horse lovers: trail riders, cutting horse riders, rodeo participants and pleasure horse show riders.  The one thing they all have in common is their love of horses and the excitement of Cowboy Mounted Shooting!  Some of our members had never ridden a horse before, but after seeing how fun this sport, is started riding and are now very competitive shooters! 

Many of our competitive members have qualified for the Cowboy Mounted Shooting World Show in 2011. 

The club has grown every year.  We have been able to purchase items to make our shows run smoother and more efficient.  We added two more shows for 2012.  Check out our schedule for further details.

Need more information?  Contact any member, officer or director for more details about the Lake Erie Mounted Vaqueros!