As treasurer of the Alberta Mounted Shooters Association, Eileen Hearn gets to witness a lot of explosive action.
On Saturday, for instance, she was in the announcer’s booth while her husband, Gerard, and 17 other cowboys and cowgirls were showing off their marksmanship and riding skills.
Now Eileen is itching to be out in the ring herself, letting the powder fly and hearing the thunder of hooves beneath her saddle.
“Next year I want to be out there riding,” she smiled.
And who can blame her? Certainly not the large crowd that filled the stands at the rodeo grounds for the 6 p.m. start of the extended Saturday shootout. Several people came out of the beer garden, drawn by the staccatic pop, pop, pop that filled the air.
It was the kind of turnout Blue Heron Fair Days organizers and the AMSA had been hoping for as word spreads about mounted shooting, said to be the fastest growing equine sport in Canada.
The shooters – armed with two .45-calibre single action revolvers each containing five rounds of special black powder blanks – made their Barrhead debut in 2011 and are fast becoming a fixture at the fair.
“They really put on a spectacular show,” said Barrhead and District Agricultural Society president Adolph Bablitz.
Few of Saturday’s spectators would disagree judging by the enthusiastic clapping that accompanied each performance.
The timed event required competitors to ride a pattern, manouevre around barrels, and shoot and break 10 balloons in the fastest time with the best accuracy.
First they had to shoot five red targets with one gun. Then they holstered the pistol and drew the second one, completing the course by shooting the remaining five blue balloons.
Shooters faced up to 63 possible patterns, each one chosen by draw. Missing a balloon added five seconds to their time, while shooting the wrong balloon attracted a 10-second penalty.
There were also penalties for broken patterns or knocking over barrels or target stands.
Taking part were Gary Couch, Don Litvak, Lindsey Baranyk, Duncan MacMillan, Kelly Seely, Russell Seely, Derek Marshall, Allen Watson, Glen Olfert, Gerard Hearn Howard Jesse, Jean MacMillan, Leslie Norrie, Cam Fleury, Donna Osipow, Amanda Marshall, Jay Stewart and Brad Young, who was hailed as Barrhead’s representative.
The riders, who ranged widely in age and experience, vied for prizes like saddles, pistols, jackets and cash as they competed in shotgun and rifle classes.
It was clear from the first pistol class that one rider, Gary Couch, would be a frontrunner. From the moment he charged through the pattern, intent written on his face, he set down a marker for the others.
When the overall results were tallied up, Couch topped the list with a time of 44.936, followed by Litvak (48.502), Baranyk (53.259) and Duncan MacMillan (53.935).
In between events, some of the riders came towards the bleachers and talked to spectators. Children took the opportunity to clamber up the fence and pet horses and ask questions about the sport. Some wanted to see the revolvers.
For some time after the last shot had been fired, Eileen Hearn remained in the elevated booth doing the paperwork.
“It is the third time we have come here, and we absolutely love it,” she said.
She believed the high turnout at the beginning of the show proved that more people were becoming interested in the sport.
“I think it is getting more popular,” she said.
Cowboy mounted shooting originated in the U.S. about 26 years ago and has been in Canada for nine years.
Part of its appeal is that it stirs feeling of nostalgia for an era of the western six-shooter, fast horses and cowboys.
