Cowboy Mounted Shooting

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[Jamie Travis] We've been doing this now, I think, for almost 10 years, putting on a cowboy mounted shoot as part of the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association sanctioning body. 

[Announcer] All right, let's get ready. Right out a little need for the speed.

[Jamie] It's the greatest thing ever. Basically, it's riding your horse in a pattern, and we have to shoot 10 balloons and you have to break every balloon. If you miss a balloon, it's a 5 second penalty. It's a timed event. If you don't go through a certain spot or things like that, or if you knock over barrel, that's a penalty. If you lose your hat before the timer, that's a penalty. So we have a range master that will be sitting down there in the arena and he'll be watching all of that, making sure that if there is a penalty, you're assessed a penalty. 

[Sugar Ray Quinn] The guns are a single action 45. It's a specially loaded blank that basically shoots out about 10 to 15 feet. I mean, 15 feet is really pushing it.

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Horsemanship, marksmanship, speed, everything's a factor. It's a very humbling sport when you start because you think, "All I got to do is go out there and shoot ten balloons." Well, like I always say, every balloon that's left is a five second penalty tacked onto your total, your raw time. So I give you total time at the end. If you have a 12 second run plus and change, and you have 3 penalties, you just jump that up to a 27 second run that's going to take you right out of the hunt.

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[Jamie] You know, it's such an adrenaline rush. When I come in the arena, I'm always so nervous. And I say to people, "I think if it wasn't so much fun, I wouldn't be nervous about it." When you're running as fast as you can possibly go, shooting that gun as fast as you possibly can, there's no better feeling in the world. It's so much fun.

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[Quinn] Fastest growing sport in the world as far as equine go. And the biggest thing there is, it's a sport where grandpa, grandma, mom and dad, the kids, the grandkids, everybody can do it because it's leveled to a point where you're running against your same type of competition.

(Crowd cheering)