20 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Maggie and I have been partners since 2002. Maggie almost made me stop riding because she used to scare me so badly. She was classified as a runaway. She would buck, rear, spin, and do some very interesting aerial movements. Thankfully, we stuck together and overcame our fears. We went from competing in Western Pleasure in 2002 to becoming the 2016 Ladies Level 1 World Champions in Cowboy Mounted Shooting during our Rookie Year.
For my sport, we have two holstered .45 caliber single action revolvers that have five shots in them each. There are over 70 different patterns that are in our competition book and when we are at a match we can have 3 to 5 patterns or “stages” in one day. To stay at the top of your class, you must hit all 10 targets (balloons) and have the fastest time.
I wanted to ride in this particular clinic because we were focusing on “Performance Horses Naturally.”
Hands together
Hands on the base of the neck
Lift up on the reins
Bethany and Harold, photos by Turquoise Boots
Maggie and I went through Level 1
and 2 of the Parelli program and as
we progressed in our skills, I always
wondered how to apply what we
learned in the Parelli courses to the
performance arena. For mounted
shooting, you need to use a lot of
body and leg cues, as there are a
variety of turns for all the patterns.
Of course, you use your hands and
reins, but I wanted to have a finer
level of communication with my
horses by using my body and legs
first. This is exactly what Pat helped
us with. We worked on using the
rein position first to help cue
Maggie when I wanted more energy
and speed by putting my hands
forward on her neck towards her
ears. This cue helped my body give