LENOX TOWNSHIP — Ears flat, brown eyes focused and hooves pounding, Joker is a cowboy’s favorite ride.
Steady and strong, quick and fearless, Joker, a 14-year-old horse, doesn’t flinch when his rider takes aim and fires at a target. This cowpony knows his job, and he knows it well — a cowboy is only as good as his horse.
“Joker takes everything in stride,” owner R. David Davis said. “It is important to have a steady horse when you are riding around shooting things.”
After a stunningly successful season of competition, Davis and Joker will travel to Amarillo, Texas, this month to compete in the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association’s World Championships.
Cowboy mounted shooting is an up-and-coming equestrian sport where the rider, dressed in full old west cowboy costume, rides a horse at full gallop and shoots black powder blanks at targets using .45-caliber single-action pistols. The name of the game is accuracy and speed. Davis has the accuracy and Joker brings the speed.
Using a point system for competition, Davis and Joker have accumulated enough honors to attend the world competition and are ranked 9th in the state in overall competition in their first year in the sport. They will compete in second level competition at the championship event.
“We are a great team, me and Joker,” Davis said. “This the chance of a lifetime, to go to the world competition with this horse.”
Davis said he always wanted to compete in equestrian sports nationally and began his riding career in more traditional rodeo games like roping.
“I enjoy riding and shooting, so the sport just came together for me,” Davis said. “It is very addictive. Once I got started I want to learn and advance as much as I could.”
The opportunity to compete on a national level was always Davis’ goal.
“The mounted shooting was always something I wanted to do and didn’t have the time or the money,” Davis said. “But I realized that I didn’t want to have any regrets, so I went for it. I went into this to qualify, I went into this to make it to the world championships.”
With his dream of national competition realized, Davis hopes his passion for mounted shooting will inspire others to give the sport a try. Davis is a member of the Northern Ohio Outlaws, based out of Wooster.
“We shoot at least one a month, and you have to have your own horse. You start by taking a clinic on safety and riding ability, and your horse is tested to see if it can handle the gunfire,” Davis said. “The sport is very safe for the horses, and most horses get used to the gunshots right away.”
Joker wasn’t thrilled with his introduction to the gunfire, Davis said.
“At first he was jumpy,” Davis said. “Now, he sleeps through it while we wait in line for our turn.”
Davis said his costume and his horse make his cowboy alter-ego come to life.
“I’ve always been a real cowboy,” Davis said, “but now I really look like and shoot like one.”
For more information on cowboy mounted shooting visit www.cowboymountedshooting.com or call Outlaws president George Rogers (740 336-6549) for information on local events and club membership.
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COWBOY UP!
Lenox Township resident goes to mounted shooting world championship
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