Rough Riders come to Kimball

This past weekend Kimball got a real treat. The Wyoming Rough Riders Cowboy Mounted Shooting Club put on a display of talented athleticism at the Kimball Rodeo Arena.

The Wyoming Rough Riders, established in 1997, are a Wyoming based club that participate in mounted shooting. Mounted shooting involves the competitor riding their horse through an arena and shooting black powder blanks at balloon targets. The goal is to hit all the targets with the least amount of penalties in the fastest amount of time.

The president of the Rough Riders is Debra Harty. Her love of horses and guns is what drew her to the sport after seeing a demonstration at a rodeo back in the '90s.

"My husband was riding broncs and my parents and I were there at the rodeo and we saw the demonstration and thought it was really neat. After we left, I didn't think much of it, until my parents called me up and asked me if I remembered it from the rodeo. After that, I kind of started getting into it," Harty said.

Harty has grown up around horses and guns, and being able to combine two of her favorite things has always been ideal. Although the thought of mounted shooting may be very tempting to some, it involves a lot of hard work.

"Well, I think one of the things that should be taken into consideration is the horse. If your horse doesn't like the gunfire or the balloons we use as targets, you'll have to work with them," Harty said.

The Rough Riders shoot in different stages, or courses. These stages are all set up with different target patterns that showcase agility and accuracy. The targets are balloons filled with air at the end of a stick. As simple as it may sound, these balloons are notorious for spooking some horses. This skittish reaction that some horses have to balloons waving in the wind is the reason they must be worked with to get used to the environment of the competition.

"I know some riders who will tie balloons all around their horse's feeding and water troughs. Mainly to get them used to the gallons flapping around and then they'll pop too, so that allows the horses to become more familiar with those elements," Harty said.

Riders will take their horses to competitions or tie them near to where they might be target practicing with their guns in order to help the horse ease into the noise. Although, not all horses need to experience such extensive conditioning.

"Not all horses get nervous. Some aren't bothered by competition noise at all. They don't mind crowds, balloons or gunfire at all. It really depends on the animal and their rider," Harty said.

The other factor in the competition is the shooting. Not only shooting a target but shooting a target from the back of a galloping horse.

"It's all about getting the fastest time, so we're always trying to get faster. Some riders will just practice holstering and unholstering their guns. They're trying to get a smooth rhythm down so it's a quick draw. They try to unholster without looking, because, looking down for your holster, that takes more time and you don't need that in the arena," Harty said.

For the mounted shooters, summertime means a competition every weekend. So it's very important that they stay sharp and fast, ready for the competition.

"All summer it seems like we just go and go from one place to the next. Winter comes, and we go home, work on our training," Harty said.

This is the first year Kimball has hosted the Wyoming Rough Riders, and after their time here, it surely won't be the last Kimball sees of the mounted shooters.

The show was free to attend, although donations were being collected at the entrances to the rodeo arena in order to help with the cost of things.

Kimball Count Tourism Director Jo Caskey was originally the one who got in contact with the Rough Riders and suggested they come to Kimball. Caskey also worked hard at gathering sponsors for the event as well as volunteers to help out. One group that helped out quite a bit was the Kimball 4-H group, the Dead Eye Shooters. The kids worked hard at the event setting up the balloon targets in-between each run and cleaning up popped balloons at the end of the day.

"We asked for donations at the gate as people approached and we raised $160 from that. Five hundred dollars went to the Dead Eye Shooters for their help. We had quite a few sponsors which allowed up to offer $740 in prize money. We also had a saddle blanket donated by Daria Anderson-Faden. So the community really came together on this," Caskey said.

Twenty-eight shooters showed up for the competition from Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The event drew in spectators from Scottsbluff, Gering and Bushnell. It was said that even some from Tennessee had showed up to watch the mounted shooters.

It was a great event for Kimball's community in the sense that the community made money off the event as well.

"Apparently, a large group ate at the Big Mamou one night and then had ice cream from Dairy Queen the next. I think we got about five hotel rooms out of it," Caskey said.

Now currently there is a equine virus going around, which kept a large majority of the shooters home this time. However, many in attendance said they would be saying many a positive thing about Kimball and their venue to the other riders that weren't able to make it.

"They raved about the venue. They loved it here in Kimball. So much in fact that I have already started talking about setting up another competition here next year," Caskey said.

While there may not have been a large crowd to watch the shooters this year, Caskey hopes that for the coming year word of mouth will draw in more to watch.

"It's the first year we've done it, it's just getting off the ground. I'm hoping that once people start hearing about it and learning more about it, they'll want to come next year," Caskey said.