Cowboy Mounted Shooting, one of the fastest growing equine sports in the nation, will be part of the 2019 Bigger, Bluer, Better, Rocky Mountain Professional Rodeo Association (RMPRA) Rodeo at the Sanpete County Fair.

The action gets underway at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 22; and at 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Sanpete County Fairgrounds.

The sport of mounted shooting began in Arizona in 1996. Since then, interest in the competitive sport has exploded, with lots of interested riders. Brent Daniels is one of the original Sanpete County shooters and helped Lon Pritchard get started in the sport.

The Cowboy Mounted Shooting competition involves the use of two six guns, rifle or a double barrel shotgun and a fast horse. It is a timed event with five second penalties for targets missed and the fasted overall time wins. There are 64 different courses.

The pistols are real working single action revolvers, while the rifles are typically lever-action, in either case the gun must be cocked each time before firing. The ammunition used is 45 Long Colt casings loaded with black powder. Each shot has a range of about 15 feet.

There is a dress code that participants must wear. For men, its typical cowboy attire. The ladies may wear period dresses, pants and chinks. Most riders and horses wear hearing protection. Safety for horse, rider and audience is a must.

Pritchard has competed in Cowboy Mounted Shooting with Utah’s Mounted Thunder and nationally with the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association (CMSA) for about four years.

He rides a 14-year-old mare named Kink and Pritchard believes that Kink loves the competition as much as he does. He and his horse travel the country to participate in mounted shooting competitions, which finish this year with the CMSA Wrangler World Championship, in Amarillo, TX; Oct. 15-19.

After the world championship, a new season begins with a competition event in Heber, Oct. 24-26, the CMSA Heber Valley Cowboy Poetry.

Other local participants in the sport include Brent Daniels, Karl Nielson and Kurt Kelso. Interested riders are encouraged to join the fun, learn the sport and then compete. There are weekly practice sessions held in the area.

For more information, call Lon Pritchard at (435) 340-0812.