Fast forward to this past weekend and we're signed up for a mounted shooting clinic with Chad Little (World champion mounted shooter FYI). We packed up the horse and way more supplies than we'd ever need in N's new trailer and went to our first clinic. We made it in one piece despite the mud and rain.
It was a 4 hour clinic in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon so N rode first and I went second. The first group was an older crowd with less experience so they spent a lot of time just firing the pistols until the horses started getting used to it. Then they started working on patterns. Booker did really well. He had been exposed to gunfire before so he'd jump a bit but didn't freak out or anything. There were a couple horses that were not too happy about the situation and they didn't help keep him calm but he did really well anyway.
After lunch I jumped on and warmed Booker up again and myself of course. The group I rode with was a younger crowd that had shot and/or gamed before so they were all pretty comfortable but had to borrow guns. So I got quite a few rounds in since I had my own guns. We did have to borrow a holster since mine aren't made yet. Booker was still doing really well, not even flinching when people shot. But he did start getting a little sticky and not wanting to move. So then I had to manage him and the gun at the same time. But can't really blame him, it was his first time doing much of anything this winter and we were asking him to work for up to 8 hours. We got some great tips from Chad and he thought Booker was going to be really good at this sport. My shots were pretty decent when I didn't have to micromanage the horse. But we did discover the action on my revolvers is really really stiff. So that's on the list to get worked on.
I think our biggest thing to work on is riding patterns and just getting smoother and handling the horse with one hand. Everything else seems like it'll come easily enough. More time in the saddle is #1. Holy cats does my butt hurt. Oh and I stuck to my "guns" and wore my helmet despite having picked up a western hat the day before at a tack sale. I'll stick to the helmet until we're at a competition and have to wear a western hat (though I think helmets are okay too). It had been forever since I'd ridden so it didn't seem like the time to ditch the helmet. In any case he rode really well and the time off seems to have taken away some of my fears so that was good.
