Some of you may remember Stella from a previous post.  She is well on her way to becoming a great shooting horse but there is still work to be done.  This is technically the second video I have done on her and I have decided to make her journey into a series.  The "Making a Shooting Horse" series is going to be on going and will probably take over a year to complete. I am by now means an amazing horse trainer.  I make my share of mistakes.  However, I am always studying and learning from others.  I truly believe that you can learn something from everyone you meet when it comes to training horses.  Take what you like and leave the rest.  What works for one person may not work for another.  I offer to you just another way to train a horse for mounted shooting.  So enjoy this episode and as always, feel free to ask questions in the comment section below.  

Have you ever had an amazing run only to miss the last balloon?  Do you wonder why sometimes you just can't hit the balloons to save your life?  In this week's post I'm giving you two insider tips on how to fix that problem.  These tips address both the mental and physical side of target acquisition.  

Greetings fellow Mounted Shooters!  I wanted to put out a little drill to help those of you that may have some experience under your belt.  This drill is great and can be used with several different courses. It works best with courses that have the random course on one side of the rundown or the other.  Fell free to be creative with how you use this drill.  And please let me know how it goes or maybe what course you like to use it with the best.  Enjoy!

This is an episode that we could have made an hour long.  Getting your horse used to gunfire can be a long process.  In this video we give you a very brief overview of one way to do this.  Please keep in mind that most horses won't get through all the steps in this video in one session. Reward your horse when they try and be sure to quit on a high note. If your horse only gets comfortable with dry firing on the ground in the first training session that's just fine.  Accept and reward your horse's effort.  It is worth the time to do it right, trust me!   
One thing that I have always struggled with is having to reload all the time.  One solution to that problem is to go to a sporting goods store or even Wal-Mart and pick up an air soft or pellet gun that uses little CO2 tanks.  Don't put any ammo or pellets in it and use that pistol to get your horse used to the gun fire.  It's a nice option because you don't have to reload very often, it's light, it's cheap, and it makes a noise but it's not quite as loud as black powder.  
If you want to see another way do expose your horses to gunfire with the help of other horses, check out this video by Stacy Westfall.  As always if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment. 

Episode 2 is short and sweet.  We discuss what kind of horse is best for mounted shooting.