Western Shooting Horse

The Road To Longevity

The old baseball pitcher Satchel Paige put it best: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” SL5 Lynne Merrick and SM5 Wayne Riggs are living out that suggestion: staying young by hitting the highways and riding and shooting at arenas across the West. They focus on the next goal, the next shoot, the next balloon, and leave the past in the dust. And in doing so, they’ve set an example all of us could—probably should—follow.

Lynne Merrick and Wayne Riggs have found a secret to long life—through mounted shooting.

Parallel Paths
For a moment, let’s ignore that dictum and look at their pasts.  When you do so, it’s easy to see that their eventual entrance into mounted shooting—and their personal partnership—seems to be the most natural thing in the world.

Both came from the upper Midwest, Lynne from Minneapolis and Wayne from Pierre, South Dakota.  And both were exposed to horses early on.  Wayne’s dad got into the cattle business when the boy was 12, and that pretty much ensured that Wayne would get a mount.  No formal competitions; just pleasure riding and working cattle.

As for Lynne, she had backyard horses in her formative years.  She received training in English riding, and she showed horses off and on for years.

But each drifted away from equines during their adult lives:  “I got off at age 18, and got back on at age 61,” chuckles Wayne.  He took to the sky as a captain for Northwest Airlines.

Lynne became a controller for various architectural firms—a job every much as detail oriented (and time consuming) as an airplane pilot. 

But life changes force one to look for outlets. “My husband died,” Lynne explains,  “and I just needed to do something and fill my time up--and the mounted shooting people were so friendly and so good.” That was back in 1999. She loved the adrenaline rush of competition, the mental and physical challenge of mounted shooting. And she was good, becoming a High Points Cowgirl and, eventually, a member of the CMSA Hall of Fame.

Wayne retired 10 years ago, when he hit 60. And for a couple of years, he looked for something that would not only fill the void, but that would hold off Father Time: “I’d seen it so many times with my former colleagues at the airlines.  They didn’t have any hobbies, and they went home and sat down….I think the average age, if you work to 60, the average age an airline pilot passes away is at 62.  That’ll give you a little motivation.”

But there was a specific motivator that brought Wayne to mounted shooting.

Partners
Wayne and Lynne happened to meet through friends at a shoot in Rapid City, SD in 2001.  She was competing; he was curious about the sport. And after they met, Riggs--just like a teenager—decided he had to impress his lady fair.

In February of that year, he took a crash course in mounted shooting from the famed Wil Lantis.  The next month, Lynne traveled from her home in Arizona to see him compete in South Dakota.  He made an impression, all right. “He shot the pattern.  And he was just so tickled with himself, he looks up and smiles—and forgets he has to stop.  Boom!  He hits the ground.  It’s the only time he’s ever come off.”

It didn’t matter to the relationship.  They became a couple that same year, and have been together ever since.

Much of it on the road.

For several years, Wayne and Lynne hit up to 52 matches a year—sometimes three shoots over a three-day weekend.  They piled on the miles and went through three trucks and three horse trailers.

And Wayne learned how to stay on the horse.  In fact, he was twice the High Points Cowboy.

Each of them will tell you that life was, and is, good.

Looking Ahead
Wayne is now 70; Lynne is 67. Mounted shooting, their partnership and a sense of humor keep them young.

They spend summers in South Dakota and winters in Arizona.  Each has specific duties:  Wayne handles the truck and trailer; Lynne oversees the logistics of their trips.

It’s not as easy to do all that travel anymore.  They’re now down to “only” about 30 shoots a year. The bumps and bruises take a toll. But they say their minds are still sharp and focused.  They’re not about to stop.

They’ve still got the drive to succeed—and the ability to do it.  At the Tennessee state shoot in September, Wayne was 7th and Lynne 23rd overall out of 150 riders, some of whom were young enough to be their grandkids.

But Riggs and Merrick aren’t looking back, at their competitors or their own lives. They’re focused on what’s coming up.

Nothing is gaining on them.