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CMSA - History Of An American Sport

 

History Of An American Equestrian Sport

 

Let’s say that you were in the desert Southwest about 50 years ago.  You might have seen a teenager riding a horse hell-for-leather across the sands, dry-firing his nonworking pistol at targets both real and imagined.  Just like his cowboy heroes did in books and on the silver screen.

 

Okay, so this event wasn’t that unusual.  Lots of kids in the West and Midwest did the same sort of thing.  But this one still resonates.  Because it was the forerunner of mounted shooting, the beginnings of what would eventually become the CMSA.
There’s not enough space to give the full history of the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association.  It would take a pretty good-sized book to tell the story of the men and women who contributed to the development and growth of the sport—and this ain’t a book.  But what we can do is tell you a few stories to give you an idea of how mounted shooting got started, and how it got to where it is today.

 

THE WARM-UP
Actually, there was a fair amount of activity in that period BC (Before CMSA).  Founder Jim Rodgers was the kid on the horse.  Back in 1958, he and some pals even began making some home movies of their riding and shooting exploits.  They liked the rush of it, the excitement of the speed and the power of the gun.

 

Meanwhile, in California, Phil Spangenberger began doing some mounted shooting in the 1960s.  He did it for fun—but he also demonstrated it in exhibitions.  It was Phil who figured that firing live rounds wasn’t a good idea, especially if you wanted to keep a live and healthy audience.  Instead, blank loads could pop balloons, or shatter Christmas ornaments filled with talcum powder.
Both Spangenberger and Rodgers got into Cowboy Action Shooting over the years.

 

Around 1989, Spangenberger and Rodgers (who’d known each other for a few years) crossed paths at End of Trail.  Jim was impressed by Phil’s mounted shooting demo, and the light bulb went on.  According to Spangenberger, Rodgers approached him with an idea: “’What would you think about doing this as a competition?’  And I said, ‘Well, I’m sure it would be exciting.  We used to do it as competition in the cavalry organizations I was in.  But it’s hard to get people to ride and shoot.  I’m not sure there’ll be enough takers.’”

 

You can’t be right all the time.

 

Rodgers experimented with mounted shooting.  At Winter Range in February 1992, the first real competition was held, featuring Jim and two other riders.  Another shoot was held that summer.  Folks who saw the matches were impressed; the word spread.
And interest grew.

 

By Winter Range of 1993, some 13 folks were involved—including Denise Darr, the first cowgirl to try the sport.  She remembers it as an interesting experience:  

 

“It was my first competition.  I didn’t have a chance to warm up my horse [a fox trotter].  I had one .45 and one .44 special, so I was messed up because I didn’t have the right guns.  Jim Rodgers loaned me his first generation single action Colt. We were on the range, and the course was set up on the curve of the berm, and then you went back.  It had rained, and there were big puddles of horrible muck.  There were bowling pins laid way out there. I got on my horse and started.  The first balloon was near the edge of the berm, closer in to the people.  And we did that.  Then we went past the puddle and the bowling pins.  My horse was kind of jumping around.  But we got through the first five balloons.  Then there was a wagon—like we have a barrel now.  So I turned the wagon.  And I was just kind of loping up and down; it’s not like it is today.  I missed the last couple of balloons and I was wondering if I should just go back. And I turned around to look.  There were a bunch of horses over to the left.  My horse kind of popped and wanted to go left.  And I came off and fell on my head.  In front of 200 people.”

 

Embarrassing.  And expensive, considering the helicopter ride to the hospital.  But it didn’t stop Darr from trying the sport again.  And it didn’t stop others from giving it a whirl.

 

In 1994, 26 riders competed at Winter Range.  It was time to make things official.

 

THE STARTING LINE
Independence Day came in February 1994.  Jim Rodgers and J.J. Peel put CMSA together.  Not long after, several folks—including Rodgers, Peel, Denise Darr, Beth Shotwell and others met in a trailer to discuss the organization.  Darr remembers it was pretty informal.  They just wanted an organization of their own, something apart from SASS, that truly represented mounted shooting.

 

The first World Championship was held a few weeks later.  Twenty-nine riders participated.  Jim Rodgers was the top cowboy; Beth Shotwell took the lady’s crown.

 

Everybody knew everyone else.  The shoots were like reunions, social get-togethers, and competitors usually brought their families along.  Folks had fun.  If they could be good at the sport, well, that was an added bonus.  But it was secondary to having a good time.

 

Mounted shooting spread across the West in the next couple of years. But there were plenty of folks east of the Mississippi who’d grown up like Rodgers and Spangenberger, idolizing the cowboy heroes of the past.  Rob Arntzen of Winnebago, IL, was among them.  He was exposed to the sport at Winter Range in ’96, and he remembers:

 

They had just finished for the day, so [Joe Whitely, a pioneer in CMSA] put me on his horse, Sundance, and had me ride the pattern to see if I could ride. It was the most daring riding I had ever done but I pulled it off. Then he had me ride it with empty guns. On the third run through, he loaded the guns and that was what hooked me…I hit nine balloons on my first run and had never been so excited ever. We talked a number of times over the weekend and I met Jim Rodgers and CMSA Vice President J.J. Peel. I told them I’d go home to Illinois and start a mounted club. J.J. said that was great because they were hoping to get a club on the East Coast. So, I drove home and started the first East Coast club here in Rockford.

 

CMSA was proving to be a success—a modest one, but still a success.  Phil Spangenberger, who’d been skeptical about the potential of mounted shooting, changed his mind.  He not only started competing, but he joined the board in 1994.  Phil helped fine-tune the rules. He brought an international reputation as a weapons expert to the table—as well as publicity and promotion through his writings for Guns and Ammo magazine.

 

ROUNDING THE BARREL
The next few years were crucial to the organization.  Not just in terms of holding great matches and championships, although that was a big part of it.  But CMSA had to become more professional.

 

Jim Rodgers will tell you that a big step came in the hiring of Commissioner Frank Turben in ’97.  He brought startup business experience to mounted shooting.  “His attention to detail and his excellent computer skills provided a foundation for the organizational advancements,” says Rodgers.  Turben was handed a medium sized box with checks, inquiries, letters and various paperwork.  He created the database, the accounting system and the website.  And he could ride—he was Reserve World Champion in 1998.

 

Annie Bianco-Ellett also came along in 1997.  She was more than just a pretty face for CMSA; she was a great rider, an outstanding spokesperson, and had strong ties to potential sponsors like Colt and Wrangler.  For more on Outlaw Annie’s impact, see this issue’s cover article.

 

Then in 1998, the official CMSA publication “The Rundown” was first published.  It kept members up to date on what was happening, where and when shoots were being held, the growth of the sport, and how to be a successful mounted shooter.
In many ways, CMSA had been transformed in just four short years.  Board member and vice president Brady Carr says it changed from “…a bunch of guys out there, running around and having fun to a true equine sport.”

 

THE RUNDOWN
The next few years were a time of fine-tuning.  The Seniors Divisions were created; so was the Cavalry Class.

 

And there was money. 2003—the debut of the Colt Eliminator, Pro competition, and jackpot payouts.  Millions of dollars have been awarded to winners over the past five years, and the amounts continue to grow.

 

The facilities got better, too, both at the local/state/regional and national levels.  Arenas in Tunica, MS, and Nashville took the whole competition experience to a new level.

 

In 2006, the Swedish Mounted Shooters became the first international CMSA affiliated club.  Other countries followed suit, reinforcing the notion that cowboys and the West aren’t just an American obsession.

 

And increasingly, fine horsemen (and women) took up mounted shooting (as opposed to the early years, when many competitors came from a gun background through SASS).  They began training more, practicing more, and looking for the best animals available.  Annie Bianco-Ellett says, “It used to be that people used horses that were trained for something else.  And it was like, ‘Oh, we’ll shoot off them.’  Now the quality of horses is outstanding.  I’m actually doing a breeding program for mounted shooting horses.”

 

HITTING THE LINE
Ask some of the leaders of CMSA, and they’ll tell you that the future’s so bright they’ve gotta wear shades.  Or something like that.  And the present is pretty shiny, too.

 

There are nearly 8,000 CMSA card holders.  An average of 5.5 new members join each day (pretty remarkable when you remember that there were only three shooters at the first competition).

 

Leaders like President Dan Plaster and V.P. Brady Carr are working to put an even greater emphasis on the business aspects of CMSA—especially in terms of providing extra service to members.  To that end, restructuring is in the offing.

 

Travel expenses—such as fuel, trailers, etc.—are a concern as the costs go up.  But Plaster points out that others have stayed flat:  “In 1999, our entry fee was $199.  This is 2008—and our entry fee is still $199.  Now if we were just to take into account the increase in the cost of living, the entries would be over $300.  But we’ve kept it down so that the entire family can come and shoot.”

 

And that family experience is still there—ask anyone, and that’s one of the first things they’ll mention about mounted shooting.  Maintaining that atmosphere is given a high priority by CMSA leaders (see article on Board members).  At the same time, folks like Brady Carr look ahead to a time “…where you have professionals that do nothing but mounted shooting.  I see that day very soon.”

 

One other aspect is relatively unchanged.  World Champ Wes Walton, who’s been competing since 1996, says, “The adrenaline rush is the same as when I started.  It never wilted or died.  Every sense, every nerve is on.  The fun is still there—but so is the disappointment when I have a bad run.”

 

Just the same sort of emotion and excitement that drew a youngster and his horse to shoot at targets, real and imagined, in Arizona back in the ‘50s.  And that begat mounted shooting, which begat CMSA, and so on.

 

And you know the rest of the story.

 

THE CMSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
An Insight Into the Sport’s Future

 

BRADY CARR
• Board member since 2003. 
• CMSA member since 2000.
• Level 5 rider.

 

What event or factor has had the greatest impact on mounted shooting?
“The change in 2003 to begin operating the association as a business with a professional tone as opposed to just for fun.  While it is still fun, it is now drawing professional horsemen from across the nation because of the increased professionalism.  And the growth we’ve experienced over the past five years is directly related to that approach.

 

What is the biggest challenge facing CMSA?
“Retaining that fun atmosphere while growing and developing a truly professionally run organization, where you have professionals that do nothing but mounted shooting.  I see the day very soon where you’ll have professional mounted shooters, and that’s all they do.  Maintaining that balance to where both ends of the spectrum can come together and enjoy mounted shooting, that is the number one challenge for CMSA.”

 

DAN PLASTER
• Board member since 2003.
• Current Board President.
• CMSA member since 2000.
• Level 5 rider retired since 2006.

 

What event or factor has had the greatest impact on mounted shooting?
“The 2006 CMSA World Championship in Las Vegas, NV.  That’s where we, CMSA, showed everyone in the equestrian world that we are a serious equestrian sport and proved to them as well that we could be successful in the entertainment capital of the World.”

 

What is the biggest challenge facing CMSA?
“To keep that family atmosphere, that spirit, that closeness.  And to keep up with the growth and changes, we’re going to need new computer programs and marketing programs—and we’re already looking into that.  We’re looking at a 20-week TV series.  We have to have more people, more staff.  So the challenge is to make sure that things continue to grow—at a fast pace.”

 

JIM RODGERS
• Board member since 1994.
• CMSA Founder. Board Chairman.
• Level 6 rider.

 

What event or factor has had the greatest impact on mounted shooting?
“Frank Turben was key to CMSA’s success.  He handled all the day-to-day operations—keeping track of points, memberships, and the details.  Frank and I were a good team because we were complete opposites.  I’m an idea man, a promoter.  He had the follow through on the day-to-day.”

 

What is the biggest challenge facing CMSA?
“Growth.  We’re going through a transition period, from a start-up company to a major association.  We’re restructuring to handle growth.  Part of that means we’re upgrading our databases and computer programs. We don’t want to lose our traditional strengths.  We want to enhance them and add new programs, new abilities.  And we don’t want to lose the family-oriented nature of the sport. There’s about 100 top riders in CMSA—but that leaves another 7900 members.  We have to take care of them.”

 

PHIL SPANGENBERGER
• Board member since 1995.
• CMSA member since 1994.
• Level 4 rider retired since 2002.

 

What event or factor has had the greatest impact on mounted shooting?
“Our first World Championship in Las Vegas in 2006.  It really hit me, as I was standing on the sidelines there—to watch people in this state-of-the-art arena in a brand new, huge casino and hotel, and the overhead marquee with instant replay.  I thought, ‘This is the big time.’  It made us much more recognizable as a valid sport that’s going to go somewhere.” 

 

What is the biggest challenge facing CMSA?
“There are a number of things.  The political climate, especially with the various anti-gun groups.  The disappearance of open spaces in the West is also putting pressure on the horse industry.  And there’s a need for more arenas—good ones—for mounted shooting events.”

 

FRANK TURBEN
• Board member since 1997.
• Current CMSA Commissioner.
• CMSA member since 1997.
• Level 5 shooter retired since 2004

 

What event or factor has had the greatest impact on mounted shooting?
“The coming of age of the Internet.  It separates us from other organizations—whether they’re horse-related or not.  We came into being at the time the Internet was becoming useful. And we grew at the same time the Internet was growing.  Almost all of our new members come from the Internet.  People enter our championship matches online.  Everybody goes to the Internet to look at their points and schedules.  And I think that’s one of the things that’s really spurred our growth into an international organization.  How would we get information to Sweden, to Germany, to Australia, without the Internet?”

 

What is the biggest challenge facing CMSA?
“Developing the foreign markets.  We’re in Canada, Sweden, Germany.  We’ve got interest in Australia, Italy and some other countries.  It’s a bit of a challenge because of the gun laws in those places.  But we’re on our way.”
 

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