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| STAY IN SHAPE--PREPARING AND TRAINING IN THE OFF SEASON by John Clark Here’s how you can keep yourself—and your horse--in condition, even though you may not be competing during the cold months! 
The off season? Now I know what I have been missing for all these years! With the schedule changing, the World championship moving to October and the new shooting year starting two weeks later, for some of us the off season has become non existent. For those of you who plan to take some time off…BEWARE, the “off season” is a very fragile (and short) time where cabin fever could set in at any minute. Once cabin fever sets in, it is often followed by calling in sick, then logging many miles enroute to a tropical climate like Florida for a blissful weekend of competition in January. This also is usually accompanied (for all you snowy climate residents) by the rigorous de-winterizing of your trailer upon arrival and the winterizing of your trailer before departure while your nonshooting friends are scratching their heads trying to make sense of your rational thoughts, as your horses are asking WHY? They only knew that they got on the trailer in 14-degree weather, got out at a balmy 74 degrees and were then returned back to the 14-degree weather after only two days. Three days, if you can play hooky for that long! I have learned of all the issues of such travel while trying to improve myself and my horses, and start the new season off strong. It has also allowed me to meet lots of shooters in other regions that are also “bit by the shooting bug”. For those of you who take some time off (even for just a few weeks), a short break is understandable. Your thumb might need a break and your horse will enjoy some time out of the arena and these days, sometimes your wallet needs to recover from a long season. BUT REMEMBER, practice is never ending. Your horse is an athlete and your season is never truly over. Never. What you do in the off season does change from how you work your horse during the season. The off season is more about the mind set for you and your horse. Ride your horse and keep him in shape and your feet in the stirrups. Think about the issues you had trouble with last year and devote some time in improving them. Prior to my move to the warmer climate of Tennessee, I remember the cold days, when I wanted nothing better than to stay inside. The cold can be hard on your horse too, and if you do not have the luxury of an indoor arena it can be even harder on you both! But you both need to stay in shape. Even if you saddle and only walk or trot for 20 minutes, it will help make the transition back to competition easier. I fi nd that blanketing my horses in the winter (they make GREAT waterproof turnout blankets for under $80) allows me to work them without their getting soaking wet with sweat from the heavy coat. AGAIN, NOT an issue for those of you fortunate to live in warmer climates-- You have NO excuses not to keep your mount in shape! Find a trail near the house and take your horse trail riding. Or fi nd an arena that does team penning. Find something that you and your horse can do that is FUN, and keeps you both in shape without necessarily running patterns and shooting balloons. The best mounted-shooting horses are versatile and are good at several events. When it is cold and rainy or sleeting and snowy and you just cannot bear to go out, set up a saddle stand, place your saddle on it and climb on with your holsters and practice your gun changes. Practice dry fi ring and keep your thumb in shape. We have talked about practicing with your guns, and I cannot emphasize this enough. Focus on a target and concentrate on hitting that target. Make sure that your gun is still sighted in on the target after the hammer falls. Minimize the movement of your gun barrel as you practice. Do not get lax and lazy and sloppy as you practice cocking your guns. I know several women that put on their guns and practice while working out on the treadmill or exercise bike. Remember, whenever you can fi nd the time, make it worthwhile. I also fi nd that this time of year is a great time to educate myself. Go to the local library and take out a book on barrel racing or horsemanship. You may not agree with everything the author writes or ANYTHING for that matter, but you may be surprised and get an idea that works for you and your horse. Pull out your own shooting videos. Watch your runs and fi gure out where you could improve. If it is a turn you missed, you better get outside and get on your horse! If it is a gun change you missed, set up your saddle and practice. Maybe you just need to analyze the pattern and fi gure out how you could have run the pattern to make it faster or smoother. The time off is also a great time to look at your tack and make sure that you do not have leather rotting or breaking. Oil your leather tack and wash your pads and girths. Fix any issues BEFORE you are halfway through a run and something breaks! These are just a few ideas for those of you that are going to enjoy an off season. For everyone else, health papers are required when you cross the border into Florida! MOUNTED SHOOTING IS A "Mental Game" by John Clark  Recently, I shot at the Regional Championship in North Carolina. As always, I walked around the arena looking at the pattern prior to shooting each stage and had the opportunity to talk to people of all levels as to how they were going to run the pattern and why they planned to run it that way.
Day two of the event brought stages five and six and the topic of this article. By the end of stage five, strategies were running wild. I was reminded of how much of this sport can be a mental game. Shooters who had calmly walked around the arena for the fi rst four stages and made calm, rational, reasonably QUICK decisions as to how they were going to run the pattern were now pacing, fretting and worrying. Now let me make this easy. Stage 6 was the “fish” or in the case of the Tough Enough to Wear Pink competition, the “ribbon”. Most competitors have run this pattern before. Most competitors have a specific direction they ALWAYS run it. Some choose one color or the other because of how many strong shots they have or which direction they turn the barrel. Regardless of the reason why, most people have a ROUTINE. Here is my point. Stage 6 became a mental crisis because of where they were sitting in their class or in the overall. Suddenly, instead of being able to look at the pattern and make a decision they were over analyzing every step and every move. Some people were trying to fi gure out how they stayed ahead, others were trying to fi gure out how they made up 3 seconds. None of them were remembering how they got to that place. They were all LOSING the mental game. I listened to people talk about which corner of the arena their horse was “used to” running to or stopping in. I heard people go back and forth 10 or 12 times as to which direction to start in. Every person they talked to changed their mind and the more they thought about it, the worse it got, until getting into the arena and shooting became a next to impossible feat. I watched people miss balloons, miss gun changes and hit barrels while trying to run differently than they had for the last 5 stages AND the last several months. Have we all been there? Have we all been in the position going into the last stage to MAYBE win our class? Or reserve? Or the Overall? You have to remember how you got to that place. You got there by looking at the pattern, making a decision, and not letting where you sit in the standings affect how you run your horse and shoot. Regardless of whether you need to make up time or you need to stay ahead you have to not let that change the way you run. Every stage should be treated the SAME! If you are sitting in the position to win, obviously you were doing something RIGHT!! Most of this is a mental game. We forget when we worry about the fact that we “just have to shoot clean” or we have to “make up those 3 seconds” that we change the way we ride and it affects our horses. When we ride differently, we cause them to react differently and make mistakes they otherwise would not. Be steady, be consistent, and when the last stage at the World Championship arrives, treat it like all the other stages that got you there. Let your horse--your teammate--continue to do his part. Remember, when you into that arena, you are never going in alone. John Clark is a name that most mounted shooters have heard of, but why? Well to start with, he’s moved from a Men’s 1 to a Men’s 5 - possibly faster than any previous competitor in CMSA history. Captured the following titles, 2005 National Champion and National Rifl e Champion, 2005 Eastern United States Champion, 2006 Reserve National Champion, 2006 World Champion and has been in the Top 10 in World Points since he began shooting in 2003. STRAIGHT SHOOTING TIPS  WHY MISS? by John Clark A topic that always comes up with people after a run is why they missed a target or targets. I always ask them why they think they missed a balloon. The wide range of reasons is often comical. My favorite always starts with “because my horse…” When in doubt we always blame the horse, and why not? It’s easier than blaming ourselves, and the poor horse can’t defend himself. But let's start by believing that it is easier to fi x our shooting than give our horses thumbs so that they can shoot too! Pproper target acquisition does not come without preparation. First, you should have a plan on where you are going in the arena. Walk around the arena, plan the path you want to take with your horse through the pattern. Know precisely what action you need to be taking at every point in the arena. Do you know where you are checking your horse--if at all? Do you know where you are turning? Before you can hit your targets you cannot be worried about these things. You have to know where your horse may or may not have issues and whether he will rate when you need him to. You have to know whether you will have issues with gun changes in particular patterns. None of these factors can be running through your mind for the fi rst time when you are trying to focus on a target. You have had to address them all before you cross that time line. You will always hear shooters talk about “Plan A.” You need to have “Plan B,” and even “Plan C,” to avoid an emergency when Plan A is not executed properly. You need to dedicate all of your concentration to popping each balloon you come to no matter which plan you fi nd yourself in. Plan C cannot be an emergency because emergencies cause panic and lead to missed balloons. Let's look at some of the most common reasons shooters miss targets. I promise you will miss targets if you look away. Watch the balloon pop! Do not get in a hurry to get to the next balloon until you have killed the one you are aiming at. Do not get in a hurry and shoot too soon. There are often multiple targets in a row and the most common one missed is the fi rst one, because people shoot too soon thinking they have to be in a hurry. Run your horse at a pace consistent with your shooting ability. Another commonly missed balloon for the same reason is the 5th one before a barrel turn and a fast gun change. Shooters will fi re early trying to get more time for their gun change and end up with a fi ve-second penalty, versus taking the barrel a little wider for more time, or slowing their horse slightly. This goes back to planning prior to running the pattern. Know where you can gain a little time to change your guns to prevent those misses. Let's not forget the “long shots.” You do not gain enough time to cover the fi ve-second penalty of a missed target by short stepping a pattern. Let’s be realistic, the ammo can only go so far! Do not get caught up in the timer. Running the fastest time becomes insignifi cant when the announcer says “But I have to add fi ve seconds.” You have to run your pattern to your ability. I have heard many people, myself included, come out of the arena frustrated at missing the “easy shots” and making the “hard shots”. Give each target the same value, if missed, they will all cost you fi ve seconds. We need to concentrate on all the shots, not just the ones we think will be more diffi cult. When we become lax about the easier shots we tend to miss them. Focus on each target! How many times have you seen someone miss the last rundown balloon? Shooters concentrate less on the balloon, thinking they are almost done or worrying about stopping their horse at the end of the arena. What are you going to do at home to practice not missing? When you practice on the couch in the living room with your guns at night, focus on your follow through. Remember, be sure your guns are unloaded and avoid getting in a hurry. Make each shot deliberate and do not move to the next target until the hammer has fallen and you see the results of your shot. You should be able to see your sights still on the target. When you practice, get into the habit of having the goal of knowing where every shot you took went. Know the second that it happens if you were too high, too low, too early or too late. You will only get that knowledge from your eyes, so focus before, during and after the shot--every shot. When you get to the competition arena, this sort of accuracy and follow through must continue. One of the things I like to do to help focus on my shots is to go to the gun range. Whether I go with a .22 caliber or I take my .45s; I will set up a target and work on my accuracy using live rounds. When striving to have the pinpoint accuracy of a live round versus the wider spray of a competition black powder load, you will be able to determine how close you are really coming to your intended target. Work on consistency of a smaller target than we typically engage with whichever fi rearm you choose to use. When you move to black powder ammunition, it will be easier to hit the balloons when you have spent the time concentrating on a harder shot when practicing. Finally, set your goals for the right reasons. Do you really need to have the fastest time in your class to win? By looking at the past history of yourself and your competitors, you will fi nd that winning comes more often from shooting clean. Why shouldn’t shooting clean be your only goal? If you shoot clean for the entire event, you will fi nd that you will win the majority of the time and being clean should be success in itself. In the end, set yourself up for success. Run your horse at a pace where you can concentrate on each shot, follow through, watch each balloon pop and hit your targets. Improving Your Mental Game by Kenda Lenseigne 2008 marks my 10th year as a mounted shooter. Ten years! My how time flies. When I was asked to write a piece for The Rundown on my game strategy, I took a moment to reflect on this last decade and dug out some video of when I first started. There I was, plain as day, doing all of the things I tell people not to do as I fumbled through my stages. Back then, the sport was so young it seemed as though we were all just trying to get through it. It wasn’t pretty, but we made it through. There were no training videos or professional instructors because everyone involved was still figuring it out for themselves. Today, new shooters have a wealth of knowledge available at their fingertips, and our sport has grown to the point where “course management” has become a household word. From non-working thumbs to bad gun changes, I have made every mechanical error in the book, and that is to be expected when you are finding your place in the sport. Mechanics are what we all work on to perfect in our practice routine, but what most mounted shooters overlook is the mental aspect of this game. How many times have you had perfect practice at home, but blow it at the match? Have you ever wondered why? I have pondered this (mainly because I have gone through it so many times) and can only come to one conclusion. It’s because while I was working so hard on building the mechanics, I was not building mental strength enough to stay focused in the heat of battle. IMPROVING YOUR MENTAL GAME Ever heard of “the power of positive thinking?” There is truth to this statement. SET GOALS FOR THE SEASON • Write your goals down and post them where you can see them daily. • Add positive statements accomplishing your goal and say or write them daily. • Example: “I will shoot a clean match, because I shoot clean in practice and I know I am capable of it.” • CHANGE YOUR WAY OF THINKING. This starts NOW.
• Think and speak only in positive language. Instead of “I hope I don’t miss one,” say “I know I can hit all ten.” KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
• Address weaknesses and commit time daily or weekly to turn them into strengths. If a mechanical component of the sport intimidates you (lets use gates as an example) work on gates until you become confi dent in them. Add to this mechanical strengthening with mental strengthening as well. Instead of saying “I don’t like gates,” say, “I am good at gates because I have put the time into them at home and they no longer intimidate me.” • Practice harder than you compete (shorter rundowns, smaller targets, etc.). This will build mental strength and confi dence at home; then when you get to the shoot the targets will seem as big as beach balls and a mile apart. AT THE SHOOT – STRATEGY
• Have a plan for your run, be confi dent in your decision and do not change it. This will help calm your mind because you will have eliminated any surprises. • Know your horse’s strong points and plan your run accordingly. Example: if your horse turns better to the left and you have a choice on how to enter your pattern, use that strength to your advantage at the shoot. Be sure to work on his weaknesses in the practice pen to turn them into strengths. • Know where you are riding at all points of the pattern. By having a plan, you will be able to switch on your auto pilot button as you step into the arena. • Choose your lines by watching at least 2 riders per side of the arena.
• Note consecutive mistakes made by others (if the same target is missed, etc.) and adjust your plan accordingly. • Determine what will set you apart from the others when making your plan.
FOCUS FACTOR
• Be prepared (guns loaded, etc). Then settle 5 riders before your run.
• Be alone and silent during this time; mentally run the pattern as you have planned. Do not allow distractions to enter your focus. If your mind starts to wander, snap it back into focus mode and think of nothing other than your run. If someone tries to have a conversation with you during this time, its OK to say “I am almost up, may I talk to you after I ride”? • Visualize hitting each target, one at a time.
• Slow your mind down.
• When our horse’s feet move faster, our brains tend to move faster as well. How often do we say “I shot too early.” This is due to our minds and thumbs outrunning our horse. • WAIT. Let the targets come to you. When you slow your mind down, the targets will feel like they are coming to you in slow motion. • DON’T THINK! (This also means not to have conversations with yourself). Push your auto pilot button and let your mechanical training and muscle memory take over. My most successful runs have been those where I don’t remember a thing. • MOST IMPORTANTLY: Ride your ride for you only. Do not worry about what others are accomplishing in the arena. Too often we ride into the arena thinking about what the star of our division just did, and how we have to turn a better time, instead of staying focused on our run only. I hope this sheds another angle of light on your game. I started this mental conditioning only last year when a shooter and respectable horseman friend of mine told me about what helped him clean his matches. For me, there seemed to be that one ingredient missing, but I didn’t know how to pin point what it was. I know how to ride, and I know how to shoot… it was the mental maturity needed in competition that was keeping me from being a consistent competitor. Still today, I am far from finding the “Tiger Woods” level of focus, and many times my mind still slips into overdrive mode and leaves me in the dust to count my missed targets, but I am confident in the phrase, mind over matter, and will press on! Kenda is a three-time World Point Champion Cowgirl, and currently holds four world records. She is an instructor and trains mounted shooting horses at her ranch in Ellensburg, Washington.
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