Horseback Shooting.

danjmet

danjmet

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OK. Longish one. Looking for any input.

I have a horsey friend. She and her mate do lots of horsey stuff including show jumping so the horses involved are well-trained. They have done a bit of horseback archery. Set up sounds sensible / safe to me. So happy they aren't being stupid or negligent.

She has asked me to A. Take her shooting. Yep, will be doing! Superb.
And B. She wants a pistol to do horseback target shooting.

And at B. My expertise are not enough IMO.

I'm going to get her in the range first of course and make sure she knows the law and safe handling etc. She already has permission to shoot at her (privately rented) stables. Her Husband, one of my other shooting mates, shoots there sometimes, all good. Again safe and lawful.


So in my head this sounds really cool but also quite dangerous. Risk of hurting horse or spooking it with loud gun noises. I've reckon my CP88 is too loud. But then again horse control is entirely up to her and I'll let her decide that after using it at the range.

Has anyone done this? If not does anyone have any quiet c02 pistol recommendations. Will have to me magazines and self indexing.

Thanks!
 
Chrisj said:
I would think this is not a good idea a horse and loaded gun on its back . Having ridden horses I would not do it, EVERYTHING could go wrong.
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Fixed it for you :)
Given the ones I'm around will spook at a moderated PCP action firing 50m away, I'm not sure I would be prepared to try that without a huge amount of build-up training on the ground getting them used to it.
 
I don't know if this lot do lessons (or would provide some pointers on who to talk to) - https://thedevilshorsemen.com/ - but they'd be a safer start point than anything else I can come up with.

They're also a lot of fun to watch. Quite mad, but fun.
 
Having ridden and bred horses over the years, I would strongly advise the OP not to try this. Although likely to be no problem, the unpredictability of a horse's nature is likely to lead to things going badly wrong, very quickly.
 
ESpy said:
Fixed it for you :)
Given the ones I'm around will spook at a moderated PCP action firing 50m away, I'm not sure I would be prepared to try that without a huge amount of build-up training on the ground getting them used to it.
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I think you are right if you were to do it a lot of training would be needed and it could still go wrong.
I have a friend that has horses and did 3 day eventing and now she teaches, I will ask her what she thinks. She has a great deal of experience with horses.
Horses are unpredictable as with all animals.
 
I’ve no experience with them, but would a pcp pistol with a decent mod do the trick. I think its a good challenge and maybe only a one shot pass but doable I would think, maybe even become a recognised sport if it isn’t already..
 
off topic but a few years ago on a day out to the seaside with the mrs a school, outing were having a beach sports day a teacher started the race with a pistol all very good but the local donkeys didnt approve they were tethered at the time with no riders but they werent impressed and took some calming
 
MrSherlock said:
Sounds like she'd be better off with a Umarex cowboy lever action pellet firing rifle with a bespoke horse mounted holster ?
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Disclaimer: I offered this advice knowing absolutely nothing about keeping or riding horses and to me seemed the better option.
Not recommending it in any way, shape or form 😊
 
Thanks for all the above input. It gives me a lot to go back to her with. Honestly archery sounds safer to me from horse back as harder to hit horse and no noise. She already does this.

When I take her to the range I'll let her see herself how loud they are.

Answer to a few questions above.

Why?
Fun. It combines multiple hobbies and honestly if it can be done safely I'd have a go. There are plenty of cultures that shoot bow and arrow from horseback. And some that do gun firing from it too.

Back stops etc?
She has a private stable that's got a lot of grazing paddock (hers too) round it. It's up a .5km track from the main stable. She has a couple of sheep, a dog, and the horse. Any other animals would be well out the way, the other side of the stable. Pellets would always stay on her land.

Obviously this idea is out there but I will say she's no gun ho idiot. The horse is already well trained for dressage and jumping events (that she competes in) so horse control is there. She'd ease in and check horse is good with any noise etc first. The area would be safe. And all she wants to do is ride round a big fenced in circle and shoot some paper targets.
She's also a special constable with the police (her husband is a police officer). So she will only do it if it can be done safely.

My input would be on the gun Recommendation front, keeping her legal, safe gun handling, etc.


But obviously there's a lot of risk. Same as when I do climbing, or track days. Making sure if it's done, it's as safe as possible, will be top of the list.

I will update this thread when she decides either way!
 
Be all and end all of it, you are dealing with a headstrong woman by the sounds of it, once mind made up, no stopping them. Advise against it, make your recommendations, then wash your hands of it, if the friendship is strong enough, she may take notice 🤔👍
 
Paynut said:
Be all and end all of it, you are dealing with a headstrong woman by the sounds of it, once mind made up, no stopping them. Advise against it, make your recommendations, then wash your hands of it, if the friendship is strong enough, she may take notice 🤔👍
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She's an old mate of mines wife but if very much a friend in her own right these days too. I reckon she may decide against simply because of the above posts which I'll get her to read anyway.

Either way she's up for a range day so I'll be increasing my number of shooting friends which is a bonus.
 
danjmet said:
...The horse is already well trained for dressage and jumping events....
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As are the ones I'm around. They're still inclined to be complete dicks about some things.

Had one spook into a gallop because there was a pheasant visible (not startled, just stood there). Silly bugger - I was about to let him let rip anyway, he just had to make a drama out of it.
 
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