Question.....about Guns & Horses

Rembrandt

Maybe someone here can answer this for me....I been around enough livestock and animals to know loud noises would * the daylights out them....so how does a cowboy ride a horse blazing away with a gun going off near the horse's ears and still maintain control of the animal? Is this Hollywood or deaf horse?

n/a

The Horses are trained just as you would train a Bird Dog, or any other hunting animal.

I hunted from horseback in Kentucky, once an animal knows the noise isnt going to hurt him, they are generaly ok with it

LR

wundudnee

When my son was still at home we had a well tempered dun quarter horse. That poor horse had to go through all kinds of indignities while that boy was growing up. We went through the Society of Creative Anachcronism stage when we galloped by targets with a spear.
Then the kid decided hunting coyotes would be a lot easier off the horse. He started shooting off the side of the horse with a 22 pistol then shot more forward and didn't have any horse wrecks. I told him that when he got to the point that he could shoot the 94 Win. 32 spec. over that poor horse's ears he would be gun broke. He never got to that stage. That was a beautiful animal that well earned his oats.

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To the stars through difficulties

Rembrandt

I would think prolonged shooting that close to the animals ears would eventually do so much damage the critter would be deaf. I've been beside someone when a 44 mag went off (no hearing protection) and my ears were ringing for two days. Since most animals have far better hearing than humans, you would think they would be even more sensitive to the muzzle blast.

azzeater

I had the same thought as rembrant, you would think it would make them deaf. On the other hand, i have a black lab that thinks it's hunting time every time i shoot, she loves it! When me and Seductiveone were growing up we shot bb guns at eachother from our horses but never real guns, and we shot rifles on the property and they never freaked out.

hey all!

idsman75

wundudnee--You were involved with the SCA? A couple of my friends out in Oklahoma are into it and they took their eppes with them when we went camping. What a hoot!

A classmate of mine at recruiter school was in the cav and his only job in the Army was to train for mounted shooting demonstrations. He brought some videotapes with him. VERY cool.

trooperchin

I am looking into the sca looks like a good bunch of guys.I do alot of civil war reenacting and am with a cav. unit. Our horses are fine, you just have to condition/train them to get used to it. Think of cannons going of and they dont bat an eye

Go Army Beat Navy
IF you wanna have fun jine the cavalry

gunpaq

My buddy and I went deer hunting on horseback one year while in high school. Our horses were accustom to gunfire but not off their backs. It was doe season and we came upon six doe at the corner of one of our fields. We selected our targets and fired together with our Win. 94 30-30's. Within a mili-second of the rifles' report we were both seated firmly upon the ground with the horses galloping back to the barn. Oh yes, we both missed and the doe stood in the same spot curiously looking at the spectacle before them. My horse would never let me come near it carrying a rifle or anything resembling a long gun from that time on.

Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.

wundudnee

idsman75,
No we didn't belong to SCA, but there is a 6 week long renaissance festival near us every year. My son was very impressed with them so the horse paid the price.

You're friends should take their horses camping. Some fun. I always thought if a young single guy wanted to attract girls all he would have to do is haul a couple of horses to the lake or campground and tie them to the trailer and wait. A pen full of fat puppies there wouldn't hurt either. Should draw a crowd.

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To the stars through difficulties

RockinU

Given a little time, and a decent minded horse, there is no limit to what you can train them to do. Now I must caution, make sure the horse is gun broke BEFORE shooting from their back. I worked on a big ranch in West Texas, and one morning we caught a coyote out in the open, well I fell in behind him at a pretty good clip, unlimbered the winchester saddle gun, leaned down and took aim, when I squeezed off, that nice gentle mare stopped like a dead end street, and just drove me into the ground. My buddy said that I looked just like a Remmington painting until I pulled the trigger.