New York is  hardly the place to think of Western doin’s, but when the Island Long Riders galloped into town, it got real Western!

When I started riding horses less  than four years ago, my friends and family thought I was crazy. When I became involved in mounted shooting a year later, they thought I had truly gone off the deep end. I am afraid to tell them that this year I started a mounted shooting club to bring this exciting sport to Long Island and New York.

It has taken several months of hard work from many people, but is all came  together on August 16 of this year. With the bright lights of Times Square and in the shadow of the Empire State building but a few miles away, 24 riders came together to go back in time at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. Th is living museum is a recreation of 19th century life on Long Island, which also recently became home to New York's first cowboy mounted shoot.

While the big apple may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the Old West, we do have a rich cowboy history. America's first working cattle ranch was started on Long Island (Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk) and where the term "Cowboy" is said to have been coined. Long Island is also home to Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.

Our mounted shoot was held in the "Long Island Fairgrounds" area, a reconstruction of the Queens County Agricultural Society  Fairgrounds (cica1866-1884). Th is provided us with a wonderful "period" look and feel to the shoot, along with an amazing field to run stages in. The arena was close to a full 200 feet by 300 feet.

Riders came from across the area. Our fl edgling New York club provided ten local riders, most of which are new to the sport. The battle for standings was close. First place went to Mark Rizzo of Connecticut. Mark was followed closely by Karl Bauer of New Jersey.

Both shot clean for the day and ended up only four seconds apart. Right on their heels in third place was Bruce Tolhurst of Connecticut. In the fourth to sixth places were this New York reporter and president of the Island Long Riders of  New York, Brandon King of New Jersey and Roger Dinsmore of Connecticut. Total times for each were less than one second apart--a close race indeed! The Top Cowgirl award went to Joan Davis of Connecticut.

Our new riders also did a fantastic job. Tom Mele, Pete Colombo, Bill Uhlinger, Barbara Matousek, Danielle Ambrecht and Frank DeStefano distinguished themselves with some hard riding and straight shooting. Our youngest competitor,  14-year-old Jimmy Passarella has only been riding since December! As an added attraction, we teamed up with "My SHINE Program," a local organization that runs an equine-assisted program for special needs children. In between stages we set a course with two teams, each with one competitor and one special needs child. Competitors rode the course as usual. Th en their SHINE program team mates, Tommy Cusack and Emily Krebbs were led through the course and broke balloons with a pointed stick. With the assistance of NARHA certified instructors the kids had a great time, each winning a blue ribbon for their participation. Both children were sponsored through a generous donation from one of our club members, Tom Mele of Cavalier and Associates.

Other area mounted shooting clubs provided much needed assistance in running the event--from rangemasters to announcers to  equipment. We also had plenty of help from our local Cowboy Action Shooting club, the East End Regulators. These cowboys came out by the dozens to help. If they weren't working the loading/ unloading table, helping get water to riders and horses or working the gate, they were coming to me asking "What can we do to help?" A lesson I learned from all of this is how important it is to have good, reliable help. I have been blessed to be literally surrounded by the best cowboys and cowgirls that you will ever find. Thank you to the Connecticut Renegades, Mass Six Shooters along with Sherriff AB Dupree, Diamond Rio and allthe East End Regulators. It is  easy to stand tall when you are on the shoulders of pards like these.