A sport called cowboy mounted shooting has grown in popularity in the Maritimes, but it's being held up in Pictou, N.S., due to a town bylaw.
The sport involves shooting blanks at 10 balloons as quickly as possible, all while on horseback.
“Every time people hear about it, we get more and more calls,” says Shooting Association president Ken Jardine. “Other exhibitions have asked us to do this at their exhibitions.”
That's why officials in Pictou were hoping to have a mounted shooting demonstration at this fall's exhibition.
“It's quite a little show,” says Pictou Exhibition manager John Robinson. “It's something new for the exhibition. We're always trying to get something new to happen.”
But a 1976 bylaw states "no person shall fire or discharge any air rifle, gun or firearm in the town of Pictou." Now the shooting event can’t take place unless the bylaw is amended.
“Even if we decide to do it, it would still be difficult to get it done in the timeframe to accommodate it for this year,” says Pictou councillor Eric Daley. “But if there's something that can be done, we might be able to accommodate it somewhere down the road.”
Robinson believes cowboy mounted shooting could be the kind of event that could attract larger crowds.
“Who wants to see horses running around steady for two hours? They lose their interest,” says Robinson. “But if you have something like this, it brings the interest.”
Robinson says the Pictou Exhibition is scheduled to open Sept. 6.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.
