Jerry Brown wins Level 1 at Ramona, Lori Brown wins Ladies Overall

In the Rainbow family’s first mounted shooting competition in San Diego County, Jerry Brown won the Men’s Level 1 division while Lori Brown won Ladies Overall honors at the 2005 Casey Tibbs Shootout in Ramona May 14.

Jerry Brown had placed second and third in past competitions but had never previously won his level at a mounted shooting match.

“I was pretty pleased, actually,” Jerry Brown said. “I’m used to coming in right at the edge.”

The Casey Tibbs Shootout consisted of four rounds of ten balloons each. Brown shot 39 of his 40 balloons and had a cumulative time of 95.91 seconds, including the five-second penalty for missing one balloon. He placed 12th overall among the competitors.

“It was a nice shoot, actually,” he said. “It worked out really well.”

The Casey Tibbs Shootout took place at Ramona’s Fred Grand Arena, which is also the site of Ramona’s rodeo, and was sanctioned by the Single-Action Shooting Society. The Browns had previously competed in Norco, which is approximately the same distance from Rainbow as Ramona and is actually an easier drive since there is no mountain between Rainbow and Norco, but neither Jerry Brown nor his daughter had ever competed in San Diego County prior to the Ramona competition.

“It was a nice shoot. It was good to have one in San Diego for a change,” Lori Brown said.

The Browns’ previous competition was the End of Trail match in New Mexico April 28-May 1 in which Lori Brown won the Ladies Level 3 division and Jerry Brown placed third in Men’s Level 1. While the Browns were in New Mexico they purchased Ben, who Lori Brown now rides for mounted shooting competitions. Brown and her father had been sharing Bud, Ben’s brother, and Jerry Brown now rides Bud.

“The horse makes a big difference,” Jerry Brown said.

Jerry Brown believes softening Bud’s load also made a difference at the Ramona match. “Bud was a lot livelier than he usually is,” he said.

Bud is 8 years old and Ben is 6.

Jerry Brown’s missed balloon came during the first stage. “It was a reverse rundown,” he said. “I triggered the gun on the fifth balloon before I should have, but after that everything went pretty smooth.”

Brown earned a buckle for winning his division. “It’s a nice buckle, one of the nicer ones, actually,” he said.

Brown noted that he attends mounted shooting competitions for the enjoyment and that winning makes the event even more enjoyable. “It was just kind of neat to win,” he said. “It was a fun day.”

Because she was the only Ladies Level 3 competitor, Lori Brown was placed with the Men’s Level 3 competitors and did not win her division even though she won Ladies Overall. She missed two balloons, adding ten seconds worth of penalties to her 78.69-second time which without the penalty placed just barely behind the Men’s Overall winning time of 78.19 seconds.

“I was still ironing things out with the horse,” she said. “I was just getting used to it and my shooting.”

Brown was able to practice with Ben the day before the start of the End of Trail match. She spent the week of the Ramona match taking finals at Palomar College. “I hadn’t had a chance to practice,” she said.

Brown passed all of her finals and received her AA degree in fashion design from Palomar College. She will transfer to Cal State San Marcos in the fall, where she will major in history.

She still took advantage of the local opportunity. “Just a nice shoot, and it was a nice kind of warm-up with Ben,” she said.

Although she was disappointed with her own performance, she was pleased with Ben’s performance. “I couldn’t be happier. He does everything I ask,” she said.

Brown feels that additional practice will improve her performance. “It’s going to get better the more we do it,” she said.

“The more I ride him, the more he gets used to me, the more I get used to him,” Lori Brown said. “As soon as it comes together, it’s going to be really good.”