WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky. — The rapidly growing KY Cowtown Rangers is the only sanctioned Cowboy Mounted Shooting Assoc. (CMSA) club in the state.

KY Cowtown Arena, which is located halfway between Lexington and Cincinnati, at Williamstown, is a 32,000 square-foot livestock and equine exhibition hall which contains the club’s home arena. Mark Traylor has been president of the KY Cowtown Rangers CMSA chapter for a little over 1.5 years.

His wife was treasurer, and his son, who did rodeo in high school, was a club member – and so he felt good about taking on both the office and the new sport.

"I am moving up pretty quickly," said Traylor, a firefighter paramedic whose job keeps him busy many weekends when he could otherwise be competing.

Cowboy mounted shooters are allowed to travel to sanctioned events all around the country in order to win CMSA points. A serious shooter can rise up to a Level 6, which is the highest rating. Even with Traylor’s work limitations he has managed to become a Level 3 shooter.

"I can’t complain, for how long I have been doing it," he said. He is currently happy learning, but he is just as happy helping the club’s membership grow.

When he became president the club had 12-14 members; however, with the help of some area CMSA leaders, he has increased membership to 44. One of those helpful leaders is Joyce Nelson, a top shooter and president of the First Ohio CMSA club in Miamitown.

As a member of the CMSA’s National Advisory Committee, Nelson also has the job of helping other clubs get started. She said this is unique among horse sports in that her club considers the KY Cowtown Rangers to be a sister club instead of a competitor.

"They are good people and fun to be around, so they attract a lot of shooters," she explained. "They attract more and more, and they are shooting bigger and bigger."

Nelson and other First Ohio members, including a couple of CMSA Hall of Famers, are helping the Rangers move up the ranks in terms of the strong classes of competition at their events at Cowtown Arena and elsewhere.

Just as cowboy mounted shooting has been expanding throughout the nation, the reach of the KY Cowtown Rangers is expanding too. This year they were invited to have a one-day event in Broadbent Arena in Louisville on the state fairgrounds. The exhibition will be during the run of the prestigious 2014 Kentucky Quarter Horse Show.

Dennis Clevenger is one of the cowboy shooters who will be competing at Louisville on Aug. 6. He is one of the original few members of the Rangers. Previously an experienced horseman, he has now earned Level 4 status after 2.5 years in CMSA.

"I have shot almost every weekend this year," he said. "There have been a lot of shoots and the weather is good, so everybody has more competition."

In order to compete that much Clevenger must travel. He drives sometimes as far as 3-4 hours into Tennessee, Indiana and northern Ohio. "There is a lot of good competition out there; that is for sure. Some of the people have been doing it for 10 to 15 years, so they have a start on me."