Sports

With protests for racial justice going on around the United States since the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis on May 25, a Black 1970 Rockbridge High School graduate reflected last week on how race relations have changed over the last 50 years and how much more work has to be done.

The Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association held its Appalachian Mountain Championships last week at the Virginia Horse Center. Cowboys and cowgirls rode horses while aiming and shooting their 45 caliber single action revolvers at balloons. Each gun was loaded with five rounds of specially prepared blank ammunition. The black powder blanks could pop a balloon at a distance of about 15 feet. The competition included men’s, women’s and senior divisions as well as a wrangler class for children age 11 and under. The event was the second held at the horse center in as many weeks and also the second since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the equine facility in mid-March. Action continues at the horse center (without spectators and strictly following pandemic protocols) with the Arabian Horse Association Region 15 Champsionships today (Wednesday, July 1) and the House Mountain Horse Show for hunter/jumpers next Tuesday and Wednesday, July 7 and 8. (Photos by Stephanie Mikels Blevins)