Think of it as barrel racing on steroids.

A competition is planned for Claresholm this weekend that should bring out fans of the wild west.

Janet Stephen is with the Canadian Cowboy Mounted Shooters and she says it's very exciting to see and be a part of.

"Basically cowboy mounted shooting is an equine timed event and we shoot balloon targets with black powder blanks, so it's a very safe sport for spectators to come and watch and a very safe sport for all that are involved," she says. "We come out to a pattern with ten balloon sticks and we have to do it in a specific way. We have two 45 Colt pistols, they are real guns but we shoot black powder blanks so there's no projective as such, it's the hot black powder that bursts the balloon."

Stephen says it's not always the fastest that wins, it also depends on accuracy.

Stephen says they're looking for community groups who are willing to help out and earn some money at the same time.

"I'm looking for 12 to 15 kids, with some parents to help them out," Stephens says. "What they'll do is they're are outside  of the arena at a table and they put the balloons on sticks and blow them all up and once the rider has gone on their run, we have a Marshall in the field and they're called a range master and they make sure the arena is safe and it has been cleared and so he gives the signal for the rider to run, the rider shoots all the balloons and exits the arena and the balloon runners run out and replace the balloons on the sticks."

She says groups can make $300 to $400 dollars for three to four hours work.

Anyone who's interested can call Janet Stephen at 403-650-8928 or at www.canadianmountedshooters.ca or at their facebook page