Jim Taylor
Horses and Guns
Monday, July 13, 2026, 06:07

My Quarter Horse "Shays Gal" when I got her. She was 22 months old. This was in the early 1980's. Her sister was Quarter Horse of the Year in 1988.

I broke her to gunfire and to carrying dead critters.

This is her packing out a Mule Deer I shot.

She was a great horse in mountains. Plenty of stamina.

How do you wear your sixgun on horseback?

When I was carrying a Colt SAA or a copy of one, I used a holster made like Elmer Keith described. He said A.H. Hardy made a holster with a flap of leather on the front. It had a hole in it and you let hammer down on it so that the firing pin went through the hole. This held the gun secure. I made a holster like that and used it for years. I never did have a gun come loose from it. I have in on in the above photo.

When I carried the .45 Ruger Blackhawk, at first I wore my standard right side holster that was below the belt line. The gun pointed directly at the calf of my right leg, but it set low in the holster and did not move around. Then one day I was heading into the mountains and I had burro packed and on a lead rope. The burro would cut left and right behind the horse. After riding awhile I happened to look down and the hammer on my Blackhawk was standing at full cock, pointing right at the calf of my leg! The lead rope had wiped the hammer to full cock. I never wore that holster horseback again.

The load in the gun was the Keith SWC over 18.5 gr. 2400. I was far enough into the hills that I probably would not have survived it.

Carrying the Blackhawk 45 or the Freedom Arms 454 I wore a Bianchi X15 shoulder holster. During Hunting Season usually it was cold weather and I had it under a jacket. That kept it dry if we got hit by a rain squall. That holster was the one I used for larger frame pistols. It is not the ideal holster if you are riding a rank horse. My horses were broke to gunfire and to carrying dead critters and thankfully never gave me a hard time.

So how do you carry your sixgun while horseback?