Western Shooting Horse Magazine, December 2009 For Frank Turben, the more things change, the more they stay the same. He still gets up ridiculously early in the morning, getting to work way before most people have opened their eyes. He still operates from his home in the Arizona desert (Frank will never give up either of those things he admits he's been spoiled over the years). And the computer is still his primary tool and companion, just as much as a cowboy relies on his horse. But it's been a year since Frank took a huge step and left the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association (CMSA). Since then, he's found new opportunities and challenges and fun. So, we thought we'd give an update on a man who has meant so much to mounted shooting. A Quick Backtrack But first especially for folks new to the sport we should replay Frank's work with CMSA. Turben discovered mounted shooting via a 1996 newspaper article. He went to watch a shoot and decided he liked it. His first competitive match came at End of Trail in 1997. Pretty soon, Frank joined the team. "[CMSA founder] Jim Rodgers brought me on board for my computer skills back in '97," he remembers. ''And then my main emphasis became CMSA and Cowboy Mounted Shooting. And that got to be all I did, except for a few commercial websites on the side. They needed a website, they needed a points system, they needed a database. So, I used my computer skills to develop a program for CMSA." All of that was crucial to the development of the sport. Just ask Jim Rodgers: "Frank Turben was key to CMSA's success. He handled all the day to day operations keeping track of points, memberships, and keeping track of the details." The two traveled across the country, spreading the gospel of mounted shooting and growing the membership. But Frank was more than a mere numbers cruncher or computer geek. The man knew and knows his way around a horse. He took home the CMSA Reserve World Championship in '97 and '98. In '98 and '99 he won the Reserve National title. And while he gave up active competition about five years ago ("I just didn't have the time, since I was running the matches"), he still rides as much as possible. For all of his efforts as commissioner and board member, Frank (along with Jim Rodgers) was in the first class enshrined in the CMSA Hall of Fame. Pretty good resume, eh? A New Era But by the end of 2008, changes were afoot with CMSA. Headquarters was moving to Tennessee, and Turben (firmly planted in Arizona) began considering other options. Over the years, he's had his own company, creating and maintaining commercial websites (which included CMSA), and he continued that. But that didn't require much time. Enter the Extreme Cowboy Association (EXCA). At the end of 2008, legendary cowboy Craig Cameron was busy starting a new sport that entailed riding through various courses of different lengths, terrain and obstacles. It put a premium on not only a great horse but also on outstanding horsemanship. The Cameron name and reputation was enough to attract competitors and members. But there was a need for someone who could help develop member databases, a person who could create a points and scorekeeping system, someone with experience in running the day to day operations of an equestrian organization. The right guy' had to have a lot of computer experience and be able to deliver a great website. Sounds like the same sort of thing that Frank Turben had done with CMSA, doesn't it? So, on the surface, it looks like Frank was doing the same thing, just with a different group. But it's not that simple. While CMSA entries are based on the rider, EXCA's are based on both man (or woman) and beast and several competitors ride more than one horse in a match. Turben says that required a different approach. "Tracking the horse is a real challenge. Say, when I buy a horse I may call him Buck. And you buy him from me and call him Brownie. So, we had to develop a system for tracking the horses." New tracking system? Check. So how successful have the initial efforts at growing the new sport been? Try this on size: EXCA as of late September, when this article was being written already had about 1,100 members. And Turben says the trend is up: "We're growing about as fast as CMSA was just before I left." The 2009 EXCA schedule included 70 events in 22 states from Maine to Hawaii, culminating in the World Championship in Topeka, Kansas, in mid- December. Not bad for a first year. It's all happened so fast and so well that Frank Turben is kind of surprised. "One of the challenges we face is to just keep things going like this," he says. But that kind of challenge and that kind of success is nothing new to Frank Turben, The more things change .... By Mark Boardman Western Shooting Horse Magazine