What is horseback archery?
Inspired by different equestrian traditions, especially Mongolian, Hungarian and Korean, horseback archery is an ancestral art that happily combines archery and horse riding. It is an equestrian discipline that is based on a thousand-year-old art and is increasingly practiced. What is archery? We talk about it in this article.
Horseback archery: what is the history behind this discipline?
Horseback archery is one of the oldest sports disciplines. This activity has existed for at least 4000 years. Horseback archery first appeared in Asian countries.
Originally, this sport was mainly used to hunt and protect herds. Later, it became one of the best disciplines when it came to fighting. From Genghis Khan to the Plains Indians of North America, horse archers were present all over the world and taught the following generations the culture of practicing this ancient technique.
However, with the advent of firearms and machines, bows and horses gradually disappeared. This discipline is used more today as a sporting activity and has more and more followers in the world.
The qualities required to practice archery are numerous. This makes it so that not all riders in the world can do archery. Indeed, to practice this discipline you must be calm, skillful and focused. As for the horse, it must be balanced, submissive and impulsive, balanced and calm as well. In-depth information for this purpose will help.
Which horses and riders to use for horseback archery?
It must be said that all breeds of horses are suitable today for the practice of horseback archery as long as they have the best accessories offered by La Sellerie Française . On the other hand, the horse must be properly trained so that it does not get scared when the rider fires salvos of arrows in succession. The horse must also be used to seeing the bow and arrows in its field of vision. It must also be used to traveling the shooting line independently.
Ponies and horses are accepted during competitions. However, equines must be at least 4 years old to be able to participate in a competition.
As for riders, the competitions are open to all without any age limit. However, a minimum level is required with regard to equestrian practices. Thus, the practitioner must have at least the level of Galop 1 in France. Riders are generally invited to wear traditional archer costumes or even a regulation rider's outfit. Wearing a helmet is also mandatory and riders who wish to can attach a traditional headdress if they wish.
What equipment do you need for practicing horseback archery?
The bows that must be used during archery practice must be of the traditional type and must not have an arrow rest. As for the arrows, they must respect the rider's draw length and the latter can hold them in his hand or rest them in a leather or fabric quiver. Depending on the events, the targets used may be different.