International Horseback Archery
Trip Start
Aug 24, 2010
1
31
Trip End
Nov 18, 2010
Loading Map
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
Bend, Oregon
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A few days ago Jim was reading the local paper (did I mention that it is delivered each day to the steps of our RV?!!?) and he saw a local event he thought I might like to attend. It was the International Horseback Archery Challenge, and I was shocked to learn that this truly is a multi-national event held right here in tiny Redmond, OR!
Competitors were flown in from several countries: England, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Malaysia just to name a few. (The horses from these countries did NOT attend; instead the American riders brought extras and shared to save the enormous costs of international air transport.) Because our American riders had been hosted for free at some of the events in other countries, they committed to footing the airfare and lodging bills for their friends here in the U.S. for this competition.
Mounted archery has been in existence since the 4th century, and was at one time a necessary part of Eastern European and Asian warfare. It was also used by many Native American tribes to hunt buffalo as well as smaller prey like rabbits, but obviously as open space decreased and technology improved, it largely went by the wayside. (Archery continued to be used in some tribal warfare against other tribes and white settlers, but that purpose seems to be a bit more sporadic, thanks goodness! For another example of Indian war arts, watch the spear video above... Pretty fearsome.)
Interest in mounted archery was revived in the 1920's however when Mongolia again began to hold state-sponsored traditional archery competitions, during which only one or two events were shot from horseback. Since then however, the South Korean and Hungarian governments in particular have made concerted efforts to re-develop the equine version of the sport, since it is to both countries an ancient art form and a big part of their cultural heritage.
This particular competition was held over a period of two days, and included both Korean and Hungarian styles of shooting as well as other events that imitated the original practice needs of archers. For example, the mogu ball competition (above) might simulate riders working together to kill larger prey like bison; the moving target demonstration (below; not actually an official event in the competition) uses the skills an archer might need killing a rabbit; and the kabak demo (below) emulates riders shooting up into the air at a flying target, say, a pheasant or other bird.
But most of the official events took place on a 90-meter "course", which was basically a roped-off lane down the side of the arena where the horses could run full speed as the riders shot toward the center of the arena. Each horse/rider team had to complete the course in 20 seconds or less and points were awarded for faster times and more accurate shots.
At first I wondered how the riders would hold the reins AND load their bows at the same time, but they actually drop the reins to shoot and then pick them back up again at the end of the course.
This caused some problems because the horses were not used to performing in front of a grandstand full of noisy people, so some spooked and two or three archers fell off during the show!
At first they shot at only one target, but as the weekend progressed they moved on to the double-shot and serial (three-shot) events. The hardest shot in mounted archery is called the "Pantheon Shot", where the rider turns around 180 degrees and shoots directly behind him/her over the horse's rump as they gallop away from the target. Bet you didn't know that this is how the phrase "parting shot" was started!
All of the American riders were very helpful in providing facetime and answering questions from the crowd because they have a vested interest in converting more horse enthusiasts to the sport.
The international competitors were also very nice, smiling and trying to explain their costumes' significance, which was sometimes difficult because not many of them spoke English fluently!
The costumes were just beautiful and each one represented the traditional attire worn by that country's warriors ages ago.
The Japanese even used a "Yumi" bow, which was several feet longer than normal and made shooting accurately while riding so fast much more difficult.
Over the course of the weekend I saw several competitors hit bull's eyes, and the archers somehow shoot so quickly that in one event we watched the best ones hit each of three targets TWICE EACH before their horse finished the 90-meter, 20-second course!!! The competitors as a group are trying to convince the hope that one day this sport will become an Olympic event. I hope they succeed!
One of the American riders has a good website that tells more about how she got into the sport, her trip to another competition in Mongolia, and all the equipment she uses. Check it out at
http://mountedarchery.net/about-2-2/about-me/. For more information on the USA competition, please visit http://www.horsebackarcherychallenge.com/competition.php.
