Home / Equestrian sports / Horseback archery
Traditional and historic
Horseback archery means shooting at targets from a galloping horse. The rider has to steer the horse almost without hands while shooting accurately.
| Group | Traditional and historic |
|---|---|
| Also called | mounted archery, equestrian archery, yabusame |
| Olympic | no |
| Governing body | World Horseback Archery Federation (WHAF); World Federation of Equestrian Archery (WFEA) |
| Where it is popular | Horseback archery is growing in Hungary, South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Turkey. There are clubs and federations in Russia, Europe and the USA. |
The rider gallops along a straight track about 90 to 180 metres long and shoots at targets beside it. In Korean style there are runs at one, two or several targets, with 10 to 20 seconds per run. In Hungarian style the track is 99 metres long, must be covered at a canter within 20 seconds, and there is one rotating target. Points are given for hits, plus bonus points for time saved.
The sport needs a steady horse that gallops straight without constant rein contact and is not bothered by the sound of the bowstring. Any well-schooled horse of any breed can do it.
Riders use simple traditional bows without sights or stabilisers. The rules require protective boots or tape on the horse's legs.
Horseback archery is on the World Nomad Games programme. In Japan, yabusame is performed at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine in Kamakura and at the Aoi Matsuri festival in Kyoto in early May.
Beginners start at a horseback archery club: first shooting on foot, then from a horse at a walk and trot. Light youth bows exist for teens, and training is always done with a helmet and under a coach.
Japanese yabusame began in the early Kamakura period, when the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo introduced it to improve his samurai's archery. The rider gallops down a 255-metre track and shoots at three wooden targets.
Sources: whaf.webnode.kr, wfea.world, en.wikipedia.org, rg.ru