29/12/2023
So happy to see I wasn't imagining things. This is something I'd like to tackle but who's listening?
I've been trying to find the words to make a post about how disappointed I am in the general lack of care taken into training horses for archery around the world, especially for some competitions labeled as "World Championships," but I feel like I have said it all before because it has been an ongoing problem for almost two decades.
How is it okay to give an international rider and competitor a horse that has never been shot off of? Or shot off of only a couple of times?
How is it okay to bring in horses of other disciplines such as racing, polo, and cirit, and assume they are usable for a horse archery competition? And expect people to make it work?
For an INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP? Or let alone for ANYTHING?
This is entirely unfair to the horses and the riders, and does nothing to help the sport.
You shouldn't have to train a horse you are competing on, unless you have agreed to help train a horse to compete by riding them in a competition.
These days I honestly try to hide from mainstream horse archery on my social media, and only follow a few people whose journeys I enjoy to watch, but things that absolutely disgust me are always creeping in.
I used to have a dream of hosting and running an international competition here in the United States with well trained horses. I wanted to see an event outside of the valley with skilled horses and riders and no uncontrolled bats out of hell on the track. I know I could organize it, and run it well. Between myself and my club alone I could likely put together a group of a few dozen well trained horses if I had a year to prepare. That dream is lost now, I had to let it go.
The horsemanship I see internationally and nationally at horse archery competitions makes me sad. The standards are so low that I wouldn't dare put most outside horse archers on my archery horses anymore.
To most in the horse archery world the horse has become a tool, like their bow. A means to an end. It is not the union of the rider, horse, and bow, that is rewarded, only harshness and speed.
I was once told by an accomplished international horse archer that it is impossible to teach other people how to ride with finesse on the horse, and that most people can't learn that skill. He said that is why we need to have lines on the track, use bits, let people ride fast, etc. because people and horses can't learn that kind of control and if they do it takes too long.
So what if it takes long? To me it is worth it in the end. We have been building our rider's horsemanship abilities here in our club to be able to ride completely at liberty, to truly find that union with their horse on the track. I don't care what they score on the target, you need the union first. This year we had three riders other than myself compete on my horses using only a neck rope, and several others in training rounds. Not all of those competitions were even on our home track, showing the horses and riders still had that connection away from their home as well.
Our group is small, and we are striving for excellence. It is a long humbling journey, and requires patience, but the reward is great. Our horses and horsemanship come first, they must always come first.
