the parthian shot issue 6

8/13/2019 The Parthian Shot Issue 6

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The Parthian ShotNewsletter of the British Horseback Archery Association

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Issue 6, January 2014This has been an action-packed and excitingyear for members of the BHAA, with thefirst ever UK hosted international horsebackarchery event, against a team from Sweden.It was a huge success and will be the first ofmany, were sure. Congratulations to all thoseinvolved, not only in the competition, but inall the preparation beforehand. You can readall about it in Claire Sawyers report. As well asparticipating in and organising many eventsand activities this year, Claire has taken onthe role of reporter in chief and we hope thather stories will encourage you to take part in,

or attend, some of this years events. If youfeel that youre a long way from whats goingon, dont worry, weve got that covered. Thisyear one of the most popular activities was thepostal challenge, set up by Dan and Claire,with competitors from all over the worldtaking part. Oceans are no barrier to sportingcompetition these days - so if youd like toparticipate in forthcoming ones, read all aboutit in Claires report and then contact one of theeditorial team for further details.

Also in this issue, youll find a feature onEgyptian chariot archery. Chariot archery inthe ancient world preceded horseback archeryby several hundred years, but a lot of the itemsused in both sport and war will be familiar toaficionados of modern horseback archery andits history - for example, composite bows, bowcases, and a range of arrows of different types,materials and blades to suit the circumstances.There will be more on the equipment in thenext issue when I take a look in detail at theincredible range of well-preserved archeryitems from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

On the practical side, valuable insights weregained at a training and information day forpotential referees, a good investment for thefuture since all sporting activities can onlytake place with the help and support of manynon-participants. And the word is spreadingdaily - Claire also reports in this issue on jointactivities at the Forces Equine Games andwith the Centaurs Club.

Finally, remember this is your magazine -what else would you like to see in it? We aresetting up an Ask the Experts Panel for anyquestions you might have on a range of topicsrelated to horseback archery. Perhaps youhave a specialist skill yourself? Let us knowabout it and share it with other members.

than a year of planning, being postponed fromAugust 2012 and only three of the 2012 squadbeing available in 2013. However, to cut a longstory short it was a GREAT SUCCESS!

The Swedes were collected from Heathrowand by the time I arrived late on Friday theyhad trialled the horses, the track had been setup and the BBQ and beers were in full flow.The Qabaq competition was the first event onSaturday and we had many near misses and

concluded at the end of everyones three runsthat a 30cm diameter cymbal 8.5m up is justa bit too tricky; we were level pegging at nulpoints all round.

The afternoon saw the Hungarian event witheach rider having six runs. Emil was havinga tough time being a leftie with Niagararunning the reversed course slightlydownhill at great speed. However, hiscoaching was great and several of the Britsmade significant improvements to theirtechnique in this event that we often neglectin preference to riding the Korean course.Once wed cracked open the beers once again

the scores were totted up to reveal that GB-Awere leading Sweden by only 0.1 points - theequivalent of 1/10th of a second! Then off tothe local pub to share some traditional Britishdishes with the Swedes.

The Parthian Shot Editorial Team

Miriam Bibby [email protected] Sawyer [email protected] Sawyer [email protected]

Adam Snowball succesfully completing the Jarmaki shot in the Mamluk eventBHAA International 1st - 2nd June 2013


Northern Flights:GB vs. Sweden match isresounding successClaire Sawyer reports on the firstBHAA international event

For some time the BHAA had been keen tohost an international competition but wealways came up against the problem of

having too few trained horses to cater for alarge number of competitors. Then we hitupon the idea of having a series of smallinternational matches - a visiting team offour against a Great Britain four. The ideacontinued to grow and the four Brits becameeight - the first team to be the best four peoplewe could field and a development team wherethe priority would be given to bringing oncompetitors who had not yet had the chanceto compete internationally being mentored byteam-mates with greater experience.

In this way we hoped to enable people to meetforeign horse archers, to learn new techniques

and make new friends, and ultimately to gainthe experience and confidence to travel withtheir horseback archery and competeabroad in the future. Well, the weekendeventually arrived on 1st - 2nd June after more


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Sunday was again a pleasantly sunny day andwe started off with the Korean event shootingtwo single, two double then two five-shot runson the 150m track. The 150m 5-shot coursewas a really satisfying one to run - longenough that you could settle into your stridebetter and very pleasant to be canteringalong parallel to the edge of a wood where acouple of red kites and a buzzard were soaringoverhead (and making a fair bit of noise!).

Several of the archers on both sides started tofind their form at this point and the pointstally began to climb more quickly withSweden taking a comfortable lead. Gurbir

recorded a personal best, nailing the doubleshot and both Chris and Sissela picked upbonuses for hitting all five targets on the serialshot.

In the afternoon we experimented a little withthe Mamluk event - I had wanted to add insomething new and a bit different, somethingthat would test us a little more; and Anderscontributed his knowledge from competingat Biga for setting it up. We used the 150mcourse and put in a close ground shot wherebonus points could be gained from shootingJarmaki style, a double shot, then an offside

shot, and finally a 15m side shot. The Mamlukturned out to be almost everyones favouriteevent and Adam and Zana both shot very wellindeed, gaining more points on this threerun event than in the rest of the competitioncombined.

Once Sunday was underway there was nodoubt as to the victorious team and we offerthe Swedish team (Emil, Anders, Kalle andSissela) our congratulations - we couldnthave wished for better opponents and a morefriendly, good-natured match.

Congratulations also to Chris Harding who

had the highest combined personal scoreriding Oscar. Thanks to Michele Freedman forumpiring, to Karl and Zana for providing theirvenue and lovely horses (on whom they werecomplimented several times over - I thinkAnders would have quite liked to smuggleSmokie home!) and to all the grooms whohelped score or prepare the horses.

We are very much looking forward to ournext international match, there are subtleimprovements to be made but overall I amdelighted by how well it went. We hadnt evengot through dinner at the pub on the Sundaynight before the first offer to be our next yearsopponents had come in!

Emil Eriksson, Anders O JnssonKalle Mllerberg &Sissela grdh Orsmark

Team

BHAA International 2013 Results

SWEDEN

Qabaq Hungarian Korean Mamluk Overall

Dan Sawyer, Chris HardingJon Savage, Claire Sawyer

GREAT BRITAIN A

Zana Greenwood, Gurbir SinghBhangoo, Oisin Curtis &Adam Snowball

GREAT BRITAIN B

0

0

0

90.58

90.68

13.95

196.89

142.90

67.39

139.96

86.20

81.13

424.89

319.78

162.47

Clockwise from the top: 1. GB vs. Sweden: voted a great success by all! 2. Gurbir in actionin the challenging Qabaq event. 3. Dan Sawyer of Team GB-A.


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Its been an exciting year for theBHAA. As well as the first Britishhosted international competition,a number of other inaugural eventsgot off to a flying start. ClaireSawyer reports on the unforgettablesummer of 2013.

Forces Equine Games

The early May bank holiday saw horsebackarchery brought to a multi-disciplineequestrian event at Forces Equine Games(FEG) at Wellington Equestrian near Reading.Forces Equine is a non-profit organisation setup in 2008 to support the Forces equestriancommunity (mainly targeting Army, Navy,Air Force, Police, dependents & retired,reservists, civil service, members of the fire,ambulance and prison services; but civiliansare welcomed too). This, their first big event,included showjumping, dressage, in-handshowing, tentpegging and horseback archery;and dog showing and agility too. Many thanksto the organisers Debi Heath-French and

Jenny Naylor for thinking outside the box andinviting us to participate.

Karl and Zana brought over three of theirhorses, Niagara, Jupiter and Todo who werehired by all eight competitors; and theybehaved impeccably in our arena on the edgeof the showground despite showjumpinghappening on one side and dog-agility on theother. We ran a Korean competition and hadlots of spectators, particularly tentpeggerswho had been competing the previous day.Thanks to our class sponsor Tally Ho Farmfor their support! Half of the competitors wereparticipating in their first horseback archerycompetition and did well not to be fazed bythe presence of the crowds.

The results of the competition were:

1. Dan Sawyer (Jupiter)2. Claire Sawyer (Niagara)3. Chris Harding (Todo)4. Neil Payne (Jupiter)5. Jon Savage (Jupiter)6. Anine Cockwell (Niagara)7. Gurbir Singh Bhangoo (Todo)9. Adam Snowball (Niagara)

In the afternoon we had organised a teachingdemonstration. While the competition wasfun, for me personally this was the highlightof the day.

We selected three students: Holly (aged 10) anArmy dependent, Lizzie a WPC and Scott anArmy veteran who suffered bilateral above theknee amputations following a bomb blast inAfghanistan (Scott was at FEG representingHorseBack UK, a fantastic charity who providerehab for both physically & mentally woundedservice personnel through western riding andoutdoor pursuits, who were one of the chosencharities for FEG).

Dan and Neil spent 45mins teaching our threestudents ground archery then they moved onto archery from horseback at a walk, then onto trot. They all did incredibly well at picking

up the new techniques so quickly, nocking onthe move and shooting pretty accurately, butI have to credit Scott in particular with beinga natural.

Karl and Scott had been chatting during the45mins of mounted archery and once wewere finished Karl got a couple of the horsesto lie down to demonstrate their skills. Thencame something quite unforgettable: at Karlsinvitation Scott Meenagh, then afterwardsPaul Burns (a HorseBack UK volunteer andbilateral amputee from Northern Ireland in the70s), each got onto Todo who was laid downand then stood-up with them on his back. Ishall not try to describe it just take a look atthe photos for yourself!

Very sadly Paul Burns passed awayunexpectedly just four weeks later. He was

an inspiration to many. Dan had helped himselect and buy a horsebow in the interveningtime, but unfortunately the horseback archerytuition was not to be... RIP Paul.

Anti-clockwise from top left:

1. The demo teaching session in theafternoon was the highlight of the daysevents for the three participants.

2. Teaching ground archery skills to the threeparticipants Holly, Lizzie and Scott in thedemo sessions.

3. The smile says it all: Scott on Todo.

4. An unforgettable moment for Scott asTodo stands up under him to lift him from theground; with Paul Burns looking on.


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The atmosphere throughout was relaxed andfriendly; everyone appreciated that individualshad strengths and weaknesses in different eventsand we were genuinely willing each other onwith the odd bit of coaching/advice being offeredhere and there. The very worthy winner with asolid performance in both horseback archery andtentpegging was Gerald on Oscar, an Irish SportsHorse, provided by the Centre of HorsebackCombat.

Jenna came 2nd on the strength of her peggingexpertise and Damian finished 3rd with almostidentical scores in both disciplines. Thanks toeveryone who supported this event, to Karl andZana for the venue and horses, to Dan for theexceptional photos and to David for helping runthe competition despite having come along towatch.

See below for the Final results.

Centaurs Challenge 2013On Saturday 15th June eight of us gatheredtogether at the Centre of Horseback Combatnear Hemel Hempstead to participate in theinaugural competition run by the CentaursMounted Martial Sports Club. We startedthe day with eight runs of horseback archeryshooting Korean style at a single, thendouble, then triple targets.

Everyone did well: Damian shot accuratelydespite his mare Akina moving at quitea pace (even covering the 90m in lessthan 7.5 seconds once!), Jenna and Peters

tentpegging horses were fantastic maintaining a steady canter with no reincontact and never showed any concern forthe bow and arrows, and Himmat recordeda score in his first ever horseback archerycompetition.

Damian came away with the honours for thehorseback archery event, followed by Clairein 2nd place and Gerald in 3rd.

Rain had brought the horseback archeryevent to a swift conclusion and the delugecontinued over lunchtime with claps ofthunder threatening to upset plans further.Luckily the sun eventually returned and we

enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon of pegginginfront of Gaddesden Manor, albeit mademore difficult by continuation of themornings strong and blustery wind. Five ofus competed in the tentpegging with tworuns at each of: individual lance, individualsword, two rings and peg with lance, then tworings and peg again with sword.

The competition ran quickly and smoothlythanks to David and Adam setting up andscoring so efficiently; but there was stilla little time to enjoy the red kites soaringoverhead and the swallows skimming lowover the grass past the horses legs. Jenna

and Peer put on an impressive show of speedand accuracy, Peter and Claire were bothsuccessful in reaching down far enough tocarry a peg with a sword from their 16h+mounts, and you would never have believedthat Gerald and Oscars partnership intentpegging was not a regular one.

The use of the timing gates was interesting,in particular where all 5 riders scored asingle carry in the sword pegging runs andplacings were therefore set entirely on theirspeed (measured to 0.01s). Jenna and Geraldfinished far above the rest of the field withJenna stealing the victory, Peter was 3rd.By general agreement the day was labelled a

great success.

1. Gerald Nott (Oscar)2. Jenna Copley (Peer)3. Damian Stenton (Akina)4. Claire Sawyer (Niagara & Jupiter)5. Peter Turland (Paddy)6. Gurbir Singh Bhangoo (Todo)7. Adam Snowball (Smokie)8. Himmat Singh Sembi (Jupiter & Niagara)

Overall

Centaurs Challenge 2013 ResultsHorseback Archery Tent-pegging

21.220

36.023.64

020.41

164

71.4273.3

35.9226.4838.78

xxx

92.64

73.3

71.92

50.12

38.78

-

-

-

Rosettes and riders: the Centaurs who took part in the inaugural competition. (Photos on this pageand next by Dan Sawyer)


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.Ask the ExpertsWelcome to our new Ask the Experts page. If you have a question about any aspect ofhorseback archery, just contact one of the editorial team and we will find an expert to answeryou.

This issues question is from Laurence Haskins, who asks: - Could you recommend booksabout Horseback archery?

Possibly the best known book of recent years is Horseback Archery by the Hungarianarchery master, Kassai Lajos. Kassai is probably the best-known name in the fieldinternationally and has done so much to promote and develop the sport. Having said that,Im not sure that the definitive horseback archery text has been written yet; and so otherthan Kassais book, Ive concentrated on the history and culture of the various steppe warrior

and tribal groupings that used it. Horseback archery was developed to such a high degreeby these warriors that it defines their culture and their very nature.

Erik Hildingers book Warriors of the Steppe is still a decent overview and he devotes areasonable amount of space to the art and craft of bowmaking as well as horseback archeryskills. Theres also a good bibliography if you want to do some follow-on reading.

One book that is on my own to-read list is Hyun Jin Kims recent publication, The Huns,Rome and the Birth of Europe (Cambridge University Press). Ill quote from a review inBBC History: [It]...gets my vote for the freshness of its world view. The book rightly insiststhat what we call the continent of Europe is only a peninsula at the western end of Eurasia,and goes on to argue that what was really important between c400 and 1400 was neither theChinese nor western European states that generally get airtime, but the populations andcultures of the Great Eurasian Steppe that flowed between the two. Im not saying I buy all of

it, but theres a huge element of truth here. - Peter Heather, BBC History, October 2013.

Kims book has come in for greater criticism from other quarters and the Amazon reviewsare decidedly negative. However, might this simply be because hes approaching the truth?After all, western history has feared and demonised the Huns rather than respecting themas military masters whose techniques and weaponry were admired and adopted into somewestern armies. Hildinger also makes their military skill clear in his chapter on the Huns.

Leading on from this, I would recommend Robert Graves novel Count Belisarius for itsreal insights into how Huns, and Hunnish weapons and techniques, were used by imperialarmies at a time when the Roman world was becoming the post-Roman world. Graves is bestknown for his books about the Emperor Claudius (I, Claudius and Claudius the God)of course, but in my opinion, Count Belisarius is a far greater novel. Its a fantastic read;it takes you right into the Byzantine world at every level and leaves a strong impression ofthose flowing cultures that influenced it, along with the making and breaking of alliances,

and acts of treachery and loyalty.

Many original texts relating to archery, whether on horseback or the ground, have becomeavailable in modern translations with commentaries. There is for instance, a 20th centuryvolume about a 16th century Arabic manuscript on archery. Some of these moderncommentaries can be hard to track down themselves, though. If you have access to an onlinesource such as JSTOR it can aid in the search for periodicals and journals which might haverelevant articles in them.

And on the subject of journals, I would recommend a look at Primitive Archer magazine.This north American publication includes not only articles on manufacturing and usingarchery equipment, but also regular il lustrated features on the history of archery. Ive foundmany interesting features on horseback archery, chariotry archery and ground archery inits pages. All the back issues are available as downloads or on DVD now I believe. It alsoincludes very interesting features on native American archers and archery. The history ofthe north American adoption of the horse and the subsequent separate development ofhorseback archery is of course, a fascinating historical phenomenon in itself.

Top:Damian Stenton on Akina in thehorseback archery event.

Mid: Jenna Copley participating inlance rings and peg on Peer.

Bottom: Overall Centaurs winner

Gerald Nott on the Centre ofHorseback Combats Oscar.

(Photos by Dan Sawyer)


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Not one among themcould draw his bowRoyal Chariot Archery in

Ancient Egyptby Miriam Bibby

The archetypal image of the horsebackarcher is of a warrior: a skilled horseman(or woman) who is a superbly completeentity consisting of archer, horse, bow,arrows and bow-case, working with

devastating effect in unison with othermounted archers. In the middle of thesecond millennium BCE, the horse andchariot, along with specialised weaponry,revolutionised warfare in the ancientworld in a similar way to the laterhorsemen of the Steppes: and there areparallels with regard to equipment andtechniques.

In the first part of a series on ancientEgyptian chariot archery, MiriamBibby, former Egyptology tutor andcourse developer for the University ofManchester, and founder and first editor

of the UKs only popular Egyptologymagazine, Ancient Egypt, outlinesthe historical background to thisrevolutionary development.

He was one who knew horses; there wasnot his like in this numerous army. Not oneamong them could draw his bow; he couldnot be approached in running... He drewthree hundred strong bows, comparingthe workmanship of the men who hadcrafted them, so as to tell the unskilledfrom the skilled...he found erected for himfour targets of Asiatic copper, of one palmin thickness, with a distance of twenty

cubits between one post and the next.Then his majesty appeared on the chariotlike Mont in his might. He drew his bowwhile holding four arrows together in hisfist. Thus he rode northward shooting atthem, like Mont in his panoply, each arrowcoming out at the back of the target whilehe attacked the next post. It was a deednever yet done, never yet heard reported:shooting an arrow at a target of copper,so that it came out of it and dropped tothe ground... - The Great Sphinx Stelaof Amenhotep II at Giza, trs. MiriamLichtheim. (Ancient Egyptian Literature

Volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley,1976.)

This is an encomium for the 18 year oldEgyptian prince Amenhotep. He would hardlyexpect anything less. He was a royal heir andtherefore a semi-divine being, whose fatherTuthmosis, or Thutmose, III, ruled over a vastempire centred on ancient Thebes in Egypt.Amenhotep could have his pick of horsesfrom the royal stables to train and developfor himself, a fact which he notes in the textalong with other references to his indulgentand admiring father. Fawning descriptionsof royalty are not rare, of course, and werea standard of Egyptian literature as soonas writing came into use. However, its not

hard to see the reality behind this heroicdescription: a young man selects his bow froma choice of items produced by the greatestcraftsmen on earth, eagerly makes his way tothe stables to have his pair of fine, fast horsesharnessed up to the ancient worlds equivalentof a sports car, takes his arrows in his fist - andthen sets off to have some FUN.

Archery in Egypt: an ancient tradition

Chariotry and archery are perhaps not thefirst thing that comes to mind when we thinkof ancient Egypt. Pyramids, mummies andgolden masks, yes. These are the signatureartefacts of this ancient, long-lived culture.However, from earliest times, the Egyptianswere archers, using hardened wood and flintarrowheads, and the tradition of the self-bowlasted into the time of Amenhotep II andbeyond. The reason we know so much aboutancient Egyptian society is partly becauseof the wonderful preserving qualities of

Egypts hot, dry climate, and partly becauseof the desire of its people to record and beremembered.

Be a scribe, exhorted teachers inancient Egypt, telling their students thatthey would grow fat, sleek and wealthyas a result, instead of impoverishedand mosquito-bitten like the poor reedgatherers who went into the swamps to getthe raw material to make arrow shafts:

The reed-cutter travels to the Delta toget arrows; when he has done more thanhis arms can do, mosquitos have slain him,gnats have slaughtered him, he is quiteworn out. (Lichtheim, Ancient EgyptianLiterature Volume I: The Old and MiddleKingdoms. Berkeley, 1975.)Theresnothing new about parents wanting theirchildren to get a good job in the civilservice.

In fact, as Wolfgang Decker, author ofSport and Games in Ancient Egyptwrites: No Egyptian skill is as well attestedas target archery. From representations,texts, and original equipment, we can formquite a vivid picture of the royal exhibitionsport of the eighteenth dynasty.

One of the best-known sources forEgyptian archery is the tomb ofTutankhamun, which, managing to escape

the worst predations of ancient andmodern tomb-robbers, survived virtuallyintact until its discovery in the 1920s.Amongst the wealth of funerary anddaily life items stacked often haphazardlyinside, there was a large and undoubtedlycherished collection of archery equipment,including self- and composite bows, andspecialised arrows and arrow heads. Alsoin the tomb were four magnificent gold-sheeted and decorated chariots, some ofwhich showed signs of use - they werenot simply funerary items. Its clear thatthe words describing Amenhotep a few

generations earlier contained a great dealof truth. Princes of ancient Egypt wereexpected to show skill with the bow, andafter the arrival of the horse and chariot inEgypt, they were expected to show it whilstdriving at speed.

The Hyksos and the horse, chariotand composite bow

The arrival and use of the horse andchariot in ancient Egypt is an interestingtopic in itself. The sketchy conjecture ofthe past regarding the introduction of thispiece of innovative technology is being

replaced by a clearer image with each newgeneration of Egyptian archaeologists.

Protected by the vulture and cobra goddessesof Egypt, the young king Tutankhamun drivesinto battle shooting a composite bow. Hisenemies, in this example Nubians, fall intodisarray before him. This standard of kinglyiconography depicts an ideal, not reality.


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Competitive royals

Decker comes up with another interestingproposal in the form of a table in which hesets out the chariot archery achievementsof three Egyptian monarchs: ThutmoseIII, Amenhotep II and Tutankhamun.Using examples from inscriptions, hetabulates their results on the basis of fourparameters: firstly, the thickness of thetarget, measured in fingers; secondly, the

extent of the protrusion of the arrow, orwhether the target was transfixed; thirdly, anyspecial characteristics - was it a firstattempt? Performed repeatedly?; and fourthly,were there any spectators (witnesses) to theattempt?

I find this approach very interesting andappealing; the idea of an ongoing royalarchery competition carried out down thegenerations is totally in keeping with the

Egyptian view of time, which was an eternalnow in which the living king ruled theliving as Horus, and his predecessor ruledthe dead as Osiris. Perhaps its still going onin spirit, with the deceased rulers racking upthe points on a ghostly scoreboard.

With that, we return to Tutankhamun, laidto rest in his relatively small tomb witha range of items which seem spectacularto us, but are probably modest comparedwith those that accompanied Thutmose III,Amenhotep II and Ramesses II - but veryfew of their funerary items have survived.

And its items from the tomb ofTutankhamun which will provide thebackground to the next article in this serieswhen I examine the archery equipment thataccompanied the young king after death.This included over 30 composite bows,against 14 self-bows; and there were severalhundred arrows, plus a bow-case, a large,well-made bow-shaped box for bow storage,pairs of bracers, quivers and strings, all in aremarkable state of preservation.

Tutankhamun and his courtiers engaged in a hunt from a casket from his tomb.

BHAA Championships(3-4th August 2013)

The BHAA national championshipsproved as exciting as the inauguralinternational! Competition was fiercewith each competitor having theopportunity to use his or her individualskills to best advantage over a range ofevents. Claire Sawyer participated andreports here on the days activity.

First event of the championships was theMamluk event run over a 150m course.The targets were 1. close ground shot withbonus for a Jarmaki shot (which about halfof competitors attempted), 2. forward shot,3. backwards shot, 4. offside shot, 5. 15mperpendicular shot; and we each had threeruns.

Well Adam has got the Jarmaki shot off to atee and left everyone eating his dust both interms of point scoring and with his speedy

runs on Smokie, a little Andalucian x NewForest gelding. Congrats Adam!

Second event, held on the Saturday afternoon,was the Hungarian event; using the old styleKassai course set up with three targets andthree zones. The weather was sub-optimal forthis event with torrential rain (and even somehail) during group 1 (of 3) despite clear blueskies as we all went out to the track without

jackets, and we had to then take a pause toallow everyone to dry out (indeed I thinkit may have taken several days for Juliestreeless saddle to dry out...)

Well the tactics in this event were varied -we saw some running the course steadilyand getting off three or four arrows everyrun, some running the course very fast andshooting just the middle target, and yourstruly running the course very fast and loosingthree arrows (which was great fun but it turnsout not the best way of accumulating pointsin this event!). Mike Ashington, who came 3rdin this event, shot his 70lb longbow. Nice oneMike.

Sunday morning saw us tackle the Koreanevent with two runs at single then two runs atdouble, for each of the three groups, then after

a pause to alter the track and move timinggates and targets, two runs at a 150m 5-shotcourse.

I was off to a quick start with even Danunable to catch my single shot result. Newestmember of the BHAA Michael shot accuratelyand consistently and won the double shot.The serial shot, of course, is the crux of theKorean event with 60% of the total points upfor grabs. And in these two runs this eventwas both lost and won. Dan and Damian putin some accurate and consistent shooting. Tohis credit Damians warmblood mare Akinaran beautifully through this whole event. Danhappened to be the one to take the last run

of the competition and there was a roar ofapplause when he hit all five targets and indoing so won the event!

Many thanks to Michele our wonderful ref whoagain gave up a weekend of her time. Thanksto Karl and Zana and the grooms of the Centreof Horseback Combat for immaculately turnedout and very well behaved horses. And thanksof course all the competitors who all helpedto run the competition while they werent inactually in the saddle.

(All Results are on the next page)


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Overall results for the 2013BHAA Champs

Mamluk1. Adam (Smokie) 442. Mike (Oscar) 29.753. Zana (Niagara) 28.52

Hungarian1. Dan (Todo) 55.222. Jon (Oscar) 33.863. Mike (Oscar) 20.21

Single shot1. Claire (Niagara) 16.32. Dan (Todo) 15.53. Mike (Oscar) 11.68

Double shot1. Michael (Jupiter) 11.552. Himmat (Oscar) 8.773. Mike (Oscar) 8.06

Five shot1. Dan (Todo) 36.172. Damian (Akina) 28.913. Mike (Oscar) 22.44

Korean event Combined Totals1. Dan (Todo) 57.52. Damian (Akina) 46.923. Mike (Oscar) 42.18

Final standings

(including three runs of 150m Mamluk, sixruns of Hungarian and six runs of 1-2-5(150m) Korean. )1. Dan Sawyer 137.872. Mike Ashington 92.14

3. Damian Stenton 89.954. Jon Savage 74.085. Claire Sawyer 66.566. Michael Ruby 53.597. Gurbir Singh Bhangoo 47.088. Frances Harding 45.089. Adam Snowball 44.010. Himmat Singh Sembi 41.0611. Zana Greenwood Cousins 28.52*12. Oisin Curtis 23.1413. Andrew Hall 20.1014. Julie Ward 4.89

* (Mamluk only due to pre-existing shoulderinjury)

Top. Gurbir competing in the rain.

Mid-Left: The event winners with Michele the referee.

Mid-Right Frances and Zana sheltering from the torrential rain.

Bottom: The competitors in the BHAA championships 2013.


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July Postal Interational Results

1. Darran Wardle (Rogue Mounted Archers / US) 64.232. Trey Schlichting (A Company / US) 63.373. Mike Sabo (A Company / US) 48.924. Katie Stearns (Flying Duchess/US) 48.25. Dan Sawyer (BHAA / UK) 46.976. Serena Caballero (A Company / US) 45.927. Kalle Mollerberg (Sveriges Beridna Bagskyttar / Sweden) 45.1 [aged 14]8. Diana Troyk (Desert Warriors of the SW / US) 42.649. Anders O Jonsson (Sveriges Beridna Bagskyttar / Sweden) 42.510. Roberta Beene (Rogue Mounted Archers / US) 41.0411. Park Boem-nam (WHAF / Korea) 40.212. Beesh Frischman (Rogue Mounted Archers / US) 38.3413. Cody Jones (Flying Duchess/US) 33.8

14. Shelly Ryan (A Company / US) 30.4715. Maia Denzler (Cascade Mounted Archers / US) 29.99 [aged 13]16. Jon Savage (BHAA / UK) 29.6317. Connor Keithcart (Cascade Mounted Archers / US) 29.0 [aged 17]18. Allen Minton (US) 27.6519. Chris Harding (BHAA / UK) 26.1320. Matt Slade (Aspiring Centaurs / Australia) 26.0721. Ian McLaughlin (Flying Duchess/US) 25.722. Mike Ashington *LONGBOW* (BHAA / UK) 24.6823. Eric Nash (A Company / US) 24.0 [aged 14]24. Lu Ann Groves (A Company / US) 23.5825. Katrina Kruse (AHAA / Australia) 23.2526. Mike Ashington *HORSEBOW* (BHAA / UK) 21.5627. Adam Snowball (BHAA / UK) 21.028. Robert van Leeuwen (HOH/NL) 20.129. Janneke Rotman (HOH/NL) 19.330. Alissa Osborne (Flying Duchess/US) 18.731. Lena Voyles (Desert Warriors of the SW / US) 17.4932. BJ Smith (Desert Warriors of the SW / US) 17.4233. James Romano (Rogue Mounted Archers / US) 16.8434. Claire Hagen (HOH/NL) 1435. Summer Lisignoli (Cascade Mounted Archers / US) 13.7136. Frances Harding (BHAA / UK) 13.2237. Anine Cockwell (BHAA / UK) 12.5238. Sam Edgar (Flying Duchess/US) 11.539. Ivar Doornenbal (HOH/NL) 11.140. Claire Sawyer (BHAA / UK) 11.0541. Kaylee Nash (A Company / US) 11.04 [aged 15]42. Gurbir Singh Bhangoo (BHAA / UK) 10.5843. Andrew Hall (BHAA / UK) 9.0544. Himmat Singh Sembi (BHAA / UK) 7.95

45. Joan Broadfoot (Rogue Mounted Archers / US) 7.8946. Dorit Uebachs (HOH/NL) 7.347. Fran Eisenman (Flying Duchess/US) 6.148. Eva Thomsson (Sveriges Beridna Bagskyttar / Sweden) 5.349. Todd Mathis (A Company / US) 4.9550. Hunter Weinshienk (US) 4.4651. Christina Verhagen (HOH/NL) 3.852. Carlijne van Eijck (HOH/NL) 3.553. Justine Isernhinke (MA3 / South Africa) 3.3554. Andrea Zenger (Flying Duchess/US) 3.255. Joey Ogburn (Desert Warriors of the SW / US) 2.7756. Morgaine Wood (AHAA / Australia) 2.5757. Frida Mollerberg (Sveriges Beridna Bagskyttar / Sweden) 2.5 [aged 11]58. Alexis Osborne (Flying Duchess/US) 2.259. De Anne Ienna (A Company / US) 2.0

60. Glen Percy (AHAA / Australia) 1.3961. Risto Palenova (Sveriges Beridna Bagskyttar / Sweden) 1.362= Susan Duurhout (HOH/NL) 062= Joaline Brouwer (HOH/NL) 062= Jarouschka Buid (HOH/NL) 0

Postal InternationalPerhaps you feel you live a little faraway from some of the BHAA actionthats going on in the UK. In fact,

perhaps you dont live in the UK at allbut would like to participate in someBHAA competitions? Claire and DanSawyer have come up with a cunning

plan to enable you to do just that.Welcome to the world of the PostalInternational Competition!

Another new idea that Dan and I came upwith for 2013 was a postal competition toallow us to have fun competition against ourfriends from abroad. It is a system that is usedfrequently in target archery and now that wehave a unified set of rules / scoring system(that we developed during the winter withDarran Wardle from MA3, and now share withAustralia, South Africa, Holland and Sweden,as well as America) it was possible to extendthis idea to horseback archery. We later foundout that the Kassai school has been runningcompetitions in this manner for years!

I nominated July as the month that people

should test on the Korean 1-2-3 90m courseeither in their clubs or individually if theywere more isolated. It was advertised onFacebook and we were delighted to have 64participants from six countries. The FB postcontaining the results had been viewed byover 1000 people within two days of beingposted! There is no prize just the honourand of course the enjoyment of participatingand being a part of the worldwide horsebackarchery community. Im so pleased with thereception the postal competition received andpeoples enthusiasm to use this as a focus fortheir training that I plan to arrange more.

Twelve of us from the BHAA met up at theCentre of Horseback Combat on 28th Julyand on the morning of our training day ranthe 90m Korean course. Congratulations toeveryone who took part!

Photo from the Refereeing Course Summer 2013

the parthian shot issue 6

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