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Horseback Archery

27K views 130 replies 31 participants last post by  Tessa7707 
#1 ·
Hey, I'm really into Horseback archery, I have never tried it but it looks really cool. Does anyone do it? One day I'd like to go to a kassai school. Anyone ever been to one? Do you have any advice or tips for starting?
 
#2 ·
I can't say I know much about it, atleast not competition-wise, but I'll be going bow hunting as soon as I have a horse that won't mess with me the whole time :p
I only have a compound bow with a 65lb draw weight and s horse that doesn't appreciate leg/seat cues..A horse trained as such (as well as rider) and a specifically designed, short longbow with a high drawback weight.

From what I understand, it's the same as mounted shooting goal-wise, except not in an arena and a bow instead of 2 guns. :p
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#8 ·
Alright, so I was once a certified archery instructor (certification expired in August) and in my training, the finger hold is index finger above the nock of the arrow, middle and ring finger below. You want your finger tips only on the string, not the arrow. However, most of the archers I am seeing pictures of are doing it differently. Probably not a mistake and I wonder why? A lot of them shoot like this-




Which, according to my training, would technically be wrong. Any ideas?
 
#11 ·
Alright, so I was once a certified archery instructor (certification expired in August) and in my training, the finger hold is index finger above the nock of the arrow, middle and ring finger below. You want your finger tips only on the string, not the arrow. However, most of the archers I am seeing pictures of are doing it differently. Probably not a mistake and I wonder why? A lot of them shoot like this-




Which, according to my training, would technically be wrong. Any ideas?
If you ever shoot from a running horse you'll likely abandon the three finger draw you were taught.

In this photo it looks as if the rider is using a pinch draw. It works. Gives a cleaner release than the three finger draw, but depending on the draw weight it can be difficult. Lighter draws work well for this.

If you're using a heavier draw that was the norm for the ancient horse cultures of the Asia with their short, but very powerful bows, you would likely go with a thumb draw like they did. Where the thumb is used to pull the string back and the arrow is still pressed against the index finger.
 
#10 ·
I agree with you completely, tessa..it's very wrong, lol. I'm curious as to why though..possibly for fact that they generally don't twist sideways and shoot more ahead of themselves than perpendicular?
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#12 ·
Actually, at a closer look she might be using a thumb draw. Looks like there might be enough room between the finger position and the string to allow for the thumb to be pulling the string back.
 
#13 ·
That makes sense, lbs not miles. You need speed, not strength. I knew it couldn't be a novice mistake when 90% of these highly skilled archers were doing it. I went a-searching for different types of draws- heres what I found:

So, you were totally right lbs not miles.
 
#15 ·
If I am not mistaken, that photo is of Katie Stearns (AKA the Flying Duchess), a who is an international star as far as mounted archery goes.

It is generally a better idea to use a bow with a lower draw weight for competitions so you do not tear up your rotator cuff.
It is also a lot more difficult to draw a bow standing on firm ground than on a moving horse. You're likely to hurt yourself with constantly pulling high draw wt. bows in quick succession such as is required in competition.
 
#16 ·
I do some mounted archery! It's difficult to learn, but once you have your muscle memory down, it's extremely thrilling. I personally use a Mongolian draw--it's become the most comfortable for me, and I'm pretty quick at it. The pinch draw, I'd expect, is faster, but I find the Mongolian draw to be a good blend of speed and security. One of the guys I work with (we do medieval reenactment) can do three arrows at a pass with the Mongolian draw. Right now I'm only doing two, but I'm still learning.
 
#21 ·
Wow, VaticanVice. Thank you so much for posting. That's all very helpful. I find especially interesting the part about releasing from the inside, with the arrow on your left thumb. You're right, in standing archery you rest the arrow on the left side of the bow (when shooting right handed). Do you connect your reins to anything or just drop them on the neck? When I teach kids horsemanship and I take the reins away, I attach them to the horn with a rubber band so they don't fall and get a foot caught.
That's crazy that aim is nonexistent.
From the few videos I have seen, you run the horse in a straight line and shoot at a mounted target (or 3 targets facing in 3 directions). Are there any other configurations or set ups? Like a trail with targets mounted along the way?
Thanks again for sharing your info!
 
#22 ·
We drop our reins on the neck, simply because we're used to doing so for jousting. In a joust, you hold the reins long enough to come about and lay on, but must drop them as you set the lance and present your shield--even if the reins are long enough for the horse to be comfortable when you raise your hands like that, you run the risk of breaking the animal's jaw if you're unhorsed on impact, especially in heavy armor jousting, when you and your equipment likely weigh in excess of 300 pounds. Because we do both, our reins are short enough to be dropped at the neck without running much risk of getting underfoot. That said, there's absolutely no reason (that I can think of) not to secure the reins to the saddle or elsewhere prior to doing a mounted archery run, since you don't need to turn around in the list prior to starting the track. In fact, it's a very good idea--our troupe just hasn't implemented it thus far.

I've personally seen a few different set-ups for a mounted archery track--one involves going all the way around a track along the rail of an arena, shooting half a dozen or more targets at different heights and angles. The Kassai course is a simple ninety-nine meter list, with a single target that rotates during the run to face the rider. The director of our troupe set up a course along some of the trails on his property with targets at various heights after seeing Brave. That one was fun, but a serious challenge, because the targets were also on both sides of the path. That complicates things significantly--it's REALLY hard to move the bow back and forth across the horse's withers, awkward to twist toward your draw hand, and I don't think I would ever want to do it with people watching, because I only hit about a quarter of the targets.
 
#23 ·
Awesome!! I was just reading that some people will tuck the tail end of their reins into their belt loop, the guy said he called it a 'pig tail'. It sounded to me like the western romel reins. I bet you don't have belt loops in jousting armor though, lol. That trail course sounds awesome! Difficult, but awesome. I can't wait to try it. My brother has a bow I can use, it has a 55 lb draw weight though. Do you guys use special arrows? Or a particular type of fletching? like plastic vs. feather? pros/cons? I don't own a horse right now, I use a lady's horses for teaching lessons and she lets me ride her horses, I don't know how she would feel about me proposing mounted archery with her horses. haha, she might think I'm crazy. "You wanna do what now?" hahaha
 
#24 ·
We use wood-shaft, feather-fletched arrows. Partly because it looks better in shows, but also partly because our farrier is also a fletcher and he makes them for us.

A 55-lb draw is pretty heavy! Jeremy (three-arrow-per-pass-guy) uses one that heavy, but the rest of us have bows between 30 and 45 lbs. Mine is 38 (weird number, but it's a replica Mongolian horse bow). Still, if you learn on a 55, you'll be able to use almost anything else with ease! Good luck!
 
#25 ·
We have a few ma n' pa hunting shops around that I will check for arrows. Woo!
Yeah, heavy bow. Way to look at the positive though, anything after this will be that much easier. haha. I will get a good bow eventually, but I'll work with what I've got for now. That will make me appreciate a well-suited bow that much better.
Thanks again for all your help!
 
#31 ·
The bow I have for shooting and hunting is a 65lb drawback..It can be a killer when you've been shooting all day or you're tired, but my aim is so much more accurate with a higher poundage because I don't have to worry about shooting higher for a far away target..until you get into 60+ yards. I definitely don't have anywhere to work on mounted shooting though..a baaad idea for ST at the moment, haha.
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