Review: A weekend of Horseback Archery

After over-coming mental confusion and sheer fright caused by driving on the right hand-side of the road, Jehad and I set off down the German motorway to the town of Villigen-Schwenningen in the South of Germany. A few wrong turns and an hour later we arrived at the flat of Abdul Mejid. After a good nights rest we woke for a cup of tea, a slice of bread and off we went to the training ground. Little did we know that it would be 8 hours before we ate or drank again!

Tucked away in the German countryside, with sun beating down, we arrived at the valley used by Abdul Mejid for his training. Two steep banks with track along the bottom serve for both archery, horse-riding and of course horseback archery. So there we were thinking what a lovely day when we were taken on a mile run up and down the valley as part of the warm up. Once we got back to the starting place we both thought thank God this is over, only for us to be taken round two times more!! Knackered, sweating buckets and thirsty we then continued the warm up feeling finished before we had even started.

The first half of the day was concentrated on knocking and knocking quickly. At the time it all felt valuable but only once we got on a horse did we realise exactly how valuable. To anyone thinking of horseback archery take note – you need to knock without thinking. If you can’t do that then forget it. We were drilled again and again to make sure we kept practicing the knock. This then developed to knocking while walking and then jogging to get us used to being bumped around while doing so.

By 1pm Jehad and I were tired, thirsty and hungry; but being in a field miles from anything means you have no water, no food, no nothing! This didn’t seem to bother the teacher but his students started to suffer. Our only respite came when we broke for prayer. When we asked where the water was for wudu Abdul Mejid pointed to “over there” which we interpreted as “over there” Over there was actually a mile walk!! But at least once we got there the water was cold and fresh.

The afternoon was again all about knocking. However before that Abdul Mejid brought down one of his mares to teach us a few things about winning a horse’s trust, showing them who is boss and how to teach them new movements. At the time it made us realise that horseback archery is simply impossible without good horses that are trained well. Just getting on to any old horse and letting loose an arrow just doesn’t happen. The horse would be terrified and bolt. It takes a long time to be a good horseback archer – you have to be a good archer and then on top of that you have to invest a lot of time training the horses.

The latter part of the day was knocking but with fun. Abdul Mejid got us into teams where we had to compete against each other in terms of speed, knocking and accuracy. We had relay races where we had to run and knock, lie down and knock, turn our backs to the target and probably a few more I can’t remember. These exercises were invaluable as it was the first time I realised I was knocking without looking or thinking.

Day one finally ended; thirsty and hungry we got back to the flat and then made a burst for the nearest shop to stock up on water and food! By 10 pm we were shattered and retired for the night.

Day two started rather half-heartedly. We were tired, our legs felt like they had fires in them, we were dreading the warm-up plus Jehad’s allergy to horses meant he was constantly struggling for breath. But we were here for horseback archery so very soon our gusto returned.

The next day began with cleaning and saddling the horses. Surprisingly there was no warm up and we pretty much got on with getting on the horses and shooting. I’m sure Jehad will agree the feeling of finally getting on a horse and letting a few arrows fly was a great buzz. However, my day was about to change for the worse.

I was given my horse and told to do the track solo. I managed to get the horse to trot and let off 3 arrows. At the end of the track I turned back to collect my arrows from Jehad and the horse went absolutely mental. It thrashed about trying to throw me off. Despite my best efforts to gain control it go even worse and then bolted up the bank away from everyone!! Out of sight I then experienced probably the scariest few minutes of my life as the horse bucked and thrashed about. Somehow I managed to stay on (which in hindsight was actually quite a feat) but the horse then galloped full speed ahead straight at a barn. My life flashed before me and alhamdullilah I just thought I need to get off this horse or I am going to get very hurt. Instinctively I managed to throw myself off. By then Abdul Mejid’s student had come up to save me. I was told to get back on to show the horse who was boss – which I did – but the horse was definitely still the boss! It went mental again so I got straight off. It was a minor consolation that when she got on him he also went nuts and actually threw himself on the floor to try and get her off. My confidence had been well and truly battered and I needed a good, long break.

So for an hour or so I watched Jehad and another student, Akosh. Rather than letting us go solo they were led by a reign to ensure no craziness from the horses. This was great as we could not concentrate on shooting rather than the horse. Once the confidence was there Jehad was soon riding and shooting on his own as I did once I had calmed down a bit.

Day two finished with some target practice, but Korean style, i.e. something like 200 metres away. For me it was pointless as my arrows could not reach by Jehad came close-ish and Abdul Mejid actually hit the target twice (from 24 shots). We then packed up for the day and all went for a Hungarian meal before the drive to the airport.

Overall the trip was pretty amazing. It was extremely tiring, it tested your resolve and your nerve, and it pushed you to the limit. My arse is killing me, my legs are in agony and I am so tired; but my spirit has been well and truly lifted. Archery wise we continue to learn and continue to improve our technique. The be all and end all of horseback archery is the knocking – only once this is an instinctive action can you relax, ride the horse and aim properly. People need to practice, practice and practice more their knocking.

I would thoroughly recommend a trip to Abdul Mejid to anyone interested in this sport.

A few tips for anyone wanting to go on future trips:

• Take a sleeping bag
• Get stocked up before you go to the training field – get water, fruit and some food
• Be positive
• Listen to Abdul Mejid – the smallest of things makes the biggest difference
• If you get bored of knocking believe me you need to practice it so stick with it
• Don’t be afraid to adapt your technique – I could not knock how Abdul Mejid showed us but I spent an hour analysing my hand movements, fingers, grip, etc and managed to change it.
• When working with the horses don’t show any fear and if you fall off just get straight back on
• Never give up!