An English sojourn part II: Horseback Archery!

The longbow and England go together like clotted cream and strawberries, redolent of Robin Hood, Agincourt and green hats in sun-dappled forests. Strolling through leafy Montpellier Gardens in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, recently, I was diverted to see that the great 19th-century archer Horace Ford, 12 times national champion, laid the foundations for the modern, scientific approach to the sport in the very gardens now familiar to attendees of the LiteratureFestival. He founded Cheltenham Archers, still going strong, in 1857, although trousers rather than tights were the usual attire for Victorian archers.  Horseback archery, however, has a more exotic feel, evoking the armies of the Orient or the Mongolian hordes (or, these days, various characters from The Lord of the Rings). In Japan and Korea, where the international standard is set, horseback archery is akin to a religion, with young archers spending months in training before even nocking an arrow. It takes rather less time with the Stampede Stunt Company, yet such is the efficacy and good humour of Karl Greenwood’s teaching, that I was shooting three arrows in succession from a cantering horse by the end of the day.

Yes, the horse is cantering, and I have just fired an arrow!

Karl and his wife Zana Cousins-Greenwood run the Stampede Stunt Company and The Centre of Horseback Combat from the beautiful 18th-century stables on the Gaddesden Estate near Berkhamstead. Only just outside the M25, it could be in deepest Herefordshire rather than Hertfordshire; as Karl pointed out, the view from the archery field, past the elegant Palladian lines of James Wyatt’s Gaddesden Place, hasn’t changed in hundreds of years. Moving here after answering an advertisement in Horse & Hound, pleasingly, Karl, Zana and their team cleaned and restored the stables, transforming the old cobweb-festooned tack room into a dark-red haven with walls hung with bows and photographs of the stunt riders in action. The Stampede riders travel all over the world displaying their skills, from jousting to Roman riding (standing up on the saddles), trick riding and, of course, archery. A new venture is the Gaddesden Banquet & Joust, during which guests gorge on a four-course feast laid out in tents that flank the tilting field and knights challenge each other to win fair maidens’ hearts. Check out their Facebook page for some spectacular photographs.

Prepping the class with Gaddesden Place in the distance

The archery track leads away from Wyatt's noble portico

Not a medieval castle, but not a bad backdrop nonetheless  

 

But when they’re not galloping around showgrounds, wielding weapons with pinpoint accuracy and standing astride two horses as if they were a pair of sofas, Karl and Zana initiate lesser mortals into their secrets. They run classes in horseback archery, trick and Roman riding, stunt riding for professionals and actors, and, uniquely, rider confidence courses that draw on Karl’s background in sports hypnotherapy to teach people how to fall, how to cope with a difficult situation or bad behaviour and to regain nerve after a bad experience. Karl and Zana both have extraordinary patience and good humour, much needed when arrows are flying all over the place!

Karl with an assortment of gorgeous recurve bows

A touch of colour for the arrows

Old and new: armour and medieval antics as seen in 21st-century

print journalism displayed in the meeting room,

which is stocked with Kit-Kats and coffee, rather than mead

We began the day with a film of professional horse archery competitions in Korea, a spectacular display of accuracy and speed that looks impossible to emulate. Outside in the old walled garden, next to the newly built school with its bouncy rubber surface (perfect for falling off onto) we practice firing arrows on foot. These are serious weapons – the power with which they thud into the foam targets is impressive, even from a bow wielded by a beginner like me. The only other bow I have ever shot with was in Mongolia, an extremely heavy one from which I managed to fire five arrows only a few metres before my strength gave out. My Mongolian guides made it look extremely easy – I put it down to centuries of muscle memory!

A local shows me how it's done in Mongolia in 2011

My guide Esee shrugs off his Western dress and returns

to the days of Genghis Khan

I could barely pull the string back!

Fortunately, recurve bows for horseback archery are lighter, mine being about 25lb, and shorter, for ease of use when a horse’s neck is in the way. They are beautiful objects, with many different designs available and a sweeping, curved elegance that is romantic and deadly at the same time. Karl practises the Korean-style thumb draw, pulling the string in the crook of the right thumb rather than with the fingers, holding the thumbnail firm with the index finger. The tip of the right thumb touches the two hen feathers, and the third or cock feather is a different colour and is perpendicular to the nock. Altogether, the feathers keep the arrow flying straight and true. If you feel the hen feathers with your thumb, you should be able to slide your arrow back to the string and nock it without looking. After a good deal of practice, at least. 

Taking aim from the ground. Oddly, harder than on horseback! 

 

The horseback thumb draw

I didn’t exactly excel on the ground, especially when the four participants raced, partly because I’m hopeless in competitions and partly because the others had all done archery before, but for some reason I settled into a rhythm on the horse (the splendid Jupiter). Starting at walk with a helper leading, we were all, incredibly, shooting three arrows from canter at the end. I even got a bullseye once, although I’m fairly sure it was a fluke! It was exhilarating and satisfying and thrilling, requiring absolute concentration, rhythm and attention on both the arrows and the horse at once – the horse must keep cantering the whole way, or the competitor is disqualified, and they know immediately if you stop riding because you’re thinking about aiming instead. The trick is not to think about where the arrow goes, but to loose and straightaway look to the next target. My best run came when Karl suggested I imagine the targets are something worth shooting… my first thought was Nicola Sturgeon and her nationalist rantings, so we agreed each target was a referendum and that if I missed, the United Kingdom would be lost. I am delighted to say I saved the Kingdom – a noble endeavour indeed!

An early arrow at a steady pace

Lining up a shot...

...and finishing with the requisite post-release flourish, which keeps the arm

and arrow away from the horse's neck and the rider in balance

Quite proud I snapped an arrow in flight! 

 

And again!

 

Oh yes. Exhilarating!

Brilliant horse, proud pupil and even more brilliant teacher

Gaddesden archers, ready to take on an army

There are still lessons available this year, up to the end of October, and I urge you to book one now. The Stampede Stunt Company are also demonstrating at various events: Surrey County Show on September 27th with the Gulliver's Carnival Trick Riding Show, the Robin Hood Game & Country Shows at Ipswich on October 10th-11th and Newark on October 17th-18th with the Magna Carta Jousting Show, and finally at Your Horse Live at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on November 14th-15th. Not to be missed!