Archery and horseback riding are well-known sports on their own, but combining them provides a whole other challenge to tackle and skill to master.
Kenton Miller, who is the president of Kaspian Mounted Archery, has been practicing horseback archery since 2009, taking a six-year break to build Kaspian Equestrian Training Centre. By 2018, Miller had started Kaspian Mounted Archery and he has been teaching the sport ever since.
“[Horseback archery] is not an instant gratification sport,” says Miller. “It’s not something that you can just come and do, and do a clinic and then all of the sudden you’re a horseback archer.”
Shooting the bow
Learning to shoot arrows from horseback is a long and difficult journey. Miller travelled to Toronto in order to train with an expert horseback archer, and has since taken the knowledge he obtained not only to Alberta but also to the United States.
Miller refers to horseback archery as intuitive, based on the intuition of two athletes — the horse and the rider.
“When you drop the reins on a galloping horse, and you grab a bow and arrow and just start shooting, you really, really have to engage with the horse from an intuitive or an instinctual level.”
Miller adds that the first thing to learn is how to handle and shoot a bow safely. After shooting a bow on the ground is mastered, ground work is done with the horse to continue growing a trusting relationship between rider and horse. This work includes approaching the horse with a bow in hand and shooting the bow around and beside the horse.
‘Horseback archery helps people become more connected with themselves, their bodies, and the world around them.’
-KENTON MILLER
Once the horse is used to the energy of the bow and arrow, the rider will mount the horse and someone else will shoot the bow around the horse. This allows the animal to become desensitized to the noise of the bow-string.
The last step is for the rider to move around on the back of the horse. This allows the horse to get used to the movements on its back once the rider starts shooting the bow. Once this is done, the rider can pick up the bow and begin shooting.
Competitions and revelries
Miller not only coaches horseback archery, but he also competes internationally. In November 2023, he travelled to Arizona with club member Nicole Vincent for the National Ranking Competition.
Vincent, who has been riding horses for 16 years and has been a member of Kaspian Mounted Archery for four years, typically competes in club revelries once a month.
Usually, these club revelries begin with a ground competition, where archers shoot on the ground to allow those who don’t ride on horseback to participate. The ground competition also includes challenges such as moving targets.
In the afternoon, those who practice horseback archery mount their horses and compete on the course.
“We’ll have a set course so that we can compare our scores across the whole year so that we know if we’re improving or not,” Vincent says.
Miller says that horseback archery is the most complex sport he has come across, but it is a sport that he loves for many reasons.
“Horseback archery helps people become more connected with themselves, their bodies, and the world around them,” Miller says. “I’ve played every game there is, and I love it. And this one is the peak of complexity and challenge. I love a good challenge.”
