[Horsebow] A question for all you horse bow boys and girls

ChakaZulu

New member
Aye, I'll do a write-up and let you know. Might be a while: I'm getting ready for the European Championships next month and organising the British Championships for October!
 

Hanley J.

Member
I thought that the arrow was on the right side of the bow because the draw is longer in that style of archery. It gives more clearance of the string from te archer's face when the arrow is on the outside of the bow.
 

Yew Selfbow

Active member
Aye, I'll do a write-up and let you know. Might be a while: I'm getting ready for the European Championships next month and organising the British Championships for October!
Where are the British Champs at Dan .... I'd like to come and take a look
 

ChakaZulu

New member
I thought that the arrow was on the right side of the bow because the draw is longer in that style of archery. It gives more clearance of the string from te archer's face when the arrow is on the outside of the bow.
That is certainly an advantage, but you only have to look at old English warbow archers to see that a bow can be drawn a long way back on the usual side of the bow. The Mediterranean release, by the way, is the now-standard Western method of drawing the bow with three fingers, one on top of the arrow and two beneath.

For my own part, coming at thumb shooting from a horseback perspective, there are two advantages to shooting off your thumb side of the bow. First, it means that the wind of your passage is pushing the arrow against the bow rather than off it. If you put the arrow on your knuckle as if for a Mediterranean draw and then go to a gallop, you have to be careful that the arrow doesn't blow off your knuckle.
Second, it's quicker. Drawing from a hip-worn quiver (which almost all were), you can just pull the arrow out and put it straight onto your hand, nock it, hook your thumb onto the string and shoot. There is no need to start trying to thread it between the bow and the string as you have to for a Mediterranean side shot. The European 'Kassai' school of horseback archery use a Mediterranean release but it is noteworthy that they hold their arrows in the bow hand. This makes for fast shooting but is without historical basis and is not permitted under World Horseback Archery Federation rules. It is allowed only in Hungarian style events, which are also a modern invention not recognised by the WHAF.

All of which takes me neatly to the British Championships, which will be held in Vines Cross, East Sussex (just North of Eastbourne) on the weekend of 22nd October. There will be a Korean competition (the main event of the World Horseback Archery Federation, involving single shot, double shot (forwards and backwards in the same run) and a multiple shot (3 targets in 90m, requiring an arrow about every 2-3s)). There will also be a Hungarian competition (90m track, three targets together in the middle, so you shoot forwards for the first 30m, sideways for the next 30m and backwards for the last 30m, as many arrows as you can get off). There will also be a Hunt the Hare event (Britain's own specialist event, not WHAF recognised, in which a 3D hare target is placed on the ground near the track and the winner is the one who can hit closest to the centre of the target). There may or may not be a qabaq event (a circular target at the top of an 8m high pole, at which you shoot with blunts, twisting around and leaning out of the saddle to shoot vertically upwards, as shown in my avatar pic, although not very well because on that run a dog started to bark as I approached the pole and my horse got all skittish, so I chickened out of the the whole 'hanging off to one side of the charging horse' thing).

Should be a good event, all welcome. More details will follow as they are finalised.

Cheers

Dan
 

Riceburner

Active member
That is certainly an advantage, but you only have to look at old English warbow archers to see that a bow can be drawn a long way back on the usual side of the bow. The Mediterranean release, by the way, is the now-standard Western method of drawing the bow with three fingers, one on top of the arrow and two beneath.

For my own part, coming at thumb shooting from a horseback perspective, there are two advantages to shooting off your thumb side of the bow. First, it means that the wind of your passage is pushing the arrow against the bow rather than off it. If you put the arrow on your knuckle as if for a Mediterranean draw and then go to a gallop, you have to be careful that the arrow doesn't blow off your knuckle.
Second, it's quicker. Drawing from a hip-worn quiver (which almost all were), you can just pull the arrow out and put it straight onto your hand, nock it, hook your thumb onto the string and shoot. There is no need to start trying to thread it between the bow and the string as you have to for a Mediterranean side shot. The European 'Kassai' school of horseback archery use a Mediterranean release but it is noteworthy that they hold their arrows in the bow hand. This makes for fast shooting but is without historical basis and is not permitted under World Horseback Archery Federation rules. It is allowed only in Hungarian style events, which are also a modern invention not recognised by the WHAF.

All of which takes me neatly to the British Championships, which will be held in Vines Cross, East Sussex (just North of Eastbourne) on the weekend of 22nd October. There will be a Korean competition (the main event of the World Horseback Archery Federation, involving single shot, double shot (forwards and backwards in the same run) and a multiple shot (3 targets in 90m, requiring an arrow about every 2-3s)). There will also be a Hungarian competition (90m track, three targets together in the middle, so you shoot forwards for the first 30m, sideways for the next 30m and backwards for the last 30m, as many arrows as you can get off). There will also be a Hunt the Hare event (Britain's own specialist event, not WHAF recognised, in which a 3D hare target is placed on the ground near the track and the winner is the one who can hit closest to the centre of the target). There may or may not be a qabaq event (a circular target at the top of an 8m high pole, at which you shoot with blunts, twisting around and leaning out of the saddle to shoot vertically upwards, as shown in my avatar pic, although not very well because on that run a dog started to bark as I approached the pole and my horse got all skittish, so I chickened out of the the whole 'hanging off to one side of the charging horse' thing).

Should be a good event, all welcome. More details will follow as they are finalised.

Cheers

Dan
I'm assuming that visitors and audiences will be welcome at this event? I think I might try to come down!
 

ChakaZulu

New member
Could have sworn I replied to this, but AIUK thinks I didn't...

Yes, the more the merrier, please do come along!
 

ChakaZulu

New member
In case anyone interested has missed it, I've posted a separate thread on the British Horseback Archery Association championships.
 

Riceburner

Active member
There was an excellent how to article in the British Horseback Archery Association newsletter a while back by a guy who's made dozens if them.
Chaka - I'm thinking of moving to a thumbring soon - would you be able to point me to an online copy of this article?
 

i32547

New member
May I ask, when people are referring to "shooting with thumbing", or "moving over to thumbing", are they actually referring to using a thumb draw technique as opposed to a finger draw technique? Or are they referring to using a thumb ring for thumb draw as opposed to using just a bare thumb?

Many thanks

Isa
 

DavidH

New member
May I ask, when people are referring to "shooting with thumbing", or "moving over to thumbing", are they actually referring to using a thumb draw technique as opposed to a finger draw technique? Or are they referring to using a thumb ring for thumb draw as opposed to using just a bare thumb?

Many thanks

Isa
The former, I'm sure
 
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