The ancient art of horse archery finds a home on a Nova Scotia farm
Everything goes quiet when Lance Bishop's horse starts cantering.
There's only the sound of hooves hitting dirt, and the steady thwack, thwack, thwack as another arrow twists through the air and finds its target.
The beef farmer from Kings County, N.S., is trying to bring the ancient sport of horse archery to Nova Scotians. Earlier this year, Bishop founded Seawinds Horse Archers, and now he's preparing to host his first competition in August.
"In the beginning it's incredibly awkward," Bishop said. "You're bouncing up and down on the horse and you might be very good at putting the arrow on the string of the bow when you're on the ground, but when you get on a horse, it's a very different story."
Bishop grew up riding horses, but it wasn't until he happened upon an online video of horse archery a few years ago that he saw an outlet for a boyhood dream.
"Probably by the time I was nine years old I thought, 'My, I would really really like to be able to shoot a bow and arrow from the back of a horse,'" he said.
That video was of Lajos Kassai, a Hungarian man credited with founding the version of modern horse archery that's gaining in popularity in the U.S. and Canada.
The Canadian Federation of Mounted Archery held its first competition in 2005, but Bishop said the sport largely hasn't made it out East.
Kassai will be at Bishop's farm just outside Canning from August 9-12 to host a special training camp and competition. Bishop said people are so interested in the idea he's already filled all 40 of his spots.
From survival to sport
Ask Bishop what horse archery is, and the first thing you'll get is a history lesson. The ancient sport has its origins with the likes of Genghis Khan back when it wasn't about entertainment, but survival.
While archery has stuck around, Bishop said it wasn't really until Kassai came along about 30 years ago that horse archery was reborn.
The modern sport involves a rider racing down a 99-metre track with a bow and several arrows in hand. The goal is to shoot as many arrows as possible as close to the bullseye as possible, with extra points for speed.
"You feel very, very present," Bishop said. "The past arrow that missed the target doesn't matter. You don't worry about the next one. It's just the one that you're shooting right then."
Training horses on the track
Seawinds has about 10 members that meet regularly at Bishop's farm overlooking the Bay of Fundy.
It takes years of practice to start shooting from horseback, Bishop said, and most of the members are still familiarizing themselves with archery.
"What we're working on today … is just making sure that the horses are leg-trained because you're dropping your reins, so you need to feel comfortable and trust within the animal that it's going to do exactly what it needs to do down that track," said Amy Morrison, a member of the club.
She's been riding horses for years but until now had never picked up a bow. She said the first question she usually gets is: Is it safe?
"I would say that people do automatically go, 'Oh, that must be really dangerous.' But it's actually not in the sense that when we are learning archery, or when you're with a horse, your training is individual," she said. "It's quite a long process, it's not a fast thing."
It was Caitlyn MacDonald's first time at the farm on Sunday.
She's not ready to try shooting from horseback just yet, but said she's intrigued.
"I did not know it existed but I'm glad it does," she said. "It seems so neat to get into. I never thought it would be happening out here, so close to home."
Bishop said his goal is to get more people interested in the sport.
"It's so fun. I love it. Everyone should," he said.
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