Whether you’re a horse owner or a layperson there are a few sports with horses that you’ve inevitably heard of. Chances are, you’ve probably even seen a few of them, live in person or on the television. But beyond horse racing, show jumping, dressage and polo, there are many other sports that involve horses globally, so we thought we’d take a look at the five most unusual sports with horses that you might not have heard of.
1. Skijoring – We’re currently in the middle of the skiing season, but for some simply strapping a pair of planks onto your feet and zooming across the snow isn’t exciting enough. These brave souls once again strap said planks to their feet, but they then grab a hold of a rope – the other end of which is attached to a horse and rider. To make things even more interesting, Skijoring also involves jumps, obstacles and other challenges to deal with, all while the horse is galloping along at full speed.
2. Horseboarding – Horseboarding is a relatively new sport which capitalises on the ongoing popularity of board sports in their various guises. The sport involves one person on an offroad skateboard of sorts, being towed by a horse and rider. Reaching speeds of up to 35mph, the sport is certainly fast-paced. Last year, Horse and Country ran a feature on a rescue horse who had found a new lease of life competing in the sport.
3. Buzkashi – Buzkashi is an ancient horse sport played in Central Asia and is Afghanistan’s national sport. It is thought to have begun in Mongolia more than a thousand years ago, and its name can be literally translated as ‘goat dragging’. In it, a headless goat carcass is placed on the field, and is then pursued by two opposing teams on horseback who aim to get it into each other’s goal.
4. Horseball – Once again, two teams on horseback compete by passing to each other around a field, but this time using a ball. Each team is comprised of four players, who must score a goal by passing the ball by passing the ball more than three times to three different players. It sounds simple, but bear in mind it takes place at galloping speed.
5. Horse Long jump – No longer practiced (that we know of) but the Horse Long Jump was once an Olympic Sport. In the 1900 Paris Summer Olympics seventeen horses and riders competed to see who could jump the furthest, with the winner being Extra Dry and Belgium’s Constant van Langendonck at a distance of 6.10 metres. The event was however considered a disappointment, not least because of the horses’ poor showing in comparison to their human counterparts, with the US’ Myer Prinstein winning Gold in that event with 7.17 metres. The Horse Long Jump was thus discontinued.