The South African Mounted Games Association will be hosting the annual World Team Mounted Games Championships at the Royal Agricultural Show Grounds in Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, from 12 to 15 July 2017. There are 10 international teams due to participate (including South Africa).
Background on our sport: Mounted Games is a genre in horse riding and is a team competition that consists of five riders and five ponies. There are 21 different races; all involving the use of props and these vary from bending, sword lancers, flag fliers, bank race, sock and bucket, and even jousting. Mounted Games requires riders to have agility and be fit as they are often seen vaulting on and off their ponies during races. The sport requires a lot of speed and accuracy and is a wonderful example of teamwork and good sportsmanship.
Mounted Games joined SANESA in 2013. Since then the interest from KZN schools has been on the rise, with contacts in the Cape and plans to get Gauteng up and running.
The club had their first Inter-provincial competition alongside the annual Pony Club Inter Branch in Shongweni KZN (2013).
In December (2013) we also hosted the annual Southern Hemisphere Champs – an exciting event which included visiting teams from Australia and New Zealand. South Africa had three teams, one of which (South Africa A) won, making them eligible to go to the World Team Championships in France in August 2014.
July 2014 KZN hosted another club Inter Provincial held in Ashburton and as the sport grows, more school riders will have the chance to compete in a Nationals competition. This event will build up to the 5 Nations Championship in December 2014 which will be held in New Zealand. SA Mounted Games sent an Open team to World Team Championships in Kentucky July 2015. Later that year we sent a development team to compete in The Nations Championship in Australia. Inter Provincial Team Competition was held in Gauteng in 2016. December 2016 South Africa hosted the Nations Championship at Lions River Polo Club in KZN. We hosted teams from USA, New Zealand and Australia.
News supplied.
