Cavalry training
from history

The history of tent pegging

Like many other sporting disciplines, be they equestrian or otherwise, mounted skill at arms has evolved from the games and exercises practiced by generations of warriors to hone the skills necessary to fight the enemy.

In the beginning

It is hard to say exactly where the sport of tent pegging originated, but it is known that when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 B.C. he had lancers with him.

Stories are told that his mounted soldiers would ride out of the sun at dawn removing, with their lances, the pegs that held their enemy's tents to the ground. Other fanciful stories are told that his lancers would engage enemy elephants and try to 'peg' their toes. The infuriated and agonised beasts would then turn and charge, ransacking whatever was in their way.

Both of these stories seem to be, in part, the sort of tall story an 'old soldier' may well tell a young one on April the first.

Knights of the middle ages

If we look at knights in the middle ages they frequently used suspended rings to help improve their accuracy. A man in armour is well protected except for a few weak spots, hence the need to be accurate with a sword or lance.

Riding at rings was a favourite pastime of the future Tudor monarch and passionate sportsman Henry VIII. His father had banned him from competing in jousts after the death of his brother, Arthur, had left him the sole heir to the throne. As a regular competitor at the rings he could still prove his skill at riding.

Through Elizabethan times the quintain was a popular means of testing the agility of a horseman. Supposedly a Roman invention, this aid for practicing for jousting consists of an upright arm that swivels when hit. If a rider hits the target but is riding too slowly the arm swivels round and a counterweight on the other side strikes the rider on the back of the head.

The village green in Offham in Kent still has an Elizabethan quintain, reputed to be the last of its type still to be found in its original position.

Days of the Raj

In the U.K. it is generally felt that the sport was imported in roughly its present form by the British Army from India, in a similar way to the sport of polo. In the North West frontier of India the sport of tent pegging was used as a way of training horse and rider. It made use of equipment that was to hand such as wooden tent pegs and sandbags that could be used as sword dummies.

In 1875, the 5th Royal Irish Lancers gave the first exhibition of tent pegging in Britain at the Hurlingham Club in London; the regiment having recently returned from a posting in India.

It was a fashionable affair with the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh in attendance. The Illustrated London News reported of the event: "there are more qualities needed than a good seat and a quick eye. . .the hand must be light as a feather, the grip as close as steel, the eye true and the aim unerring".

Tent pegging today

Today, tent pegging is practiced not only in the U.K. but also around the world. It is especially popular in South Africa, India, Israel, Oman, Australia, Holland, Canada and Pakistan.

Tent pegging itself has an international body, the International Equestrian Tentpegging Association (I.E.T.A.), who has done a great deal of work to create some standard rules for international competitions. In Great Britain our national rules are based on those used by our cavalry and would probably be recognised by any long past cavalryman, no matter in which far-flung outpost of the Empire he saw service.

While members of the Household Cavalry and Horse Artillery regiments still compete, increasingly it is civilian riders who are embracing the sport of skill at arms. The whole family, from grandchildren to grandparents can take part as riders, ground crew, spectators and supporters.

Sussex Peggers Riding Club are adding to the long history of the sport; being the first riding club dedicated to skill at arms to be officially recognised by the British Horse Society.

Find out how you can get involved in this contemporary sport with a rich heritage.