I never heard about this sport until today. It song real crazy and dangerous.
A man named Akaash Maharaj, representing Canada and UNICEF will compete 02-06 March 2007,
FEI International Championships, Muscat, Oman
The following is copied from his web site:
http://www.maharaj.org/tentpegging.shtmlHistory and Contemporary Rules
Although tent pegging's precise origins are obscured by the mists of time, the sport unquestionably emerged out of training exercises to develop
military cavaliers' prowess with edged weapons; tent pegging is to the cavalry officer as jousting was to the mediaeval knight. The sport's rather opaque name is drawn from the small tent stakes that served as the original targets in military encampments.
The most broadly accepted account of tent pegging's birth is as battle drill in the Indian Empire. The sport prepared horse cavaliers to charge and fell war elephants through finely placed lance strikes to the ponderous beasts' vulnerable feet.
The mainstay of tent pegging remains lancing ground targets. However, the sport also includes: ring jousting (
threading a blade through suspended rings); lemon sticking
(slicing suspended targets); quintain tilting (
charging swivelling mannequins); Parthian (mounted) archery; and cavalry revolver. All events are conducted at a full gallop.
Rules for the modern sport are promulgated by the Fédération équestre internationale (FEI) and by the South African-based International Equestrian Tent Pegging Association (IETA).
