Mounted Games - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mounted games is a branch of equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

in which very fast games are played by people of all ages on ponies up to a height of 15 hands.

They require a high degree of athletic ability, good riding skills, hand-to-eye coordination, determination, perseverance, and a competitive spirit, which nevertheless requires an ability to work together with other riders and a willingness to help one another.

Mounted Games were the inspiration of H.R.H. Prince Philip

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....

. When Col. Sir Mike Ansell was Director of the Horse of the Year Show, Prince Philip asked if he could devise a competition for children who could not afford an expensive, well-bred pony, and in 1957 the Horse of the Year Show, then at Harringay Arena

Harringay Arena

Harringay Arena was a sporting and events venue on Green Lanes in Harringay, North London, England. Built in 1936, it lasted as a venue until 1958.-Construction:...

in North London, England, staged the first Mounted Games Championship for the Prince Philip Cup — it was an immediate box office success.

The sport of mounted games as it exists today was founded by Norman Patrick. His aim was to extend the sport, previously age-restricted by Pony Club, for wider participation, and for this reason, in 1984, he established the Mounted Games Association of Great Britain. In the years which followed his continued support and patronage ensured that the sport spread across Great Britain and beyond.

At the time of his death in 2001, the sport which he had established was being enjoyed by many riders across the world, and the International Mounted Games Association, which was formed in 2003, now has members in twenty countries on four continents:

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

United States of America Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

Games

There are many different games played in mounted games. These are split into team, pairs and individual games.

Team games:	Pairs games:	Individual games:
Agility Aces	Agility Aces
Association Race	Association Race	Association Race
Bang-a-Balloon
	Ball and Cone
Bank Race		Bank Race
Bottle Shuttle	Bottle Shuttle	Bottle Shuttle
Carton Race	Carton Race	Carton Race
Flag Fliers	Flag Fliers	Flag Fliers
Four Flag
Founder's Race
HiLo	HiLo	HiLo
Hug-a-Mug	Hug-a-Mug
Hula Hoop	Hula Hoop	Hula Hoop
Jousting
Litter Lifters	Litter Lifters	Litter Lifters
		Moat and Castle
Mug Shuffle	Mug Shuffle	Mug Shuffle
Pony Express
Pony Pairs	Pony Pairs
Ride and Lead	Run and Ride	Run and Ride
Socks and Buckets	Socks and Buckets	Socks and Buckets
Speed Weavers	Speed Weavers	Speed Weavers
Sword Lancers	Sword Lancers	Sword Lancers
Three Legged Sack	Three Legged Sack
	Three Mug	Three Mug
		Three Pot Flag Race
Tool Box Scramble	Tool Box Scramble	Tool Box Scramble
		Triple Flag
Two Flag	Two Flag	Two Flag
		Victoria Cross
Windsor Castle

World Team Championships

The IMGA World Team Championships are held each year in a different member country. At the first World Championships in 1985 only four teams participated, by 2007 this had grown to 18 and is expected to continue rising over the coming years.

Originally Great Britain participated as one team however from 2000 onwards this was split into England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland have always participated as a separate team.

Year:	Host:	Winners:
1986	England	Great Britain
1987	Canada	Great Britain
1988	USA	Great Britain
1989	Northern Ireland	Great Britain
1990	Wales	Great Britain
1991	USA	Great Britain
1992	England	Great Britain
1993	Wales	Great Britain
1994	England	Great Britain
1995	Germany	Great Britain
1996	Sweden	Great Britain
1997	France	Great Britain
1998	Ireland	Great Britain
1999	Belgium	Great Britain
2000	Germany	England
2001	Canada	Canada
2002	England	Wales
2003	USA	Wales
2004	France	England
2005	Wales	England
2006	Sweden	England
2007	Belgium	England
2008	Australia	New Zealand
2009	England	England
2010	Switzerland	Ireland
2011	Denmark	England
2012	Wales
2013	New Zealand
2014	France

European Team Championships

The European Team Championships had already existed in an unofficially format for a number of years before being officially recognised as an IMGA event in 2006. Since then the organisation of the championships has fallen into the same model as the World championships with a different member country hosting the event each year.

Year:	Host:	Winners:
2006	Switzerland	England
2007	England	England
2008	Germany	England
2009	France	France
2010	Wales	France
2011	Northern Ireland	England
2012	Italy
2013	Ireland
2014	Belgium

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