Horseback archery slowly gaining ground in the Czech Republic
Horseback archery is slowly finding its place in the Czech Republic, thanks to enthusiasts like Oldřich Pítra. He organizes international workshops and runs his own club in the hope that this still relatively fringe sport could one day make it to the Olympic Games.
Horseback archery or mounted archery has seen a resurgence in the world in the last decade or two but in the Czech Republic it is still restricted to a circle of diehard enthusiasts. It is practiced actively by several dozen people who train within the Equestrian Archery Czech Republic (EACZ), a club founded in 2022 to support the sport, or the Czech Horse Archers club, founded more recently by Oldřich Pítra.
Pítra took up horseback archery several years ago. He bought his first bow during a visit to Hungary and since he already owned a horse at the time, he began practicing shooting from horseback on his own land. He gradually started attending training camps, mainly in Poland and Hungary, and in the spring of this year completed a Level 3 coaching course at the Nemethy Academy studying with Christof Nemethy.
He explains what attracted him to the sport.
“The sport is beautiful. By combining the two disciplines, you actually create something unique. You need to find a moment of absolute balance and stability for the shot — when you are on the ground, you have plenty of time to find it, but on horseback, you and the horse must be in perfect sync and you have to find, in dynamic movement, that split second of absolute composure and control for the shot.”
At he gained experience with this unusual sport he wanted to pass it on to others in this country. He founded the Czech Horse Archers sports club, whose main aim, he says, is to bring the sport to a wider audience.
“We are called Czech Horse Archers, and the aim of the club is to spread awareness of this beautiful sport among more people. In the Czech Republic, the community of mounted archers is still small, but I believe it will grow as it has elsewhere. This year, a nomination was even submitted for the 2032 Olympic Games in Australia. But there is one big hurdle to it succeeding, because a certain number of active competitors are needed around the world for the nomination to be able to happen at all.”
One big advantage of horseback archery, according to Pítra, is that archers can travel around the world to attend competitions without having to bring their own horse. At many international events, riders can rent or borrow a horse directly at the venue.
Oldřich Pítra now organizes workshops in Hrádek, south Bohemia, for both Czechs and foreign participants in the hope that they will gradually become competitors who will represent horseback archery at events both in the Czech Republic and abroad.
