Practicing mounted archery year round in the Pacific Northwest can be challenging at best. During our wet Oregon winters, we are sometimes limited on the ability to hold mounted practice. But not to worry, we always offer regular activities to keep club members interested and engaged. Due to insurance restrictions, you must have a membership with Horse Archery USA before you can participate in any club activity. Click here for more info on how to obtain an HAUSA membership.
Practice
Club practice is typically held on the first and third Sundays of each month in Newberg. In winter, we do a lot of ground archery, which is actually as important, if not more, when learning mounted archery. As often as we can in winter and at every practice in summer, club members bring their horses. Please note: before you bring your horse to any club activities, it must pass a basic skills assessment. Your horse need not be already trained for archery, but it must be well broke with a solid walk/trot/canter under saddle and must display a generally calm attitude. If you would like more information on Horse Assessments, please drop us an email.
Clinics and Demos
Throughout the year we offer the opportunity for club members to participate in clinics with highly experienced mounted archery clinicians. Several times a year we host Beginners Clinics. All the basics on how to get started in horseback archery are covered. For further information and a date announcements, please check our Facebook page. We also do quite a few mounted archery demonstrations during the year. Demos are a fun way to show off this exciting sport and get people interested in giving it a try. We welcome all levels of archers for our demo teams as we aspire to make the sport accessible to everyone. In summer of 2017 look for us at the Yamill County Fair and the Oregon State Fair.
Competitions and Rankings
The majority of our club members are only interested in having fun. They come for the personal challenge or find satisfaction in the camaraderie and friendship that is a natural result of this ancient sport. But for those who are looking for a something a bit more, there are opportunities to compete at both a regional and national level. Occasionally we hold small friendly competitions within our club or with other local clubs where our members can get a feel for competing and see how they rank against other archers. We also sometimes hold postal matches, which are an opportunity to submit your scores via mail (on a previously decided course) and see how you compare with mounted archers from all over the world. So whether you simply desire to compete with yourself or try your hand against international archers, there are plenty of opportunities.