What is Horseball
Horseball has been compared to a cross between rugby and basketball on horseback and was invented by Jean-Paul Depons, a riding instructor and former rugby player from the Bordeaux region in France.
The game, loosely based on the National sport of Argentina, Pato, was created as an exercise to improve skill and discipline between horse and rider.
Since its introduction in France, the country now boasts an impressive 600 teams nationwide and numbers for this popular sport continue to grow.
Horseball was introduced into Britain in the 90s and is a relatively new equestrian sport, so this is a great opportunity to get into a developing and fast growing field.
The governing body here is the British Horseball Association who are a member of the BEF.
Horseball is recognised by the FEI and has been included in several of the WEG competitions in Europe including most recently the U16 Championships at Bishop Burton summer 2018.
At the highest level Horseball is a quick and physical game but despite this it has an excellent safety record.
As with any equestrian sport you have the best horses and riders at the top but it is a game that can be played by anyone from the lead rein up, riding Shetlands to Shires (not necessarily at the same time!)
Why Horseball
- Improves the riding and confidence of your clients
- Introduces a real fun element and encourages team spirit
- Helps recruit new clients and liveries and ultimately retain them
- Riding is predominately a female orientated sport but Horseball is proving a real draw for boys and men that might otherwise have discontinued at an early age or not started in the first place
- Provides another source of income
Getting started – how we can help
If you want to get started we can send a trainer to assist *
For the first session we like about 90 minutes to enable us to teach the basics and get to the riders to play a very simple game.
With a competent and interested instructor our trainer can give you some exercises to do for the next 3 weeks or so and then we can return to take you a bit further.
We also run regular Horseball instructor’s courses so we can help to train your trainers in the sport*
*Please note there will be a small charge to send a trainer, depending on where you are in the country to cover expenses. The same applies
The next step
If there is demand, and we are confident that there will be, then we will help organise an inter riding school tournament whereby teams travel to other centres and use their horses to play, on a home and away basis. We can structure a Riding Centre membership and experience is that many may buy their own horse and go on to compete nationally.
