Mounted Games

Mounted Games

Mounted Games are a team equestrian sport in which relay races with an increased degree of difficulty are carried out.

This sport demands equestrian and athletic abilities in equal measure. In addition to speed, courage and skill, teamwork is also required. Although originally a pure team sport, individual and pair competitions are also held today. With the exception of Germany, where horses (over 1.48 m height) are permitted, Mounted Games are only ridden on ponies .

A Mounted Games team consists of five riders with their ponies, whereby only four riders are used in a row per game. In this way, the coach has the opportunity to use the most suitable team members for the respective game.

Game flow

As in relay races in athletics, several teams always play directly against each other, with each rider having to cope with certain tasks (games) between the start and transition lines, which are 54 m apart. The games are divided into three categories according to their main requirements: speed, technique and the spectacular bounce games. If mistakes are made, they must first be corrected before the race can continue. This can result in changes in the sequence quickly. When the start rider has fulfilled his task, he usually hands over a piece of play equipment to the next rider, who fulfills the task in the same way. The last rider is marked with a cap tape and determines the position of his team when crossing the finish line.

In tournaments there are usually two qualifying runs with 6–8 games each. The most successful teams then fight for the tournament victory in the A final with mostly 10 games, the other teams compete against each other in the B, C or D final. The reconstruction of the course for a total of 24 different games is carried out by the so-called arena party. A main referee and five linesmen monitor compliance with the rules, which essentially include decent behavior towards the pony. Spurs and whips are prohibited in the Mounted Games.

History of the Mounted Games

Mounted Games were created in India to keep equestrian soldiers fit in peacetime. India was a British colony for centuries . The British colonial rulers standardized the playground equipment and developed a set of rules according to which tournaments are held in some countries today. In Great Britain, mounted games have long been considered part of equestrian sport. In the past, it was mostly British teams who won world championships.

organization

International

The national associations usually belong to the International Mounted Games Association (IMGA). It organizes the world championships and sets the international rules for mounted games. There are currently 22 member associations.

Members

Members of the International Mounted Games Association

•  Australia
•  Belgium
•  Burkina Faso
•  Denmark
•  Germany
•  England
•  France
•  Ireland
•  Italy
•  Canada
•  Luxembourg
•  New Zealand
•  Nigeria
•  Northern Ireland
•  Norway
•  Austria
•  Pakistan
•  Scotland
•  Sweden
•  Switzerland
•  South Africa
•  Czech Republic
•  United States
•  Wales

World championships

The world team championships take place annually in different member countries. Only four teams (Great Britain, Canada, Northern Ireland and USA) took part in the first World Cup in 1986. The number of participants has now more than tripled. Although only 11 teams took part in the championship in Australia in 2008, this was mainly due to the high travel costs for most countries. In 2007 in Belgium there were 18 different teams that took part. In 2000 the Great Britain team was divided into three teams: England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland was a separate team before.

year	host	place	Attendees	winner
1986	England	Bognor Regis	4th	Great Britain
1987	Canada	Sutton	4th	Great Britain
1988	United States	Hume	7th	Great Britain
1989	Northern Ireland	Lisburn	7th	Great Britain
1990	Wales	Swansea	9	Great Britain
1991	United States	Herndon	4th	Great Britain
1992	England	Lincoln	7th	Great Britain
1993	Wales	Pontardawe	9	Great Britain
1994	England	Gatcombe Park	10	Great Britain
1995	Germany	Jesteburg	9	Great Britain
1996	Sweden	Torslanda	8th	Great Britain
1997	France	Lamotte-Beuvron	9	Great Britain
1998	Ireland	Tullamore	10	Great Britain
1999	Belgium	Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont	9	Great Britain
2000	Germany	Bremen	12	England
2001	Canada	Guelph	14th	Canada
2002	England	Fontwell	14th	Wales
2003	United States	Lexington	14th	Wales
2004	France	Saumur	16	England
2005	Wales	Bridgend	16	England
2006	Sweden	Gothenburg	15th	England
2007	Belgium	Brugelette	18th	England
2008	Australia	Sydney	11	New Zealand
2009	England	Broadlands	17th	England
2010	Switzerland	Geneva	13	Ireland
2011	Denmark	Aarhus	15th	England
2012	Wales	Chepstow	17th	France
2013	New Zealand	Hastings	10	New Zealand
2014	France	Gisors	17th	England
2015	United States	Lexington	14th	United States
2016	Ireland	Green Glens Arena , Millstreet	16	France
2017	South Africa	Pietermaritzburg	10	Ireland
2018	Belgium	Ghlin	14th	Ireland
2019	Wales
2020	Scotland
2021	France
Source: Mounted-Games.org

Germany

The Association for Equestrian Games e. V. Mounted Games Germany (VRMGD) is the association of German Mounted Games teams.

Mounted Games has been ridden in Germany since 1990, and the German Mounted Games national team took part in the World Championship (in Wales) for the first time this year. Since 1998 there has been an annual German championship for which the teams have to qualify in the ranking list. Today around 50 teams ride in the open class and around 40 teams in the youth class. The highlight and end of the season is the German Championship, for which the best 18 teams on the ranking list qualify.

Championship

Winner of the German Championship (A final) in the Open Class and Youth Class (since 2014 separated into U14 and U18):

year	place	Open class winner	Junior class winner
1998	Saint George	Dahmeland I	Nordheide Waldhof
1999	Jesteburg	Dahmeland I	Nordheide Waldhof
2000	Loesdau	Dahmeland I	-
2001	Hartenholm	Vierlanden	-
2002	Preetz	Dahmeland I	-
2003	Achim	Dahmeland I	-
2004	Dahmeland	Dahmeland I	-
2005	Bielefeld	Dahmeland I	Visselmoor blue
2006	Lockstedt	Preetz I.	Barchelinos
2007	Ahrenlohe	Preetz I.	Lindau Gettorf Youth 1
2008	Bad Iburg	Preetz I.	Barchelinos
2009	Kirchwalsede	Preetz I.	Lindau Gettorf Youth 1
2010	Moordorf	Preetz I.	Barchelans
2011	Barchel	Lindau Gettorf II	Lindau Gettorf Youth 1
2012	Vechta	Team Fischerhude	Ahrenlohe 1st
2013	Kirchwalsede	Lindau Gettorf 1	Ahrenlohe 1st
year	place	Open class winner	Winner U18	Winner U14
2014	Rendsburg	Lindau Gettorf 1	Moordorf P4	Holstein Rockets
2015	Ahrenlohe	Fleckeby 1	Ahrenlohe 1st	Moordorf Spirit 2
2016	Moordorf	Lindau Gettorf 1	Ahrenlohe 1st	Moordorf Spirit
2017	Rendsburg	Lindau Gettorf 1	Foehr	Wolteritz 2
2018	Moordorf	Achim Roflex	Ahrenlohe 1st	Lindau-Gettorf U14 1
Source: www.vrmgd.de

Swiss Pony Games 2011

Switzerland

In Switzerland there are so far 10 Mounted Games clubs that belong to the umbrella organization "Mounted Games Association Switzerland MGAS", formerly Swiss Pony Mounted Games SPMG . There are seven different age and ability groups in the regulations. A total of 39 teams took part in the Swiss Championship (in the French Championnats Suisse ). A third of the teams currently come from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, where Mounted Games (as in France) are called “Pony Games”.

frame

Mounted games tournaments usually take place in a specific celebration and ceremony. When riding in and out, the theme music from the film The Glorious Seven , composed by Elmer Bernstein , is usually used. This has its background in the formation of the Mounted Games Association Of Great Britain 1984. The association had only seven counties as members at the beginning , which is given as the reason for the choice of the song.

Web links

Commons : Mounted Games  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the Verband für Reiterspiele eV Mounted Games Germany
• Website of the Swiss Association (Swiss Pony Mounted Games)
• International Mounted Games Association website
• Information about Mounted Games in German-speaking Switzerland
• Information about the German Mounted Games Championship 2010

Individual evidence

1. ↑ www.mounted-games.org (Homepage of the IMGA - International Mounted Games Association)
2. ↑ Junior & Open WORLD team championships 2016 , Mounted Games Association of Ireland
3. ↑ Championships 2011: Results ( Memento of the original from November 26th, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Championships 2012 ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ http://www.pony-games.ch/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=38
6. ↑ http://www.mgagb.co.uk/viewpage.aspx?pageid=18  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.