Latest news with #Tatar-style

Edmonton Journal

Poetry in the saddle: Alberta woman, horse to represent Canada in world horseback archery

Mounted on her stunning Clydesdale, Jewel, Hazel Carter—and her bow and arrows—are poetry in the saddle. Article content The Beaver Hill Lake country horse trainer and her black beauty are together one of three horseback archery pairs chosen to represent Canada at the International Horseback Archery Alliance competition in Tennessee this Sept. 17-21. Article content Article content 'Having this opportunity with Jewel as my Clydesdale is just an absolute dream come true,' Carter said. Article content Selected by the Canadian Federation of Mounted Archery, the pair will compete in Lewisburg, Tennessee, for the IHA World championships against horse archery teams from around the world on the tower, raid and hunt courses. Article content The 'tower' offers a single tower 45 metres down the 90-metre track, with a three-phase target at the archer's face level, and Carter will have the entire track to send arrows into it over 18 seconds with her choice of bare bow—Tatar-style as used in the Ottoman Empire—and arrows made with carbon fibre and turkey feathers. Article content Article content Career born during pandemic Article content At the height of the pandemic downtime, Carter chose horseback archery as a training project. Article content Article content 'I lived on the farm, so I still had my space. I still had my ability to go out and do some things out here, but it was just a curiosity that I kind of tapped into,' she said. Article content She's always had a fascination for medieval arts and reenactment, and horseback archery felt like a natural extension for her, so for her 18 th birthday, she gave herself a present. Article content One arrow shot off the back of a horse, and she was off. Article content In addition to horse training — skills she learned from her family, who raise paints and quarter horses—Hazel Carter's also a cosplayer and content creator. She performs at Renaissance faires and makes all her own cosplay materials, even leather armour for Jewel, and she has done some acting.