Tent pegging in Pakistan is being revived and honestly I love this
Folks, buckle up because I’m about to talk about some stuff I didn’t even know existed till before I started writing this piece, but now that I am slightly better informed, y’all best color me intrigued and fascinated.
What we’re going to talk about today is tent pegging. And before you guys let your minds wander (like I did) I’ll explain what it is.
According to the Secretary General of the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan, Mr. Amer Munawar Siddiqi, Pakistan has the highest number of tent pegging players in the world but what is tent pegging?
Tent pegging, according to a quick definition I snagged off of every student’s BFF, Wikipedia, is “a cavalry sport of ancient origin. Used narrowly, the term refers to a specific mounted game with ground targets. More broadly, it refers to the entire class of mounted cavalry games involving edged weapons on horseback, for which the term “equestrian skill-at-arms” is also used.”
I feel like that’s a fancy way of saying that there are horses and weapons involved. But it’s not as dangerous as it sounds. See, the rules entail that the mounted horseman has to use that weapon to pick up a small target or a bunch of targets while the horse is galloping.
According to some historians, tent pegging was originated in the Indian subcontinent in what is today known as Pakistan, and India and Bangladesh etc. and was brought to the rest of the world by European colonizers.
Fun fact: Pakistan has a pretty rich history of tent pegging AND has a crazy large amount of people involved with the sport.
In fact, Iqbal Zafar, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad stated at a tent pegging event in 2018 that it is a traditional sport that has been practiced since the 4th century BC (but my BFF Wikipedia also told me this, so I feel like I know where his facts are coming from).
At the same event, Deputy Commissioner Salman Ghani showed immense appreciation for the sport and stated that the district government was trying its best to promote sports and cultural activities. He even stated that tent pegging is a historical game in the subcontinent.
Kinda sucks that we don’t hear more about this, tbh.
We now have Fatima Group and the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan to thank because they’re sponsoring a tent pegging championship in Lahore.
The third Sarsabz National Tent Pegging Championship 2019 in Lahore is to take place at the Polo and Tent Pegging ground of the Headquarters of Sutlej Rangers (Punjab) in Lahore.
The opening ceremony will be held on November 11, 2019, which is a Monday. Then, they have a bunch of competitions and activities lined up till November 15th, 2019, which is a Friday.
Over 800 riders and 200 teams from around the country will apparently participate in this five-day enthralling event.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m low key thinking of clearing out all of next week just to fly to Lahore for this. I’ll be honest, it sounds like fun. There are horses involved toh obviously I love the sport, because horses are adorable. AND I get to see people poke at stuff on the ground. It sounds like a pretty chill week.
I know what I’m looking forward to this coming week. What about you? Let me know in the comments below.
Cover image via Flickr/Abdul Qadir
This post has been sponsored by Fatima Group
