I would like to show you a little gadget, which most of modern horse archers never used, or even never saw. This is because most of modern horse archery competitions are held on straight, fenced track, so basically in a controlled environment, in which it is not necessary to touch the reins in between subsequent shots. Rider will lead his horse into the track, usually holding his bow in left hand and reins in right hand, start canter/gallop and then, just before starting line he will drop those reins loose onto horse’s neck, start shooting and only after the last target he will reach for reins, assuming that the slowing-down part of the track is long enough to find them, even if entangled in horse’s mane.The reins are shortened by means of a knot or a mobile slider to prevent them from hanging too low and often, especially if the horse is galloping with its head low, their free end is tied to saddle front, or hooked over the pommel, if it is high enough. In this way we have our hands completely free to use bow and arrows and it seems to be the best way indeed to ride during this type of competitions.
