Call in the Cavalry!
A South African teenager rides into international competition in the rare sport of tent pegging.
© Courtesy of Thobela K Khumalo/South Africa Tentpegging Championship
Makhosazana “Khosi” Dlomo demonstrates the sport of tent pegging. She’s hoping to go to the Olympics one day.
A rider galloping on a horse while holding a sharp spear is an image you might associate with ancient battles. But modern-day equestrians like South Africa’s Makhosazana “Khosi” Dlomo are keeping age-old battlefield skills alive through the unique sport of tent pegging.
“It is a military discipline… Tent pegging has more of an adrenaline rush,” said Dlomo in a video interview with BBC Sport Africa.
In tent pegging, a rider uses a spear or sword to pierce a target as their horse runs past it. The target may be a cardboard peg stuck in the ground or a series of rings hanging from a pole. Tent pegging requires excellent timing, accuracy, and coordination between the horse and rider as they charge toward the target.
“You’re hanging off the side of a horse and you need to trust that this horse is stable. And if you don’t trust the animal, then it’s not going to work out,” said Dlomo.
© Muhammed Reza—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A rider hits his target during a tent pegging competition in Pakistan, where the sport is popular.
Tent pegging is based on the skills required to be in the cavalry, a military force in which soldiers were traditionally mounted on horseback. Though cavalries existed in many cultures around the world, tent pegging is believed to have originated in Afghanistan. It remains a popular equestrian sport in Asian countries like Pakistan and India and in the Middle East.
Nineteen-year-old Dlomo is a rare competitor in this rare sport: she is the only Black woman who is a registered tent pegging competitor in sub-Saharan Africa. Dlomo says that few people even know the sport exists, but she is hoping she can help increase awareness and draw more people to try it out.
© Courtesy of Thobela K Khumalo/South Africa Tentpegging Championship
Khosi Dlomo hopes more people will try tent pegging.
“Hardly anyone knows about [tent pegging],” she said. “When I first came, they weren’t used to seeing a Black rider. As the years went on, I felt very welcomed and accepted. But I haven’t seen any other Black horse riders do tent pegging at competitions.”
This year Dlomo represented South Africa on the junior team at the International Beach Tent Pegging Championship in Jordan, a country in the Middle East. “Another aim of mine is to hopefully compete in the Olympics. I know there’s [talk] of bringing tent pegging into the Olympics,” she said.
