Mounted games

Mounted games is a branch of equestrian sport in which very fast games are played by people of all ages on ponies up to a height of 15 hands (60 inches, 152 cm).

This article is about a specific equestrian discipline. For a related sport, see Gymkhana (equestrian). For the organization promoting riding on small horses generally, see Pony Club.
IMGA logo
A rider competing in the "Windsor Castle Race"

They require a high degree of athletic ability, good riding skills, hand-to-eye coordination, determination, perseverance, and a competitive spirit, which nevertheless requires an ability to work together with other riders and a willingness to help one another.

Mounted Games were the inspiration of Prince Philip. When Col. Sir Mike Ansell was Director of the Horse of the Year Show, Prince Philip asked if he could devise a competition for children who could not afford an expensive, well-bred pony, and in 1957 the Horse of the Year Show, then at Harringay Arena in North London, England, staged the first Mounted Games Championship for the Prince Philip Cup—it was an immediate box office success.[1]

The sport of mounted games as it exists today was founded by Norman Patrick. His aim was to extend the sport, previously age-restricted by Pony Club, for wider participation, and for this reason, in 1984, he established the Mounted Games Association of Great Britain. In the years which followed his continued support and patronage ensured that the sport spread across Great Britain and beyond. At the time of Patrick's death in 2001, the sport which he had established was being enjoyed by many riders across the world, and the International Mounted Games Association, which was formed in 2003, now has members in twenty two countries on five continents.[1]

Arena

Games

There are many different games played in mounted games. These are split into team, pairs and individual games.

Team games: Pairs games: Individual games:
Agility Aces Agility Aces
Association Race Association Race Association Race
Bang-a-Balloon
Ball and Cone
Bank Race Bank Race Bank Race
Bottle Exchange Bottle Exchange Bottle Exchange
Bottle Shuttle Bottle Shuttle Bottle Shuttle
Bottle Swap Bottle Swap
Carton Race Carton Race Carton Race
Flag Fliers Flag Fliers Flag Fliers
Four Flag Four Flag
Founder's Race
HiLo HiLo HiLo
Hug-a-Mug Hug-a-Mug
Hula Hoop Hula Hoop Hula Hoop
Jousting
Litter Lifters Litter Lifters Litter Lifters
Litter Scoop Litter Scoop Litter Scoop
Moat and Castle
Mug Shuffle Mug Shuffle Mug Shuffle
Pony Express
Pony Pairs Pony Pairs
Ride and Lead Run and Ride Run and Ride
Socks and Buckets Socks and Buckets Socks and Buckets
Speed Weavers Speed Weavers Speed Weavers
Sword Lancers Sword Lancers Sword Lancers
Three Mug Three Mug Three Mug
Three Pot Flag Race
Tool Box Scramble Tool Box Scramble Tool Box Scramble
Triple Flag
Two Flag Two Flag Two Flag
Victoria Cross
Windsor Castle

Participating nations

International Mounted Games Association member nations are as follows:[1]

World Team Championships

The IMGA World Team Championships are held each year in a different member country. At the first World Championships in 1985 only four teams participated, by 2007 this had grown to 18 and is expected to continue rising over the coming years.

Originally Great Britain participated as one team however from 2000 onwards this was split into England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland have always participated as a separate team.

Year: Host: Winners (Open): Winners (U17):
1986 England Great Britain N/A
1987 Canada Great Britain N/A
1988 USA Great Britain N/A
1989 Northern Ireland Great Britain N/A
1990 Wales Great Britain N/A
1991 USA Great Britain N/A
1992 England Great Britain N/A
1993 Wales Great Britain N/A
1994 England Great Britain N/A
1995 Germany Great Britain N/A
1996 Sweden Great Britain N/A
1997 France Great Britain N/A
1998 Ireland Great Britain N/A
1999 Belgium Great Britain N/A
2000 Germany England N/A
2001 Canada Canada N/A
2002 England Wales N/A
2003 USA Wales N/A
2004 France England N/A
2005 Wales England N/A
2006 Sweden England N/A
2007 Belgium England N/A
2008 Australia New Zealand N/A
2009 England England N/A
2010 Switzerland Ireland N/A
2011 Denmark England N/A
2012 Wales France N/A
2013 New Zealand New Zealand N/A
2014 France England N/A
2015 USA USA N/A
2016 Ireland France N/A
2017 South Africa Ireland N/A
2018 Belgium Ireland Wales
2019 Wales England England
2020 Scotland
2021 France
2022 Australia

European Team Championships

The European Team Championships had already existed in an unofficially format for a number of years before being officially recognised as an IMGA event in 2006. Since then the organisation of the championships has fallen into the same model as the World championships with a different member country hosting the event each year. Unlike the World Team Championships, this event is also stages across different age groups.

Year: Host: Winners (Open): Winners (Under 17): Winners (Under 14): Winners (under 12):
2006 Switzerland England France France France
2007 England England England N/A Wales
2008 Germany England Belgium N/A England
2009 France France England England England
2010 Wales France England England England
2011 Northern Ireland England England England England
2012 Italy France England England England
2013 Ireland England Ireland England Wales
2014 Belgium Ireland England Italy England
2015 France England England Wales England
2016 Germany England Italy England Wales
2017 England England Wales England Wales
2018 France Italy Wales Italy England
2019 Ireland England Wales England France
2020 Denmark
2021 Wales
2022 England

Nations Team Championships

In 2010 IMGA introduced a Southern Hemisphere Championship as a regional international championship similar to the European Team Championships. This was then expanded to include all non-European members in 2014 and rebranded as the Nations Championships.

Year: Host: Winners
2010 South Africa New Zealand
2011 New Zealand New Zealand
2012 Australia Australia
2013 South Africa South Africa
2014 New Zealand New Zealand
2015 Australia Australia
2016 South Africa Australia
2017 USA USA
2018 USA USA
2019 New Zealand New Zealand
2020 USA
2021 South Africa
2022 Canada

World Pairs Championships

The World Pairs Championships started in 1992, originally as an Open competition with an Under 17 class being added in 1993, an Under 12 class in 1998 and finally an Under 14 class in 2013. Until 2016 the championships were always held in Great Britain. 2016 was the first time that the competition was held outside of GB.

Year: Host: Winners (Open): Winners (Under 17): Winners (Under 14): Winners (Under 12):
1992 England Sharon Scott & Debbie French N/A N/A N/A
1993 England Jonathon Barnett & Martin Gibbs Caroline Taylor & Victoria Bisset N/A N/A
1994 England Emily Barker & Peter Harnden Charlotte Falkingham & Carolyn Cooper N/A N/A
1995 England Lauren Hopkins & Philip Brick Ross Howard & Choc Adcock N/A N/A
1996 England Elaine Trevor-Jones & Guy Brewer Nicola Leese & Charlotte O'Neill N/A N/A
1997 England Nicola Leese & Caroline Taylor Stuart Rogers & Choc Adcock N/A N/A
1998 England Andrew Gleadow & Jonathon Barnett Helen Green & Choc Adcock N/A Samantha Belsey & Laura Centa
1999 England Nicola Leese & Andrew Gleadow Liana Wileman & Choc Adcock N/A Craig Tordoff & Charlene Smith
2000 England Elaine Trevor-Jones & Iain Pringuer Ben Hughes & Stuart Mariner N/A Natalie Gill & Emma Francis
2001 England Ross Elliott & Bob Ghandour Andrew Horscroft & Stevie Horscroft N/A Katie Hardy & Shayla McInulty
2002 England Felicity Hotston & Christian Jones Lester Brown & Hannah Hopkins N/A Chloe Golding & Shayla McInulty
2003 England Andrew Gleadow & Alex Jones Craig Tordoff & Keri Hopkins N/A Holly Humphrey & Rebecca Wardell
2004 England Paul Williams & Gemma Thomas Katie Hardy & Shayla McInulty N/A Jessica Leeson & Tyler McInulty
2005 England Elaine Trevor-Jones & Aron Tyler Katie Hopkins & James Stark N/A Tyler McInulty & April Wilson
2006 England Elaine Trevor-Jones & Aron Tyler Katie Hopkins & Chris Clinton N/A Kara Tucker & April Wilson
2007 England Huw Whitney & Alex Franklin Tom Pharez & Danny Spencer N/A Guy Gorvett & Jordan Evans
2008 England Robert Leese & David Cherrington Bethan Gould & Hannah Gould N/A Danni Loveless & Matt Seabourne
2009 England Robert Leese & David Cherrington Elley Roberts & Jack Capel N/A Harry Gates & Thomas Norton
2010 England Janey Surman & Alex Franklin April Wilson & Eddie Surman N/A Katy Snook & Henry Goldhawk
2011 England Helen Green & Jack Capel Sadie Lock & Guy Gorvett N/A Sally Kitchiner & Lottie Watson
2012 England Danny Spencer & Mark Devitt Sadie Lock & Guy Gorvett N/A Ben Hopkins & George Knight-Eddins
2013 England Joe Garnett & Chloe Golding Greg James & Harry Gates Lili Antcliff & Lottie Watson Ben Hopkins & Callum Cooke
2014 England Mitch Lyons & April Wilson Peter McCarthy & Philip Weldon Caroline Barbour & Eleanor Wheeler Ben Hopkins & Charlie Yates
2015 England Craig O'Connor & Kate O'Connor Lili Antcliff & Lottie Watson Ben Hopkins & Emma Lockyer Jaime Medcalf & Sophie Grimshaw
2016 Denmark Mitch Lyons & April Wilson Rob Olliffe & Will Thirlby Ben Hopkins & Charlie Yates Sam Hopkins & Jessica Smith
2017 France Joe Garnett & Colin Verdelhan Gwen Williams & Katie Deas Martina Badia & Bernardo Boscagli Sam Hopkins & Mackenzie Norton-Phibben
2018 Denmark Joe Garnett & Colin Verdelhan Ben Hopkins & Charlie Yates Mackenzie Norton-Phibben & Lowri Jones Sam Hopkins & Poppy Shaw
2019 England Jake O'Connor & Craig O'Connor Ben Hopkins & Charlie Yates Mackenzie Norton-Phibben & Sam Hopkins Harleigh Speroni & Alfie Medcalf
2020 Germany
2021 England
2022 Ireland

World Individual Championships

The World Individual Championships started in 1986 across Open, Under 17 and Under 14 classes. In 1990 an Under 12 class was also added and from 1999 to 2008 there was also a veterans (over 25) class. Until 2012 the championships were always held in Great Britain. 2013 was the first time that the competition was held outside of GB.

Year: Host: Winner (Open): Winner (Under 17): Winner (Under 14): Winner (Under 12):
1986 England Liv Pultar Liv Pultar Lisa Bazin N/A
1987 England Richard Bulled Sharon Scott Jamie Duggan N/A
1988 England Richard Bulled Abbey King Audrey Miller N/A
1989 England Liv Pultar Lisa Bazin James Callow N/A
1990 England Liv Pultar Leigh Allen Chrissy Barnwell Rebecca Mayne
1991 England Kevin Paynter James Callow James Callow Caroline Taylor
1992 England Kevin Paynter James Callow Jenny Huckvale Caroline Taylor
1993 England Kevin Paynter James Turkington Daniel Alder Jade Forrest
1994 England Jonathon Barnett Mark Derrick Stuart Rogers Arran Adcock
1995 England Peter Harnden Carolyn Cooper Stuart Rogers Shauna O'Neill
1996 England Philip Brick Nicola Leese Ben Ebrey Simon Ward
1997 England Jonathon Barnett Caroline Taylor Arran Adcock Luke Taverner
1998 England Jonathon Barnett Choc Adcock Sean Taverner Bradley Stamp
1999 England Alex Knott Ben Ebrey Simon Ward Craig Tordoff
2000 England Joelene Martin Ben Hughes Luke Taverner Jade Taylor
2001 England Joelene Martin Daloni Lucas Bradley Stamp Katie Hardy
2002 England Choc Adcock George Garner Jade Taylor Shayla McInulty
2003 England Darren Williams Hollie Rauch Katie Hardy Holly Humphrey
2004 England Elaine Trevor-Jones Craig Tordoff Katie Hardy Tyler McInulty
2005 England Elaine Trevor-Jones Ben Millichap Chloe Golding Tom Clarke
2006 England Chloe Golding Janey Surman Bethan Gould April Wilson
2007 England Janey Surman Chloe Golding Matt Clingo Mercedes Lock
2008 England Widukind Moormann Elley Roberts Eddie Surman Matt Seabourne
2009 Wales Janey Surman Elley Roberts April Wilson Harriet Davies
2010 Wales David Cherrington Eddie Surman Tom Leeson Sally Kitchiner
2011 Wales Danny Spencer Sadie Lock Taylor Harris Lottie Watson
2012 Wales Brian Kennedy Mackenzie Taylor Henry Goldhawk Eleanor Wheeler
2013 Denmark Widukind Moormann Mackenzie Taylor Lottie Watson Ben Hopkins
2014 Wales Mitch Lyons Peter McCarthy Gwen Williams Ben Hopkins
2015 Wales Widukind Moormann Charlie Sutton Ben Hopkins Amelia Swan
2016 Wales Colin Verdelhan Megan Gurton Ben Hopkins Sam Hopkins
2017 England Widukind Moormann Dione Walters Amelia Swan Sam Hopkins
2018 France Widukind Moormann Ben Hopkins Sophie Reynolds Sam Hopkins
2019 England Colin Verdelhan Ben Hopkins Sam Hopkins Kyan Duffy-Escalona
2020 Wales
2021 England

European Individual Championships

In 2010 a European Individual Championships was run for the first time concurrently with the European Team Championships. This championship is open to all ages.

Year: Host: Winner:
2010 Wales Janey Surman
2011 Northern Ireland Alan Keogan
2012 Italy Mark Devitt
2013 Ireland Alan Keogan
2014 Belgium Alan Keogan
2015 France Jamie Reavey
2016 Germany Euan Taylor
2017 England Jake O'Connor
2018 France Widukind Moormann
2019 Ireland Peter McCarthy
2020 Denmark
2021 Wales
2022 England

References and notes
  1. International Mounted Games Association Website
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