In Pak Punjab, a traditional sport trots along, but gallops no longer
KOT FATEH KHAN (PUNJAB, PAKISTAN): Festooned with garlands and colourful bridles, turbaned riders mounted on horseback in full gallop lower their lances at tiny wooden blocks as they practice the centuries-old tradition of tent-pegging in Pakistan.
Less than a two-hour drive from the capital Islamabad, thousands gather at a freshly ploughed grounds to watch the equine festival in a competition that can see riders tossed from their mounts, breaking bones or worse during the dangerous spectacle. Tent-pegging competitions have been held in the subcontinent for hundreds of years but now have largely been reduced to the odd festival, with Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province hosting the majority of such events. Diehard fans of the cavalry sport worry that the tradition is on its last legs, in the absence of official support and a lack of popularity among the young, urban Pakistani masses.
But in northern Punjab’s Kot Fateh Khan, fans show up droves to cheer on the brazen riders. As announcers wail into microphones, riders spur their steeds into a sprint towards wooden blocks wedged in the earth.
“This festival has taken place from the 18th century,” Malik Atta Muhammad Khan tells AFP after taking a stab at a wooden block from horseback. Khan, who claims his great, great grandfather once ruled Kabul, says over 1,000 horses will participate at the week-long festival.
But, despite the abundance of horses, participants fear the sport is in dire need of fresh blood, as the number of breeders raising steeds and riders training for the competition continues to wane nationwide. “The love of breeding horses has been... reduced to a few families,” says Haroon Bandial, a World Cup gold medallist. “Tent-pegging is played a lot in Punjab, but it’s limited to only three to four families in KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhawa), a couple of families in Balochistan; and in Sindh also one family or so,” he adds, citing the enormous cost of raising horses as a barrier.
Aficionados say they begin training the horses at 16 months of age, a process which can take over two years, while riders need at least three years to prepare. However, Khan remains hopeful: “There are many events compared to previous years.”