Mounted Archers of the Potomac

Mounted Archers of the Potomac has been teaching the ancient sport of mounted archery since 2017. What started as a small group has grown into a thriving community with regular practices at multiple Maryland and Virginia locations, including Waredaca in Laytonsville and Frying Pan Farm Park.

Everyone begins with an introductory ground clinic—a roughly 90-minute class taught entirely on the ground (no riding). This is a prerequisite for any mounted practice and covers:

• •Basic archery safety
• •Speed loading and blind knocking
• •Different draw techniques
• •Target tracking

After completing the intro clinic, you can move on to regular ground practice sessions and mounted practice once you can successfully speed load while walking.

Children as young as 8 can participate, though they need sufficient arm strength to draw a beginner bow. Kids 12 and under must be enrolled in regular riding lessons outside the club to ensure safe behavior around horses.

• •You don't need prior experience. Many members come in with no archery background and no riding experience. The club starts everyone on experienced archery horses so you can focus on learning to shoot before training your own horse.

If you have a horse you'd like to use for mounted archery, MAP works with you to desensitize them to the sport. Their instructors have trained dozens of horses, including spooky ones, using stress-free short sessions. They've found that almost all horses can eventually learn mounted archery—some of their best archery horses still spook at the mounting block, proving horses can compartmentalize their fears.

Non-members can attend one practice before membership becomes required.

MAP is a chapter of Horse Archery USA (HAUSA), the national organization that provides insurance coverage and organizes competitions. All riders must hold an active HAUSA membership to shoot while mounted.

The club connects members with global mounted archery resources:

• •International Horseback Archery Alliance (IHAA) – the global governing body that sets grading standards and organizes bi-monthly postal matches plus the bi-annual World Championships
• •Armin Hirmer's YouTube channel – expert reviews of Asiatic/horse bows
• •Mihai Cozmei (Living Arrow Horseback Archery) – world's top-ranked horse archer with tutorials and specialized quiver/equipment production

Regular practices and intro clinics happen at:

• •Waredaca – 4015 Damascus Rd, Laytonsville, MD 20882
• •Frying Pan Farm Park – (Herndon, VA area)

Practices and clinics are announced via the club's mailing list. Ground practices typically run 2.5 hours; mounted practices run 4 hours.

Headquarters: Gaithersburg, MD and Herndon, VA

All event announcements go out via email. Sign up for the mailing list to find out about upcoming practices, clinics, and other events.