Mounted games

IMGA logo

A rider competing in the "Windsor Castle Race"

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).

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
		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]

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Burkina Faso
• Canada
• Denmark
• England
• France
• Germany
• Iran
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• New Zealand
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Scotland
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United States of America
• Wales

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:
1986	England	Great Britain
1987	Canada	Great Britain
1988	USA	Great Britain
1989	Northern Ireland	Great Britain
1990	Wales	Great Britain
1991	USA	Great Britain
1992	England	Great Britain
1993	Wales	Great Britain
1994	England	Great Britain
1995	Germany	Great Britain
1996	Sweden	Great Britain
1997	France	Great Britain
1998	Ireland	Great Britain
1999	Belgium	Great Britain
2000	Germany	England
2001	Canada	Canada
2002	England	Wales
2003	USA	Wales
2004	France	England
2005	Wales	England
2006	Sweden	England
2007	Belgium	England
2008	Australia	New Zealand
2009	England	England
2010	Switzerland	Ireland
2011	Denmark	England
2012	Wales	France
2013	New Zealand	New Zealand
2014	France	England
2015	USA	USA
2016	Ireland	France
2017	South Africa
2018	Belgium

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
2018	France

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
2017	USA

World Pairs Championships

The World Pairs Championships started in 1992, originally as an Open competition with an Under 17 class being added in 1993 and an Under 12 class in 1998. To date the championships have always been held at the Newark and Nottinghamshire Showground in England.

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
2018	Denmark

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 commpetition was held outside of GB.

Year:	Host:	Winner (Open):	Winner (Under 17):	Winner (Under 14):	Winner (Under 12):	Winner (Over 25):
1986	England	Liv Pultar	Liv Pultar	Lisa Bazin	N/A	N/A
1987	England	Richard Bulled	Sharon Scott	Jamie Duggan	N/A	N/A
1988	England	Richard Bulled	Abbey King	Audrey Miller	N/A	N/A
1989	England	Liv Pultar	Lisa Bazin	James Callow	N/A	N/A
1990	England	Liv Pultar	Leigh Allen	Chrissy Barnwell	Rebecca Mayne	N/A
1991	England	Kevin Paynter	James Callow	James Callow	Caroline Taylor	N/A
1992	England	Kevin Paynter	James Callow	Jenny Huckvale	Caroline Taylor	N/A
1993	England	Kevin Paynter	James Turkington	Daniel Alder	Jade Forrest	N/A
1994	England	Jonathon Barnett	Mark Derrick	Stuart Rogers	Arran Adcock	N/A
1995	England	Peter Harnden	Carolyn Cooper	Stuart Rogers	Shauna O'Neill	N/A
1996	England	Philip Brick	Nicola Leese	Ben Ebrey	Simon Ward	N/A
1997	England	Jonathon Barnett	Caroline Taylor	Arran Adcock	Luke Taverner	N/A
1998	England	Jonathon Barnett	Choc Adcock	Sean Taverner	Bradley Stamp	N/A
1999	England	Alex Knott	Ben Ebrey	Simon Ward	Craig Tordoff	Bob Ghandour
2000	England	Joelene Martin	Ben Hughes	Luke Taverner	Jade Taylor	Bob Ghandour
2001	England	Joelene Martin	Daloni Lucas	Bradley Stamp	Katie Hardy	Sharon Scott
2002	England	Choc Adcock	George Garner	Jade Taylor	Shayla McInulty	Melanie Scott
2003	England	Darren Williams	Hollie Rauch	Katie Hardy	Holly Humphrey	Melanie Scott
2004	England	Elaine Trevor-Jones	Craig Tordoff	Katie Hardy	Tyler McInulty	Nikki Dudley
2005	England	Elaine Trevor-Jones	Ben Millichap	Chloe Golding	Tom Clarke	Emma Lloyd
2006	England	Chloe Golding	Janey Surman	Bethan Gould	April Wilson	Melanie Scott
2007	England	Janey Surman	Chloe Golding	Matt Clingo	Mercedes Lock	Nick Suggett
2008	England	Widukind Moormann	Elley Roberts	Eddie Surman	Matt Seabourne	Nikkki Dudley
2009	Wales	Janey Surman	Elley Roberts	April Wilson	Harriet Davies	N/A
2010	Wales	David Cherrington	Eddie Surman	Tom Leeson	Sally Kitchiner	N/A
2011	Wales	Danny Spencer	Sadie Lock	Taylor Harris	Lottie Watson	N/A
2012	Wales	Brian Kennedy	Mackenzie Taylor	Henry Goldhawk	Eleanor Wheeler	N/A
2013	Denmark	Widukind Moormann	Mackenzie Taylor	Lottie Watson	Ben Hopkins	N/A
2014	Wales	Mitch Lyons	Peter McCarthy	Gwen Williams	Ben Hopkins	N/A
2015	Wales	Widukind Moormann	Charlie Sutton	Ben Hopkins	Amelia Swan	N/A
2016	Wales	Colin Verdelhan	Megan Gurton	Ben Hopkins	Sam Hopkins
2017	Wales
2018	France

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
2018	France

References and notes

1. International Mounted Games Association Website