Featured Attractions

Featured Attractions

Mounted Games

Mounted Games are a series of very fast races, exciting for participants and spectators alike, performed by young people on ponies in our large main arenas. 

They require a high degree of athletic ability, good riding skills, hand-to-eye coordination, general determination to see things through to the end no matter what, and a competitive spirit which nevertheless requires an ability to work together with other riders and to be willing to help one another.

The Mounted Games community is a large family! As such, there is healthy good-natured rivalry on the field of play, but great cooperation between players off the field regarding matters of the games as well as those of personal relationships and logistics.

The object of the Association is to encourage friendship between young people of different nations

Mounted Games were the inspiration of H.R.H. 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, staged the first Mounted Games Championship for the Prince Philip Cup - it was an immediate box office success.

                                       

The Mounted Games Association of Great Britain was founded by Norman Patrick on January 21st 1984 (his birthday) and since that time the sport of Mounted Games has gone from strength to strength. Thanks to his drive and enthusiasm, and financial support, International Mounted Games now has members all over the world.  There were seven founder teams in the Association :- Avon, Berkshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Sussex and South West Wales. It is from these original seven teams that the Association takes it's theme music "The Magnificent Seven".

As the Association continued to grow and develop, more and more county teams joined the Association and in 1994, the Association became a Company limited by guarantee - The Mounted Games Association (Great Britain) Ltd. The Association's growth is not confined to Great Britain however & the object of the association is " To encourage friendship between young people of different nations" .

The popularity of the games has spread right across the world and has led to the formation of the International Mounted Games Association.  The following overseas nations have MGA organisations in their own counries and are affiliated to IMGA - America, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, South Africa, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark and Norway.  In addition to competitions in Great Britain, teams can be invited to compete at shows abroad and these trips provide an exciting experience for many members of the Association.

Mounted Games will be appearing at the following shows:

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