At 18, Raphaël Malet accumulates titles on horseshoe, an ancestral martial discipline where France shines at the highest world level.
The Orne hosted this weekend an international archery championship, at the Château de Médavy. French athletes excel in this discipline. So we asked the world champion, Raphaël Malet, to make us discover his passion.
For Raphaël, success in this discipline requires triple competence. “To be a good horseshoe, you have to know how to go up well, be a good cavalryR “, he underlines. Equestrian balance directly facilitates precision to shooting, while the qualities of archer remain essential.
“Having a good balance, it will facilitate precision in target. And be a good archer too, otherwise we will never reach the target“, Details the champion. This versatility also makes it possible to accelerate learning: already controlling riding leaves only one technique to acquire.
Archery shot draws its roots from the martial techniques of the Steppes of Central Asia. This ancestral practice evolved into sports discipline around 2009, under the leadership of Koreans and then Hungarians. Today, it has around 400 competitors identified in France.
The objective is to draw, in a determined and moving time, arrows in one or more targets arranged in a straight line or along a hilly hunting course.
“To get a lot of arrows, it’s easy, but getting to be very precise and constant, that’s the difficulty “recognizes the young champion. His training pace reflects this requirement: “You have to train regularly, especially that you have to train in archery and riding. We are three-four times a week, even every day when we have the possibility during the holidays.“
The archery competition is normally done on routes of 90 to 150 meters, with targets installed every 18 meters. The competitor has 12 arrows to reach as many targets as possible in a full time.
The French regulations have specificities in terms of security: the arrows are blurred and not sharp, in order to avoid any accident in the entourage of horses and riders.
Raphaël uses a Hungarian arc, particularly suitable for horse -drawn. The technique requires speed and precision: “The goal is to put the red part on the rope and to stretch very quickly.“This gestures requires years of training to combine strength and flexibility.
On the animal side, all breeds of horses are suitable for practice. The horse must be well trained so as not to be afraid when the rider draws successive arrow salvés. He must also be used to seeing the bow and arrows in his field of vision.
Despite a still limited practice, France excels internationally. “For once, France, we are pretty well placed because we are world number 1 today, with a lot of riders in the top 5,” says Raphaël. This French domination contrasts with the popularity of the discipline in other regions of the world, where it benefits from wider recognition.
The French archery team nourishes great ambitions. The riders hope to one day be able to pass professional and even dream of an Olympic recognition of their discipline.
With champions like Raphaël Malet, who accumulated the world titles even before his 20 years, the French arc on horseback seems to be promised to a bright future.
