HORSE-BALL Canada
Un sport équestre d'équipe rare, spectaculaire et fascinant, le Horse-ball ! Discover and practice a amazing equestrian sport in team!
Bienvenue	Welcome

Jouer dans les règles de l'art au Horse-ball, au Québec et au Canada avec l'association Horse-ball Canada : la clé du succès et d'un plaisir sécuritaire!
Règlements de Horse-Ball en vigueur ( pour suivre les mises à jour, consultez www.horse-ball.org) :
Téléchargez ici les règlements 2012 internationaux en vigueur
Version 2007 (traduction français archivée, mais antérieure)
I Présentation du sport
Ramassage à droite au galop en Argentine sur un Criollo argentin ( par Samuelle D.H., coupe du monde 2006, Buenos Aires)
Qu’est-ce que le horse-ball?
Jeune sport équestre d'origine française (1970) dans sa forme férératrice et réglementée, le jeu est simple et spectaculaire! Deux équipes de six joueurs – quatre sur le terrain, 2 en réserve- s’affrontent à cheval sur un terrain
d’environ 30 X 65 mètres pourvu de deux paniers.
Pour marquer un point, le ballon doit être lancé dans un cerceau après que les joueurs se soient fait trois passes.
Le ballon qui tombe au sol doit être repris par un cavalier, en pleine action, sans mettre pied à terre
et tout en se penchant sur le côté de son cheval, au trot ou au galop (obligatoire lors de la mise en jeu).
Chronophotographies de deux séquences de ramassage du ballon à droite au galop
1/ par Scarlett sur une jument de polo en Argentin
En compétition, le tout se fait à une vitesse parfois enlevante et rend ce sport très spectaculaire et aussi prisé du public que des joueurs!
Le horse-ball en statistiques :
Sur le plan international, on comptait 20 000 joueurs et joueuses de horse-ball sur la planète en 2006.
Actuellement, la Fédération Internationale de Horse-Ball maintient ses efforts pour faire de cette discipline un sport olympique.
Au Québec*, le horse-ball a vu le jour en 2004. Une dizaine d'équipes officielles ont vu le jour ces dernières années, dont certains membres constituent aux diverses coupe du monde, l’équipe nationale (Team Canada). On compte notamment celles d’Hemmingford, St Marc sur Richelieu, de Ste Sophie, Des Cow-boys de Tremblant, et des Centaures de Mascouche. Comme en tout, certaines équipes se défont, d'autres se reforment!
De plus, certains poneys-clubs tentent d’initier les jeunes cavaliers à ce sport collectif attrayant. Les associations de Horse-ball Canada (AHBC) et Horse-ball Québec (AHBQ) ont effectué au Québec une vingtaine de démonstrations lors d’événements équestres majeurs deouis 2005. Nous effectuons plusieurs cliniques dans différentes écuries situées un peu partout à travers le Québec, ainsi qu’à l’Institut Technologique Agricole de La Pocatière.
Passe en jeu
* Nous restons modestes et découvrons peu à peu les techniques, car nous sommes pionniers dans cette discipline équestre en Amérique du Nord. Pour les parfaire, plusieurs d’entre nous sont allés en découdre et apprendre directement auprès des meilleurs joueurs et chevaux du monde lors des coupe du monde 2006 et 2008 et à l’occasion de plusieurs stages internationaux de perfectionnement (en Italie, France, etc.).
III Un peu d'histoire - les origines afghannes et argentines du Horse-ball
1/ Les origines du Pato argentin (en anglais, - Source: Wikipedia):
Source de l'image" : http://www.fedpato.com.ar/galeria.htm
"Pato
Pato (sometimes called "horseball") is a game played on horseback that combines elements from polo and basketball. It is the national game of Argentina.
Pato is Spanish language for "duck", as early games used a live duck inside a basket instead of the ball. Accounts of early versions of pato have been written since 1610. The playing field would often stretch the distance between neighboring estancias (ranches). The first team to reach with the duck to its own casco (ranch house) would be declared the winner.
Pato was forbidden for several periods due to the violence—not only to the duck; many gauchos were trampled underfoot, and many more lost their lives in knife fights started in the heat of the game. In 1796, a Catholic priest insisted that pato players who die in such a way should be denied Christian burial. Government ordinances forbidding the practice of pato were common throughout the 19th century.
During the 1930s, pato was regulated through the efforts of ranch owner Alberto del Castillo Posse, who drafted a set of rules inspired by modern polo. The game gained legitimacy, to the point that President Juan Perón declared pato to be the national game in 1953.
In modern pato, two four-member teams riding on horses fight for possession of a ball which has six conveniently-sized handles, and score by throwing the ball through a vertically positioned ring (as opposed to the horizontal rim used in basketball). The rings have a 100 cm diameter, and are located atop 240 cm high poles. A closed net, extending for 140 cm, holds the ball after goals are scored.
The winner is the team with most goals scored after regulation time (six 8-minute "periods").
The dimensions of the field are: length 180 to 220 m, width 80 to 90 m. The ball is made of leather, with an inflated rubber chamber and six leather handles. Its diameter is 40 cm (handle-to-handle) and its weight is 1050 to 1250 g.
The player that has control of the pato (i.e. holds the ball by a handle) must ride with his right arm outstretched, offering the pato so rival players have a chance of tugging the pato and stealing it. Not extending the arm while riding with the pato is an offense called negada (refusal).
During the tug itself, or cinchada, both players must stand on the stirrups and avoid sitting on the saddle, while the hand not involved in the tugging must hold the reins. The tug is usually the most exciting part of the game.
Pato is played competitively and also by amateurs, mostly on weekend fairs which usually include doma (Argentine rodeo).
2/ Le Buzkashi, un sport d'origine afghanne (en anglais, - Source: Wikipedia)
Source de l'image: http://www.bazuki.com/afghanistan/buzkashi-1.htm
Buzkashi (from persian, "buzkashi" means buz = "goat" + kashi ="drawing") is a traditional Afghan sport, played from horseback. The name translates literally to "goat grabbing", implying that the game originated in the ancient practice of horseback goat-nabbing during the times of Aryans. The Aryans were skilled -riders who could swoop up a goat while riding a horse at full gallop. The goal of a Buzkashi player is to grab the carcass of a calf, and then get it clear of the other players, or pitch it across a goal line.
Competition is typically fierce, as other players may use any force short of tripping the horse in order to thwart scoring attempts (though the use of knives or guns is discouraged). Riders usually wear heavy clothing and head protection to protect themselves from players' whips and boots. Games can last for several days.
The game consists of two main forms: Tudabarai and Qarajai. Tudabarai is considered to be the simpler form of the game; in this style, the goal is simply to grab the calf and move in any direction until clear of the other players. In Qarajai, players must carry the carcass around a flag or marker at one end of the field, then throw it into a scoring circle at the other end.
The calf in a Buzkashi game is normally beheaded, disemboweled and its limbs cut off, then soaked in cold water for 24 hours before play to toughen it. Occasionally sand is packed into the carcass to give it extra weight. Players may not strap the calf to their bodies or saddles. Though goats are used when no calf is available, calves are less likely to fall apart during the game.
Serious Buzkashi players train intensively for years, and many of the masters (called chapandaz) are over forty years old. Playing well also requires specially trained horses that know to stop still when a rider is thrown, and to gallop forcefully when their rider gets hold of the calf. These horses can sell for as much as $US 2,500.
A game of Buzkashi is featured in an early scene of Rambo III.
The game is the core and subject of a novel by French Novelist Joseph Kessel titled Les Cavaliers (aka Horsemen) as well as of the film of the same title featuring Omar Sharif
The game is also a key element in the book Caravans by James Michener and the film of the same name staring Anthony Quinn. A scene from the film featuring the King of Afghanistan watching a game is in fact Mohammed Zahir Shah. The whole sequence of the game being witnessed by the king was filmed on the Kabul Golf course where the national championships were played at the time the film was made."
Soutenues par la FEQ, Desjardins et plusieurs députés, dont les députés Luc Thériault de Masson, André Chenail de Hundington et Lucienne Robillard de Westmount, Scarlett, Émilie et Samuelle (Numéros 2, 4 et 7 de l'équipe) organisent également plusieurs cliniques publiques de démonstration et d’apprentissage en 2007, 2008 et 2009; en 2008, d’autres membres rejoindront Samuelle (numéro 1) également lors d’une seconde coupe du monde au Portugal, tandis que AHBQ et AHBC organisent d’autres cliniques parallèles de perfectionnement ou d’initiation au Horse-ball sur leur cavalerie ou les chevaux de propriétaires intéressés.