“I was inspired by my childhood. Cowboys and Indians were the super heroes back then. After some time I realized that I know much about Native American culture but I did not know anything about the ancient Bulgarian traditions. I was ashamed and decided to learn more. It turned out that we do not know much about our ancient past. Horse riding and archery are ways to make young people more interested about our past and the traditions of the Proto Bulgarians. I have noticed that there are some people who are ashamed of the claims that Proto-Bulgarians were nomads. But if it was so there is nothing wrong with it, as it seems to me that nomadic culture was more humane than the settled civilizations.”

Guests could rest in the yurtas, where one moves away form civilization and feels the atmosphere of an ancient world

Children are also keen on learning archery skills.

The horse riding and archery school has existed for 5 years now.

Vladimir Mustakerski bought 8 hectares of land to create the archery training grounds and places for riding. Several yurtas were also built. The yurta is the house of the nomads, where they live in the winter. “I brought these yurtas from Mongolia because I wanted to live in such a house,” Vladimir says. Guests can also use the yurtas when they want to escape form civilization for a while. Vladimir has 13 horses.

The path of the horse is not just learning to ride but getting to know the animal so well to the point when one turns into a centaur - half-man half-horse, Vladimir says and tells us more about learning horseback archery.

“We start with teaching weapon skills. The bow is the main weapon but other weapons like spears and axes are also used. An important part of horse riding is communicating with the animal. I do not like using reins when riding. Of course it is much more difficult to achieve control over the animal this way. You have to sacrifice some of your own ego, just like when communicating with people,” Vladimir Mustakerski says in conclusion.

English: A Markov
The photos were provided by the Way of the Horse and Bow Archery School.