Siem Horseback Archery

My world records also landed me my last score needed to get my HA9 something I am very proud of!

GRADING ANNOUNCEMENT!

The International Horseback Archery Alliance (IHAA) is delighted to congratulate Siem Budding (22) from the Netherlands on achieving the prestigious IHAA HA9 Grade.

With this outstanding accomplishment, Siem becomes only the third horseback archer in the world to ever attain the HA9 Grade, joining an exceptionally small group of athletes who have reached this elite international standard.

Siem has consistently demonstrated world-class skill, dedication, and perseverance throughout his horseback archery journey. His exceptional performances across the IHAA grading tracks have earned him a place among the very best athletes the sport has ever seen.

Reflecting on this milestone, Siem shared:

"I am very happy to have reached my HA9. Something I have been looking forward to reaching for a very long time already. So now that goal is moved onto HA10.

Thank you so much to all who have helped me along the way to reach this. Couldn't have done this without the support of everyone! And the biggest thank you to the three horses I have achieved this grading with, Omur, Chilli and Santos! We are nothing in this sport without the special horses who carry us."

These words perfectly capture the spirit of horseback archery—a sport where success is built through the dedication of athletes, coaches, supporters, and, above all, the incredible partnership between horse and rider.

Siem's achievement is the culmination of years of determination, relentless training, and a commitment to continually raising the standard of excellence. His gratitude towards the horses that carried him to this milestone serves as a reminder that every great achievement in horseback archery is a partnership built on trust, respect, and teamwork.

On behalf of the entire International Horseback Archery Alliance, we extend our warmest congratulations to Siem Budding on this remarkable accomplishment.

With his sights now firmly set on HA10, we look forward to following the next chapter of Siem's inspiring journey.

Congratulations, Siem, on becoming an IHAA HA9 Archer! 🏹🐎🎉

So proud to now officially have 2 more world records to my name. Making it a total of 4 IHAA worldrecords and 1 WFEA quiver load world record.

Thank you to Stajnia GROM for leting me ride the amazing Santos!!

Vandaag hadden we de afsluitende wedstrijd voor de cyclus van trainingen die ik altijd geef in samenwerking met en bij de Flemming!

Ben echt super trots op iedereen voor de mega vooruitgang die iedereen liet zien. En van harte gefeliciteerd aan iedereen voor hun goeie resultaten!

Niet onbelangrijk moeten we natuurlijk ook onze grote winnaars bekronen.

In de stap categorie was dit met een prachtige score van 120.

In de draf was dit met een prachtige score van 55

Heel erg bedankt aan onze jury .de.lange die zelf ook nog een hele mooie score neer zetten in stap van 115 punten.

Ik wil heel graag en hun geweldige paarden bedanken voor weer de hele fijne samenwerking met deze eerste cyclus. En voor de deelnemers aan de eerste, hou je mailbox in de gaten voor de data's van de volgende cyclus😉

Een historische mijlpaal voor Nederland! 🏹🧡

Met ontzettend veel trots feliciteren we Siem Budding met het behalen van zijn Horse Archer 9 (HA9) grading!

Daarmee is Siem de eerste Nederlander ooit die dit niveau bereikt en behoort hij tot een zeer select gezelschap van horseback archers wereldwijd.

Met zijn recent behaalde tweede HA9-score op Raid voltooide hij de laatste stap richting HA9. En alsof dat nog niet indrukwekkend genoeg is, heeft hij inmiddels óók al twee HA10-scores op Tower achter zijn naam staan. Een prestatie die laat zien hoe hoog zijn niveau inmiddels ligt.

Terugkijkend op deze mijlpaal zegt Siem:

"Ik ben ontzettend blij dat ik mijn HA9 heb behaald. Het is een doel waar ik al heel lang naartoe heb gewerkt. Nu is het tijd om mijn vizier op HA10 te richten."

Maar misschien vat één andere uitspraak nog wel beter samen waar onze sport om draait:

"Zonder de bijzondere paarden die ons dragen, zijn we niets in deze sport."

Siem, namens de hele MAAN: van harte gefeliciteerd met deze bijzondere prestatie. We zijn ongelooflijk trots dat jij als eerste Nederlander deze grading hebt behaald en Nederland vertegenwoordigt aan de absolute wereldtop van de sport. Op naar de volgende uitdaging! 🏹❤️

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*ENGLISH*
A historic milestone for the Netherlands! 🏹🧡

We are incredibly proud to congratulate Siem Budding on achieving his Horse Archer 9 (HA9) grading!

With this achievement, Siem becomes the first Dutch horse archer to earn an HA9 grading and joins a very small group of horseback archers worldwide to have reached this exceptional level.

By achieving his second HA9 score on Raid, Siem completed the final requirement for HA9. As if that wasn't impressive enough, he has also already achieved two HA10 scores on Tower, highlighting the extraordinary level at which he competes.

Reflecting on this milestone, Siem said:

"I'm very happy to have reached my HA9. It's something I've been looking forward to for a very long time. Now that goal moves on to HA10."

But perhaps one of his other reflections captures the spirit of our sport even better:

"We are nothing in this sport without the special horses who carry us."

Siem, on behalf of everyone at MAAN, congratulations on this incredible achievement. We are immensely proud to see you become the first Dutch rider to earn this grading and represent the Netherlands at the very highest level of our sport. Here's to the next milestone! 🏹❤️

Meld je nu nog aan voor de laatste plekken bij de training van 11 juli bij rijvereniging Trynwalden in Oentsjerk, dit is een van de weinige trainingen die ik geef in deze regio van het land, wees er dus nog snel bij om een plekje te bemachtigen.

Kosten zijn 70 voor leden en 75 voor niet leden. Aanmelden kan via [email protected]

tot snel!

On Sunday we had another great clinic as a part of the cycle of trainings at

As always great to see everyone progress so much in a lesson. We worked especially on back shots in the morning and keeping the draw length consistent during all the movements in horseback archery. On the horse riding details most focused on their balance and how to correctly absorb the movement. And it was great to see Star becoming a more and more solid citizen in horseback archery.

Thank you to the Flemming for the great organization again and to all the participants for coming!

On Saturday we had an amazing clinic in Vaassen, organized by and thank you both for the great organization!

Christien and Björn created a beautiful oval track on their property, which was perfect for the clinic and made it an unforgettable experience for everyone involved.

A big thank you as well to all the participants for coming and making it such a great day!

On Sunday we had another great clinic with 10 horseback archers in the beginners group in the morning and 6 in the advanced in the afternoon at thank you all for joining!! Always great to see the progress everyone makes.

For the upcoming trainings at Stal Mansour on the 7th of June and the 12th of July there is only very very few spots left in the beginners group so be quick if you want to try this sport.

And some last places in the advanced afternoon group. For the afternoon group you have to be an experienced horseback archer.

There are also some spots left in the Joker back archery clinic I am giving together with on the 20th of June at Stal Mansour. This is a full day clinic where you will get the chance to develop alot in your biomechanics and balance whilst riding and specifically also when shooting from horseback.

If you want to know anything more about upcoming clinics feel free to contact me

Over the past period I’ve had the chance to give many great clinics all across the Netherlands. It’s inspiring to see how much interest there is in this beautiful sport.

During the clinics it’s always equally rewarding to help people take their first steps into horseback archery, for themselves and their horses, as well as helping more experienced riders refine the finer details to reach the next level.

Would you like to join a training with me? Here are the upcoming dates:

2 May – Demo at Utrecht
3 May – Clinic at (only space left for experienced horseback archers in the afternoon)
9 May – Clinic at her place in Vaassen
10 May – Clinic at in Westmaas
16 May – Clinic in Callantsoog at Manege Noot
17 May – Clinic at Stal Groot Bannink in Hengelo GL
23 & 24 May – Demos at the at the
29 May – 3 June – Clinics in Nova Scotia, Canada at Seawinds Horse Archers
6 June – Demo at the open day at Manege Zonder Drempels in Ede
7 June – Clinic at Stal Mansour in Arnhem
13 June – Clinic in Callantsoog at Manege Noot
14 June – Clinic with Flemming in Westmaas
20 June – Joker horseback archery clinic together with Hansje MindBodyHorse at Stal Mansour (only for experienced horseback archers)
22 – 28 June – Camp and competition with Wojtek at Stajnia Grom
4 July – Demo at Weekend van het Paard at De Hoge Veluwe
5 July – Competition at De Flemming
11 July – Clinic in Oentsjerk psv Trynwalden
12 July – Clinic at Stal Mansour in Arnhem
25 July – Clinic at Stal Wennekers in Aalsmeer
27 July – 2 August – Camp and competition with Wojtek at Stajnia Grom

If you’d like to join or have any questions, feel free to send me a message.

Hope to see you at one of the upcoming trainings.

As most of you have probably already seen, I am going to Canada at the end of May. I will be giving a clinic there, combined with competing again on the Kassai track. Thanks Lance and Sarah for this amazing opportunity!

I am very excited about this, as it will be my return to the Kassai track since 2023, when I shot my quiver world record on it together with James. For me, the Kassai track is an amazing track to train and compete on. Even if your main focus is on the IHAA tracks, I still believe this is an essential experience in your development to try at least once. The turning target gives you a much more direct connection with the target and completely changes the flow of shooting. For me, getting this feeling aligned has also been a game changer on the IHAA tower.

Apart from my own experience of getting to compete on the Kassai track again, at such a special place with very well trained horses, I am incredibly excited for my clinic. It’s going to be the first clinic I will teach on the American continent and a great opportunity to learn from me in such specialized facilities. It’s a rare opportunity to train with me during a multiday clinic, so if you’ve been wanting to do that, make sure to grab your spot now, places are filling up fast!

Want more info about the clinic? Shoot me a message!