I created Horse Boarding Finder to answer a simple question: Who has available space for my horse? In the United States, that service is called horse boarding. In Britain, it is livery. The word horseboarding was already being used for the sport when I bought the domain horseboarding.com. A search for that name brings up accommodation for horses, and the same search brings up a person on a board being pulled across a showground by a galloping horse.

This article is about the second thing. Horseboarding is a British team sport in which a ridden horse tows a person on an off-road board. Teams compete on speed and control, with the boarder holding a tow handle and trying to stay upright as the horse moves around the course.

I hadn’t come across the sport before, but the more I read about it, the more interesting it became. I’m approaching it as an outsider, using historical BBC reports, interviews with the sport’s founder, newspaper features, and information published by the sport’s organizers. Some accounts disagree on the dates and speeds, and I’ll try to make those differences clear.

How Horseboarding Began

The exact origin story depends on which account you read.

The 2004 Account

In a BBC interview, Daniel Fowler-Prime said the idea began in 2004 after an afternoon spent schooling a friend’s horses. During that afternoon, a friend tied a rope to a car and rode a mountainboard while being pulled around a field. Fowler-Prime began thinking about what it would be like to replace the car with a horse. He developed the idea with his brother, Tom Kilroy.

The BBC identifies Fowler-Prime as being from Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire, but doesn’t establish that the field where the idea took shape was there.

The 2006 Account

A Daily Mail feature published in March 2011 gives a different year and location. It says Fowler-Prime came up with the sport in 2006 on a friend’s farm in Devon.

The article also describes his background as a professional stunt rider, with credits involving productions such as The Da Vinci Code and Kingdom of Heaven. He also had experience with skating and surfing, which helped inspire the idea.

The First Competitions

Fowler-Prime has said the first competition took place in 2008. He also recalled that the sport began with 13 rules, which eventually expanded into two books.

That same year, a meeting in Skegness brought together horseboarding and a related activity called horse surfing, in which a horse tows a person on a surfboard.

By 2011, newspaper coverage was promoting what it described as the UK’s first national horseboarding championships, featuring a 100-meter course.

The different dates don’t necessarily describe the same milestone. One may refer to the original idea, another to the first competition, and another to the national championship format.

The Courses and Championship Circuit

Horseboarding competitions have used different course formats, including straight races and more technical arena courses.

Two formats described in the sport’s coverage are:

  1. The Drag: A straight 100-meter dash focused on speed.
  2. Arena Boarding: A course that tests control and accuracy, with teams weaving through cones set six meters apart and racing against the clock.

By 2016, the sport had developed into a national championship series. BBC Sport reported 36 teams competing across nine rounds, with a junior team competition added that year.

A Living Heritage Country Shows listing describes competition classes at three levels: Novice, Intermediate, and Elite. Intermediate and Elite competitors earn points toward the championship.

The sport can be challenging for both the horse and boarder. Fowler-Prime has described competitions where there can be crash after crash. Completing four out of six runs would count as a successful day.

When teams finish close together, even a small mistake or a poor line through the course can make the difference. The Living Heritage listing says finishing margins were often less than a second.

The Horses and International Appearances

According to Fowler-Prime, horses in the Elite class tend to be former racehorses, showjumpers, and polo ponies. But breed alone doesn’t determine whether a horse is suitable. Temperament and willingness to work with the boarder matter, too.

Although horseboarding began in Britain, it has also appeared at events in other countries. Horse & Hound reported on a trip to the Odense Horse Show in Denmark, where teams competed. A February 2020 Living Heritage Country Shows listing also noted that teams had raced in Holland, Denmark, and Germany.

Three Jobs, One Tow Rope

A horseboarding team has three participants working together: a horse, a rider, and a boarder.

  • The Horse: Provides the power to pull the boarder around the course.
  • The Rider: Controls the horse, chooses the line through the course, and manages its speed.
  • The Boarder: Stands on a mountainboard, a board similar to a skateboard, holds the tow handle, and follows the horse’s movements. A BBC beginner’s guide from August 2016 says boarders get riding lessons before taking part in the sport.

The connection between the horse and boarder relies on specialized equipment. Horseboarding UK sells a full harness set that includes:

  • A saddle harness.
  • A safety belt.
  • A safety leash.
  • A tow rope.
  • A panic release and snap shackle.

Horseboarding UK also states that competition requires its official harness.

How Fast Is Horseboarding?

The published speeds vary, and the figures don’t always describe the same type of measurement.

  • 20 to 30 mph: Reported by BBC News during the 2016 national championships.
  • 28 mph: Cited by BBC Sport as an average speed.
  • 35 mph: Reported by the Daily Mail, which described teams reaching that speed within a few strides.
  • 40 mph: Published in a BBC beginner’s guide as a world-record speed.

These figures come from different reports and don’t necessarily describe the same type of run or measurement. They give an indication of the speeds associated with the sport, but they shouldn’t be treated as directly comparable records.

Separating the Shared Names

The similar names can be confusing, but they refer to two very different things:

  • Horse boarding (two words): In the United States, this generally refers to keeping a horse at someone else’s facility, where the owner pays for stall space, pasture, and any agreed care services. In the UK, the comparable arrangement is commonly called livery.
  • Horseboarding (one word): A British team sport in which a horse tows a person riding an off-road mountainboard.

Horse Boarding Finder is built for the first meaning. It’s a free map that helps horse owners find facilities with available stalls, pasture, and paddock spaces. In the UK, that means helping people find livery yards with space available.

If you’re looking for somewhere to keep your horse, you can explore the map. If you’re interested in the sport, Horseboarding UK is the place to look for competition information and equipment.

Sources & Further Reading

The reports and pages cited in this article are listed here for readers who want to look at the details themselves.