If you would like to find out about training with her look on our page titled Clinics to find out where our next events in Australia and New Zealand are being held.
Katrina is a HSA Advanced Senior Riding Instructor with over 30 years teaching experience in many disciplines including Working Equitation, Dressage, Jumping, Medieval Skill at Arms, Jousting and of course Horse Archery. She is fully insured and is one of only two instructors in Australia to meet the AHAA’s criteria for recommendation as a Horse Archery instructor in this country.
Katrina essentially founded the sport in Australia in 2011 (and New Zealand in 2014). After performing in the first horse archery displays and running the first competition in 2010, she decided this sport was just too much fun and started running clinics for those who asked, through her school’s Medieval Horse Sports Australia and Horse Archery Australia.
As a result, this sport is now growing rapidly around Australia and New Zealand.
Medieval Horse Sports and Horse Archery are some of the most fun sports in the world that you can learn from Australias leading Horse Archery Instructor Katrina Kruse. Not only is she a three time World Horseback Archery Championships Gold Medalist but is also the trainer of all past and present State and National Champions of this sport in Australia plus all the World Championships Medalists from Australia.
Katrina is also an accomplished jouster in Australia having won the prestigious Abbey International Joust Tournament within the first 12 months of her starting jousting, placed second at both AROW events held in QLD held by the Order of the Gryphon and recently acquitted herself very well with a second place in the Keith Ryal Memorial Tournament in Victoria. To top it off she is the creator and troupe leader of The Knights of Camelot and a main jouster with Company of the Gryphon.
Whilst Medieval Horse Sports Australia was started with the aim to teach all the disciplines we offer, it is Horse Archery that has taken off here in Australia and around the world and where the demand for clinics and competitions are. Horse Archery Australia was created as a result.
Katrina specialises in training people who have never picked up a bow (or lance) before, with horses that have never seen one before either, and taking them as far as their dreams can fly in this sport. Her training methods are simple and effective with safety being utmost in everything she does and teaches.
About Katrina
In 2011 an invitation was offered to compete in Japan and it opened Katrina's eyes to the sport on a global scale. She has since competed in 4 countries, winning numerous medals and awards including 3 Gold and a Silver over three World Championship events held annually in Korea
Her International participation and success has resulted in her becoming Australias most recognised Horse Archer around the globe, which has opened up many doors with competition invitations and training with the best of the best, including two world champions.
All of this culminating to grow the sport downunder as she brings what she has learnt home to her students, or invites those instructors to come here to teach at our amazing Aussie Bow Camps, held annually.
In a major drive to grow the sport Katrina ran the first competitions in five Australian States plus on each island of NZ, has run three of the four AHAA National Championships to date, set up the Australian Horse Archery Association (AHAA), was a founding member of the International Horseback Archery Alliance (IHAA) and is currently on the Board and all sub committees for this very influential International body. Katrina has run all of Australias International and Open competitions.
She also wrote the rules for the very popular Aussie Track plus the Walk & Trot grades and classes and promoted the grass roots of the sport all over the world culminating with the IHAA accepting walk and trot gradings in 2017 and other countries running the slower grass roots grades at their competitions. Katrina is very proud of this achievement as it was a much harder slog than she could of imagined at first.
Over the years three International Competitions have been held here in Australia, wowing some of the largest crowds in the world to ever witness Horse Archery. Katrina and her partner Glen Percy are powerhouses at organising these events, like Yabusame on the Beach, held in front of 5000 spectators on the beautiful Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas, Far North Queensland.
In 2017 over 100,000 spectators watched the best in the country plus two times World Champion Norbert Kopczynski (from Poland) perform for 10 nights at the Brisbane Royal EKKA Nites show, plus added performances at the largest Medieval festival in the Southern Hemisphere, Abbey MF, to her already hectic schedule
There is no doubt as to her passion, drive and dedication for the sport of Horse Archery, with her students success also proof that not only can she do it but she can teach it.
Ninety five percent of the Aussies competing internationally have also been trained by her, with 2017 seeing the largest teams of Australians to compete overseas with 6 riders in two separate events in Japan and 6 riders at the World Championships including our first juniors.
Besides herself, all other Aussie medal winners at the World Championships have been Katrina’s students.
Along with all of this activity over the years she started breeding Friesian Warmbloods, the first being her wonderful Black Pinto, Merlin. He features in many of these photos and his stunning good looks make him a stand out everywhere he goes.
Merlin has since sired seven foals of which Katrina has kept two. Merlins first foal, D'artagnan is all grown up now and a wonderful performance horse (seen here at EKKA Nites ridden by Norbert) plus D, as he is affectionately known, is the schools horse, teaching many kids and adults Horse Archery and Skill at Arms. He has started his competitive jousting career in 2019. Keep an eye out for those photos.
One of Katrina's passions is undoubtedly jousting, and whilst by its nature it won't become a mainstream sport like Horse Archery has, we often hold clinics and competitions in Skill at Arms and Novice Jousting.
When her hectic schedule of Clinics, Competitions, travel and organising it all allows, Katrina still gets out with her Thoroughbred mare Dreamer and the boys, Merlin and D'artagnan, to joust at tournaments plus with our Knights of Camelot performance troupe and the Company of the Gryphon.
A highlight for her is being a guest jouster at Austrlalias only medieval theme park, Kryal Castle, in Victoria. In 2019 she came second in their annual Keith Ryal Memorial Tournament.
