Cooperative Living April 2022 - 13

COOPERATIVE FOCUS
Rob Adams checks for
the elusive bullseye.
everybody tries to work it out so people
can compete. "
MORE THAN TARGET PRACTICE
Prince made a ver fi ne unicorn; a
simulated one, of course. Rob attached a
horn to the horse's head so Prince could
play the part of a unicorn as a young girl
was treated to her wish of becoming a
fairy princess for a day.
Heart of a Warrior has a youth
animals, she is engaging in one ofthe
world's oldest forms ofmartial arts.
Seventh-century B.C. Assyrian
warriors are generally considered the
world's first horse archers, having
ditched chariots during warfare in favor
of something faster and nimbler.
Arwen is decidedly less imposing
than the Assyrians, slight of stature,
diffident toward breakfast, intrigued by
math and engineering, and sporting a
black Venom T-shirt that showcases one
of her favorite Marvel comic antiheros.
Not long after she got Prince, she
came across a flyer in a tack store in
Tennessee advertising a clinic held by
Elizabeth Tinnan, one of the top names
nationally in horse archery, who is now
a mentor. And the warrior label became
just as applicable 28 centuries later.
Arwen rides for Heart of a Warrior
Mounted Archery, a club and nonprofit
that she and her family founded to
promote the empowering nature of the
sport. It's one of about three dozen clubs
under the umbrella of the Mounted
Archery Association of America, which
endorses and sponsors tournaments and
training events across the country.
Heart of a Warrior held it fi rst major
competitive event April 2-3 in Doswell,
Va., with nationally ranked archers from
across the U.S. competing in shooting
and riding events at Meadow Event Park,
fittingly the birthplace of Secretariat, the
co-opliving.com
great Triple Crown champion.
The permutations are endless, but
most mounted archery courses are 90
meters. Using a traditional bow, Arwen
can unload six shots in that distance at
ground and tower targets - three from
the front, one from the side and two
facing rear.
In addition to marksmanship, horses
accumulate points depending on how
fast they travel; 14 seconds is the
threshold. They get a speed bonus that
can be multiplied
depending on how
many targets their
riders hit.
Th re is a
component that the Adamses started in
Tennessee and brought with them to
Virginia - using farm animals in a
therapeutic way to empower kids with
particular needs.
Rob, a strategic manager for an
animal health company, had experience
with animals and with giving. He did
overseas mission work for about eight
years in places like Malaysia and
Indonesia, where he helped to develop
ecotourism programs.
" Part of that was working with
tradeoff between
speed and accuracy,
considering that
riders are trying to
aim a bow while using their knees as
shock absorbers to minimize movement.
The sport is egalitarian, too; no special
breed mount is required. " We've seen
people with mules, " says Angie Adams,
Arwen's mother and de facto
administrator of the club.
It adds up to a sense of community.
At an event, if a rider lacks a horse,
there's always one available for loan or
rent. " We were in Florida with a lady
from California who borrowed a horse
so she could ride, " Angie says. " That's
one of the things we like about it -
" I fell in love with it, I stuck
with the sport, I'm still doing
it and I love doing it. "
- Arwen Adams
orangutans, turtles, sea turtles and things
like that. What I became infamous for,
and this may be where Arwen gets it, was
catching crocodiles and relocating them, "
he laughs. " We
actually caught over
a hundred crocodiles
and relocated them
while I was there. "
Now, the Adamses
work one-on-one
with youths who
visit the farm to hug
friendly mini donkeys, listen to geese
squawk and check out tortoises, turkeys,
iguanas and Irish wolfhounds. Children
with challenges dress up as cowboys and
princesses, and just about everything
in between. Arwen says the nonprofit
honors her late grandfather, who also
had a small, charitable foundation.
" I think our animals, in general, can
empower people and the word empower
just became so central to what we do, "
Rob says. " We're not certified therapists.
(continued on page 12)
April 2022 ●
Cooperative Living ●
11
PHOTOS BY STEVEN JOHNSON
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living April 2022

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