HORSE BOW REVIEW: A Comparison

The XL Scythian Recurve bow

Very soon after I knew that archery was going to become a long-term obsession, I became drawn to horse bows. They look beautiful, they do not require a stringer to set them up, they are relatively small and therefore easy to take around compared to other one-piece bows, they can be used by left or right handed archers, and they are easier to pull than other bows of equal power. That being said, it is not easy to become accurate with such a weapon. Therein lies the challenge and the fun of the horse bow, with or without a horse.

My Scythian horse bow with bow quiver,
bamboo arrows, and a cycle for a horse.

My first horse bow was the XL Scythian Recurve Bow from Merlin Archery, which pulls 30-35 ibs. An attractive fiberglass bow wrapped in leather, with a price tag just over £125, it is an excellent choice for a first horse bow. It is extremely easy to pull. 30-35 ibs feels like 20, and it is surprisingly powerful, at least up to 20 yards. One little niggle is the arrow pass on the left side of the bow handle. I am pleased this is there to prevent the leather being destroyed by the arrow, but 1) it assumes the archer is right-handed (I want to donate this bow to a left-handed archer), and 2) it assumes the archer, even if right-handed, will be placing his arrow on the left side of the bow. Considering some archers of the Eastern persuasion place the arrow on the right side, I do not see why they could not have placed an arrow pass on either side, as is the case with the Istvan Toth Tatar bow. 

Istvan Toth Tatar bow

My latest horse bow is a 45 ib horse bow which I acquired through Amazon. The price tag was around the same as the Scythian bow, only included in the price were six arrows (superb quality self-nocked wooden arrows with broad head tips), an arm bracer and a finger guard. The arrows alone are worth around £50. The cheap cost and the photos gave me doubts, but the glowing reviews gave me hope, so I took a risk, and I am glad I did. It is a beautiful bow and it performs extremely well. The wooden siyahs (limb tips) are excellently designed, keeping the string securely in place when strung, and making it very easy to keep the string from twisting when unstrung. While I have yet to use it enough to determine the durability of the leather wrapping, it looks attractive, and the handle is designed so as to proffer some indication of the position of the shooting hand while protecting the bow from the arrow when shooting. There is no arrow pass, and so it easily lends itself to shooting from either side and is equally usable for right and left handed archers. 

Mongolian pigskin bow

While there must be better horse bows out there, this combination set from Amazon is real value for money. If you are new to archery or to horse bows, I would suggest beginning with the Scythian bow from Merlin. When you are ready for a higher poundage, I can not recommend the Mongolian pig skin bow and matching arrows from Longbowmaker highly enough.