Gemma DiFerdinando, a longtime Taos resident, raises her bow while on horseback. She recently received a bronze medal in the eighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts. āHorses are magical,ā DiFerdinando said. ā... Itās just a phenomenal sport.ā Courtesy of Gemma DiFerdinando
Taos resident Gemma DiFerdinando, fourth from right, won third place in the°®¶¹appeighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts.°®¶¹app
Gemma DiFerdinando, who won a bronze medal from the eighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts, with her daughters Venah, left, and Namane, right, at their ranch in El Prado. āNew Mexico is one of the most amazing states in the USA,ā DiFerdinando said.
Gemma DiFerdinando, a longtime Taos resident, raises her bow while on horseback. She recently received a bronze medal in the eighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts. āHorses are magical,ā DiFerdinando said. ā... Itās just a phenomenal sport.ā Courtesy of Gemma DiFerdinando
Courtesy of Gemma DiFerdinando
Taos resident Gemma DiFerdinando, fourth from right, won third place in the°®¶¹appeighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts.°®¶¹app
Courtesy of Gemma DiFerdinando
Gemma DiFerdinando reaches for her quiver at the°®¶¹appeighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts.
Courtesy of Gemma DiFerdinando
Gemma DiFerdinando, who won a bronze medal from the eighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts, with her daughters Venah, left, and Namane, right, at their ranch in El Prado. āNew Mexico is one of the most amazing states in the USA,ā DiFerdinando said.
Shooting an arrow off the back of a racing horse is easier than you might think, said Gemma DiFerdinando.
āWhen youāre shooting an arrow, itās really all about your breath,ā DiFerdinando said. āItās about inhaling and exhaling. Exhaling when you pull back the string, inhaling when you shoot. It helps you to engage your core and it helps to engage your eyes so you can follow the arrow through to hit the target.ā
The Taos resident is celebrating a bronze medal from the eighth annual Korea Masangmuye Championship of Horseback Martial Arts. Over a three-day period in Daegaya Goryeong, South Korea, she competed against 51 people from nine different countries in several different shooting competitions, including ground archery, shooting from a horse-drawn wagon and shooting from horseback. She won gold in Bosa ground archery, an event that involves shooting five arrows from different stances at a 25-meter distance at three different targets ā all within 50 seconds.
Falls are inevitable in the sport. But itās about how you get back on the horse ā literally.
āWe just fall, and we just keep going,ā DiFerdinando said. āI think thatās a big lesson. It also teaches you about balance. I worked a lot with people in behavioral health and drug addiction. When I put them on a horse, and I put a bow and arrow in their hand ... it creates this adrenaline for them that is more powerful than any drug or alcohol.ā
DiFerdinando runs the Wumaniti Earth Native Sanctuary, a wildlife conservation ranch in El Prado where she teaches horseback archery and survival skills. She ran a free equine therapy program on the land from 2006 to 2021.
Horses saved her life, DiFerdinando said. She grew up on the East Coast, hanging around the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. While recovering from traumatic childhood experiences, DiFerdinando sought that adrenaline rush from mounted archery. Her °®¶¹app is to reconnect people with nature.
After catching two wild horses roaming the Taos area in the early 2000s, DiFerdinando has grown her herd to about 20 horses, many of them rescues. Sheās interested in growing her teaching program.
āHorses are magical,ā DiFerdinando said. ā... Itās just a phenomenal sport. Itās a rite of passage, and people are craving that.ā
Over the past few years, sheās traveled to countries all over the world, including Mongolia, South Africa, Taiwan, France, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to participate in competitions, performances and ceremonies.
The preparation is intense.
Before the October competition, DiFerdinando trained for months, shooting around 300 arrows four times a week and riding every day.
Shooting an arrow off a horse is easier when the rider is constantly standing, DiFerdinando said, making core, leg, and arm strength, as well as balance, essential.
But mental and spiritual preparation is a big part too. DiFerdinando also practices tai chi and qigong, a traditional Chinese practice that melds meditation and physical movement. Meditation and visualization are part of her training ā after several falls, DiFerdinando visited a hypnotherapist to get over the fear.
āThe mental preparation is huge,ā DiFerdinando said. āYou have to remember to breathe; you have to be one with your horse.ā
When DiFerdinando mounted the podium in South Korea, she wore a deel, a traditional Mongolian garment made by her āsoul sister,ā a shaman who makes most of the regalia for DiFerdinandoās horse archery club. But she also hoisted a New Mexican flag.
āNew Mexico is one of the most amazing states in the USA,ā DiFerdinando said. ā... New Mexico has been my home for the last 22 years. Iām now considered a TaoseƱa, and I built a life and legacy here.ā
DiFerdinandoās 10-year-old daughter is a member of the Taos Pueblo. A hoop dancer, her daughter performed in Korea during the tournament and also competed in the youth archery competition, winning a silver medal in ground archery. Her 17-year-old daughter also helped the two train.
āWhat got me this win was honestly wanting to see my daughter win,ā DiFerdinando said. āPushing her is what I believe got me this one. ... I was so proud. That energy of just seeing my daughter winning made me want to win.ā
