Scott Miller will experience the joy of that this weekend when Tamworth hosts the International Tentpegging Federation World Cup Qualifier.

Miller will join Tamworth Tentpegging Club team-mates Bryson Roser, Barry Biffin and Todd Carey, and Victoria’s Donna Davidson in the green and gold as they attempt to earn Australia an invitation to compete at the ITPF World Cup in Moscow, Russia, later in the year.

“It is going to be very memorable,” Miller said.

The 41-year old, who hails from Ebor originally but has lived in Tamworth since he was about five, started ‘pegging’ about four years ago after being introduced to the sport by current national team coach Wayne Biffin.

He was at the time playing horseball.

Enjoying a long association with horse sports, first through pony club and later campdrafting, Miller said one of the things he loves most about tentpegging is the camaraderie. 

He also spoke about the unique nature of being a team sport but also an individual sport. 

There is also little room for subjectivity. You either get the peg or you don’t. 

“When you’re campdrafting you’re relying on someone else’s opinion to judge just how good you are,” Miller said.

He still competes in campdrafts, although as he jokingly pointed out he just really makes a donation.

The Aussies will compete against teams from Bahrain, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, India and Pakistan for a qualifying spot. 

“We’ll be trying our best, leaving it all out there,” Miller said.

His first time competing internationally, he is keen to see the standard of the international competitors.

“They are all very good. Here it’s a very small sport. Over there it’s like Gipps Street on a Saturday morning,” he said.

In Pakistan and India, tentpegging is one of their major sports, Biffin [Barry] said.

The UAE team is meanwhile financed by a royal family member.

Also the Australian Tentpegging Association president, Biffin has long been pushing for Australia to host a World Cup Qualifier.

“I think it is a bit of a coup,” he said.

“We’ve had international teams before but never had three at once.”

He said it will be a great chance to showcase the sport to a new audience.

While it’s origins can be traced back to the Australian Light Horse, little is known about the sport to those outside it.

Described as an equestrian sport based on the military, teams of four riders gallop in unison past four pegs, which can be either 40 or 60cm wide, in the ground, with points awarded for both retrieving the peg with either a sword or a lance, as well as team drill. 

In selecting the Australian team, Wayne said they considered performances over the last couple of years as well as their ability to ride other horses.

So what makes a good tentpegger?

“You have to be good rider, that’s number one, and you’ve got to have good hand eye coordination,” Biffin said.

The action gets underway at the Paceway Tamworth from 9am on Saturday.