A remote field in Bradford rumbles as a rider, resplendent in a crisp white shalwar kameez, pistachio-coloured waistcoat, turban and fan billowing upwards like peacock feathers, gallops on his horse towards a peg hammered into the ground. As the rider thunders closer to his target he lowers a long lance, impaling the peg seconds later with a jubilant roar. “Four points, clap!” a commentator cries in Urdu.
Teams across the country – all from the Pakistani diaspora – have gathered to compete at a national competition for neza bazi, or tent pegging. It is a centuries-old cavalry sport renowned across south Asia that is becoming increasingly popular in the UK.
