A group of Birmingham taxi-drivers swapped their cabs for horseback and lances as they displayed the art of tent pegging at the English Heritage Festival of History last weekend (16-17 July).
The sport involves picking up a tiny white wooden peg from the ground with a seven-foot metal-tipped lance at the gallop.
Prince Malik’s Lancers was founded by Gulbahar Khan, originally from Kashmir but now a city cab driver living in Erdington, two years and a half years ago.
He started keeping horses here about 30 years ago before a team consisting of three other cabbies — his brother Gulzar Khan, Arshad Moheemd and Massart Abbas — was formed.
Alan Larsen, events consultant with English Heritage and a former lancer with the British Army display team, said: “These guys really are top tent peggers.
“They perform in the traditional manner over long distances at an un-sanitised flat-out gallop.
“Riding a variety of breeds, they line up and go like stink over a couple of hundred yards before picking the tiny wooden peg.
“When they perform it gives the Great British public a reminder of the imperial origins of this sport, and an exhilarating show.
“And, at the end of the day, these are the guys you would normally see driving your cab.”
