More broadly, it refers to the entire class of mounted cavalry games involving pointed and edged weapons (lance and sword) on horseback, for which the term "equestrian skill-at-arms" is also used.

[1] In all accounts, the competitive sport evolved out of cavalry training exercises designed to develop cavaliers' prowess with the sword and lance from horseback.

However, whether tent pegging developed cavaliers' generic skills or prepared them for specific combat situations is unclear.

[2] According to the International Equestrian Federation, "most equestrian authorities are of the opinion that tent-pegging originated in the Indian subcontinent during the middle ages in the battlefields as a tactics used by the horsed cavalry against elephant mounted troops"[3] A cavalier able to precisely stab the highly sensitive flesh behind an elephant's toenail would cause the enemy elephant to rear, unseat his mahout, and possibly run amok, breaking ranks and trampling infantry.

The specific game of tent pegging has a mounted horseman riding at a gallop and using a sword or a lance to pierce, pick up, and carry away a small ground target (a symbolic tent peg) or a series of small ground targets.

[5] Today, tent pegging is practised around the world but is especially popular in Australia, India, Israel, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

[9] The pre-eminent tent pegging games remain centred in Asia and the Middle East, with the International Tent Pegging Championships and the continental Asian Games traditionally enjoying the highest number of competitors and participating states.

Essentially ITPF is very new and does and does not have full world recognition and not all countries which play tent pegging are its members.

Also ITPF is the largest equestrian body in the world that recognizes and governs tent pegging competitions.

[12][13] Tent pegging being primarily a foreign game from the Indian subcontinent, and was faded from the equestrian sports map of the US.

Following are the members of the federation, which include Oman, Pakistan, Yemen, India, Nepal, Tentpegging Germany, British Tent Pegging Association, Australian Tentpegging Federation, Afghanistan, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Norway, Sudan, Qatar, Netherlands Association for Mounted Skill-at-Arms 'Saint Georges' (NVBW), Namibia, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Iranian Tentpegging Association, Canada, Bahrain, and Denmark.

[15] South Africa won the event by a total of 758.5 points and clinch the enviable honour of being the first world champions.

Oman, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Australia, and the United Kingdom hosts the international championships regularly.

The "Asian & International Tent Pegging Championship" 2015 was held at Gautam Budh University, Gr.

The countries participated were India, Sudan, Oman, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Russia, United States, Pakistan, Great Britain, Lebanon and Germany.