JM Landels: Writer, Ritter, Wrangler

Like the Mastery program, we have five ranks within the Cavaliere program, denoted by Spurs: Green, Blue, Red, Silver and Gold.  To acquire each rank you need to be a triple threat, demonstrating your skill in Horsemanship, Riding and Mounted Combat.

Now that we’ve covered all the things you need to know and be able to do for the Horsemanship and Riding portions of the Green Spur we’ll move onto the Mounted Combat checklist.

To advance to the Green Spur you will need to be assessed in three areas:  Swordplay Skills from the Ground, Swordplay Knowledge, and Mounted Combat Knowledge.

Swordplay Skills from the Ground

Before we let you get on our horses and swing swords around we want to make sure you can use them competently from the ground.  Historically, a mounted knight also needed to know how to fight from the ground since being unhorsed in battle was extremely common.  For these reasons much of the Mounted Combat Workshop time is spent working on swordplay on foot.   To sign off this section you will need to demonstrate:

·         Proper stance and posture

·         Methods of movement: advance, retreat, sideways step, passing step, triangle step, pivot step

·         The three turns of the body: volta stabile, mezza volta, tutta volta

·         The eight cuts of the sword true and false

·         Cutting from the wrist, elbow, and shoulder

·         The three thrusts of the sword

·         Proper cutting mechanics and timing

·         Crossing the sword in front and behind

·         The three turnings of the sword: volta stabile, mezza volta, tutta volta

Swordplay Knowledge

For this section you will need to show a basic knowledge of weapon terminology and function, beyond which end to point at the enemy.  We will ask you to describe:

·         The anatomy of the cut and thrust sword

·         Two different types of cavalry sword

·         Three alternate types of mounted weapons

Mounted Swordplay Knowledge

This section is a bit more theoretical, and requires a basic understanding of the anatomy and gaits of the horse, the physics of delivering blows, and mechanics of a good seat.  You will need to describe:

·         The mechanics and timing of throwing a sword blow from horseback

·         Which sword blows can and should be thrown from horseback to a mounted rider and a fighter on the ground

·         The mechanics required to keep your seat when striking from horseback.

Next week I’ll begin to delve into the specifics of each requirement, starting with stance and posture.

The final item on the Riding Level 1 scoresheet is:

15. Demonstrate overall authority, safety & confidence

This is similar and related to the last point on the Horsemanship Level1 sheet:

11. Demonstrate safety and common sense when working around horses

In your riding test you will be marked on your habits from the ground as well as mounted, so before you read further, go back and review the Horse Sense post which covers safety and common sense from the ground.

In the ring you will not only have to show good spacing and ring manners as outlined last week, but will also need to demonstrate that you are in control of your horse, not the other way around.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

• You are able to keep your horse on the rail and make turns and changes of direction efficiently (see: Alphabet Soup and Rein-changing)
• You are able to maintain the required pace (see: Setting the Pace)
• You deal with disobedience promptly and humanely.  That is, a horse that does something wrong is corrected, not punished.
• The aids are used appropriately and in the correct order: hands & legs, then voice, then whips. (See: Setting the Pace and  Stick ’em up)

And here, for your amusement, are some of the things we are hoping not to see.

See the full gallery on Posterous

(These cartoons by are Norman Thelwell. If you haven’t read A Leg at Each Corner or any other of his works, do yourself a favour and find some copies now.) 

Bottom line is we want to make sure you are safe and in control of your horse before we let you in the ring with other people and with a sword in your hand, wooden or otherwise!

This concludes the series of posts dealing with the first Riding level.  If you’d like to review them all, you can click on the Riding Level 1 tag.  For Horsemanship, see the Horsemanship Level 1 tag.  Next week I’ll start going over the Mounted Combat checklist needed to acheive Green Spur rank.

Or rather, safety with numbers, is this week’s topic.  In other words, how do you

14.  Identify and maintain safe distance in group while riding and halted

It’s not enough to simply maintain the pace and direction of your own mount in relation to the fixed objects in the ring; you also need to be able to adjust your position in relation to other riders.  This applies to shows, lessons, and general group riding.  For level one you are not expected to ride your horse into combat interactions, which obviously require much closer spacing.

The Danger Zone

Horses are herd animals and prefer to be near one another, which means they will tend to clump together given their druthers.  However some horses have larger ‘personal bubbles’ than others and will kick, bite or shoulder aside horses that crowd them.  To avoid being kicked, always keep at least one horse length back from the rider in front of you, pass with a horse-length between you, and come back to the rail a horse-length in front.

The Speed Factor

Except in precision drill team work, there’s seldom a time when all horses in the ring move at the same speed.  This means your horse may catch up to the one in front of you.  When this happens you have several options.

1. Slow down to match the pace of the horse in front.  This is probably the hardest option, especially if you are a beginning rider.  It may also ruin the gait you are trying to work on or demonstrate in a lesson or show.
2. Pass on the inside, if there are no obstacles (such as jumps on the quarterline) in the way.   Only pass if you are considerably faster than the other horse. If your horse is only slightly faster you may spend too much time riding side by side, which means the instructor or judge has an obstructed view of the outside horse.
3. Make a 20m circle, which eats up time and allows you come back to the rail further behind the lead horse.  This is a good option for horses that are close to the same speed but have become clumped together.
4. Cut across the ring, for example from B to E.  This is usually the best choice as it completely removes you from the pack and takes you to a open part of the ring to work freely.
5. Halt or transition to a slower gait.  This is a last resort as it will cost you marks in the show ring, but sometimes due to obstacles in the ring and other riders crowding you, you may have no choice.  And it’s always better to break the gait than collide with or be kicked by the horse in front of you!

Think ahead

A good rider always has her eyes up, watching what’s going on in the ring.  See which horses are acting up or pinning their ears and avoid them.  Horses that are prone to kick should wear a red ribbon in their tails, but to be on the safe side, consider all horses potential kickers and ride accordingly.  If an instructor or judge asks for an up transition and you are in a crowd of riders you won’t lose marks for waiting till the other riders have moved off — rather you will gain them for showing good ring sense.

Getting Closer

As work your way toward combat interactions, notice your horse’s personality.  Does he pin his ears when another horse approaches?  A biter is more prone to turn towards a horse he doesn’t like; a kicker is more likely to swing her haunches towards a unfriendly horse.  Even the most submissive and quiet horse has defensive reactions and you will benefit by becoming aware of them now in order to work around them later.

Use good ring manners to maintain safe distances in the arena where possible, and be alert to the body language of your horse and the others around you to keep your ride safe, effective and enjoyable.

Sorry, it’s a dreadful pun, but I couldn’t resist.

The stirrup is arguably one of the most important inventions in the history of mounted warfare, and of riding in general.  The advent of the stirrup allowed a rider to mount more easily (making it feasible to wear heavier armour into battle), to rise out of the saddle and isolate his movement from that of the horse when necessary, and to recover his seat quickly when fighting in close contact with blows and grapples that may otherwise have ended in loss of balance or falls.

That said, an aid can easily become a crutch.  Almost every riding instructor will agree that the best way to develop a good seat is by riding without stirrups, and almost every rider will benefit from dropping them from time to time.  Only without stirrups can you train your legs and seat to respond naturally and intelligently to your horse’s movement.  Training without stirrups is also insurance against the time (and it happens to all of us) that you lose a stirrup mid-gallop.

This is why one of the things we test in Riding level 1 is your ability to regain your stirrups.  

13. Drop and retake stirrups at the walk

We’re looking for the ability to stay balanced in your tack without stirrups, and to retake them calmly by feel, reinserting your foot at the correct angle.  This means your little toe will be against the outside branch of your stirrup iron, and your weight will be on the ball of your foot, with the heel lower than the toe.

Drop and retake your stirrups periodically as you ride.  Not only is it a chance to loosen up the joints with some ankle rotations, it will improve your seat and your ability to regain your stirrups when you need to.  If Xenophon rode without stirrups, you can too!