Below the pocket schedules are the course descriptions. To choose your sessions, please complete the registration form. Note that to complete your registration you will have to purchase a Carosella one-day or three-day pass on our workshops page.
Friday Sessions
Intro to Mounted Combat
10am - 12:30pm
Instructors: Ben Davis & Jennifer Landels
Level: Beginner
Prerequisites: none
Never ridden a horse or swung a sword? No problem! In this two and a half hour workshop you will learn longsword fundamentals from the ground, and have a group riding lesson that includes handling a sword from horseback. This class is also recommended for experienced swordsmen with little or no horse experience, and experienced riders who have done little or no sword work.
Equine First Aid
10:30am – 12:00pm
Instructor: Isabel Landels
Level: All
Prerequisites: none
What are the signs of colic, laminitis, tying up, and other common ailments of the horse? What are the different types of wounds, and how do you treat them? What is the normal temperature, pulse and respiration of a horse? Learn to take when to call the vet and what to do until she gets there in this essential information-packed session.
Working Equitation
Demo: 1:30 – 2:00pm
Clinic: 2:00 – 4:00pm
Instructor: Darcy Henkel
Level: Beginner
Prerequisites: Riding Level 1 or equivalent
Watch experienced Working Equitation students work their horses through of an ease-of-handling course, then try your hand at the obstacles under the guidance of West Coast Working Equitation’s Darcy Henkel.
Fighting from the Falsemount
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Instructor: Ben Davis
Level: Beginner
Prerequisites: Intro to Mounted Combat recommended but not necessary
Practise swordplay and grappling from the safety of our wooden horses. Absolutely no buck, bolt, or bite!
Beginner Horsemanship
3:00 - 4:30
Instructor: Eleanor Landels
Level: Beginner
Prerequisites: none
Learn how to lead, groom, handle, and tack up a horse safely with Pony Club B level stable management expert Eleanor Landels.
Mounted Sparring
3:00 – 4:00pm
Instructor: Devon Boorman
Level: Intermediate
Prerequisites: Green Spur or Equivalent
Tune-up for the Green Spur tournament with drills and guided sparring from Devon Boorman of Academie Duello.
Beginner Riding
4:30 – 6:00pm
Instructor: Isabel Landels
Level: Beginner
Prerequisites: none
Take a beginner riding class to set you on your way to becoming a rider. If you used to ride long ago but need a tune-up, this class is also for you!
Prix Fiore
4:30 – 6:00pm
Instructor: Jennifer Landels
Level: Intermediate
Prerequisites: Riding Level 2
A Prix Fiore test is a dressage test which includes sword forms and jumping. Similar to working equitation, it is designed to test the skills of both the mounted combatant and her horse. For a more complete description, see this blog post. This workshop is designed for riders comforatable with canter and low jumps, though more beginner riders may be allowed into the workshop, space permitting.
Fiore’s Single-handed Longsword
4:30 – 6:00pm
Instructor: Devon Boorman
Level: All
Prerequisites: a basic familiarity with longsword is helpful but not mandatory
Working from the ground you will develop and refine your technique with the quintessential knight’s weapon, the longsword, focussing on the use of the sword in one hand. Plays will include strategies for defeating the opponent’s sword from multiple guards in near and off side passes, while protecting your mounts.
Riding Assessments
6:00 – 7:00pm
Instructor: Eleanor Landels
Level: Riders with prior experience
This is a chance for experienced riders outside the program to have an informal riding assessment to qualify for further workshops and the tournament.
Saturday Sessions
Beginner Horse Archery
10am - 1pm
Instructor: Robert Borsos
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Prerequisites: none
The mounted archers of Eastern Europe and Asia were a force to be feared with good reason. The history and techniques of Hungarian mounted archery have been preserved and come to us via Borsos Torz Horse Archery Club. In this workshop you will learn the differences in draw between mounted and unmounted archery, do ground exercises to strengthen and steady the body for greater speed and accuracy and learn to shoot with the Kassai horsebow from the ground, and from horseback.
Bandaging
10am – 11am
Instructor: Isabel Landels
Level: All
Prerequites: none
The ability to apply a good stable bandage is a valued skill for anyone working around horses. Learn about different types of bandages and their uses, and get hands on practice applying bandages under the expert guidance of a Pony Club alumna.
Intro to Gatka
11:30am – 1:00pm
Instructor: Gatka Federation of Canada
Level: All
Prerequisites: none
Learn the basics of this Indian martial art, practiced by the Sikh community.
Conformation & Unsoundness
12:00pm – 1:00pm
Instructor: Eleanor Landels
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Prerequisites: none
How can you tell if a horse is built for it’s job? Will it stay sound, or is its conformation inclined towards injury and unsoundness in later life. Learn how to identify a well-built, functional horse, and how to spot the signs of possible trouble simply by looking at a horse’s anatomy.
Classical Riding Lecture & Clinics
1:00pm – 2:00pm – Lecture
2:00pm – 4:00pm – Clinics
Instructor: Sherry Levaäho
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Prerequisites: minimum of Riding Level 1
We’re delighted to welcome back Sherry from Levaäho-Peters Academic Riding to give us a lunchtime lecture on the principles of classical dressage, followed by individual half hour private and semi-private sessions. There are only a few of these spaces available so be sure to reserve yours soon.
Hungarian Archery from the Ground
2pm – 3pm
Instructor: Robert Borsos
Level: Beginner - Advanced
Prerequisites: none
Here's your chance to try your luck at shooting flying discs, adopt unorthodox positions such as lying down, and practise your reload and aim while moving, all from the ground.
Cutting Workshop
2:00pm – 3:30pm
Instructor: Ben Davis
Level: All
Prerequisites: some experience with sword recommended.
Learn to cut with sharp swords! In this workshop Benjamin Davis of Academie Duello will help you improve your cutting mechanics to deliver clean and powerful cuts – which you can test out on tatami mats. Participants can purchase tatami mats ahead of time or on site for $25, though reserving ahead of time is highly recommended.
Intermediate Horse Archery
3:00pm – 5:30pm
Instructor: Robert Borsos
Level: Beginner - Advanced
Prerequisites: Beginner Horseback Archery, and Riding 1 or equivalent.
A continuation of Beginner Horseback Archery, designed for those who took the course in the morning, or at a previous workshop. A chance to do more shooting from horseback, adding in canter for those who are ready for it.
Prix Fiore
3:30 – 4:30pm
Instructor: Jennifer Landels
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Prerequisites: Riding Level 2 or higher
An opportunity to further refine and add to the Prix Fiore pattern worked on in the Friday session. Riders who missed Friday can still join in.
Beginner Horsemanship II
3:30 – 4:30pm
Instructor: Isabel Landels
Level: Beginner
Prerequistes: none
Add to the knowledge you gained on Friday with parts of the horse, saddlery, and basic feeding, plus more practise time grooming and tacking.
Mounted Games
4:30 – 6:00pm
Instructors: Eleanor Landels & Isabel Landels
Level: Beginner - Advanced
Prerequisites: Riding level 1 or equivalent
Mounted Games are an age-old training device for cavalry of all eras. This session provides a chance to practise these mounted games of skill before Sunday’s tournament, with coaching from Prince Philip Games Masters. Riders must have Riding level 1 or an equivalent certification, or have been assessed earlier if using school horses.
Sunday Competitions
Grooms’ Competition
Judges: Isabel Landels & Eleanor Landels
Level: All
Prerequisites: Horsemanship 1, or own horse
Teams of two will compete to turn out the best groomed horse in 45 minutes prior to the mounted competition. Competitors will be marked on their own and the horse’s turnout, correct fitting of tack, efficiency and overall impression. School horses provided. Competitors may state partner and/or horse preference when registering; individual entries will be paired.
Mounted Team Games
Level: Riding Level 1 and up
Divisions: Beginner, Intermediate, Open
Prerequisites: Riding 1 or equivalent, or own horse
Teams of 2-4 riders will race against the clock to complete relays of skill-at-arms games. Teams will be assigned to facilitate shared horses.
Longsword, Sidesword, and Rapier Tournaments
Level: All
See this document for the tournament rulesets
Horse Archery
Level: Riding Level 1 and up
Divisions: Open
Prerequisites: Riding 1 and Intermediate Horse Archery
Unmounted Games & Archery
Level: All
Prerequisites: None
No horse? No problem. Enter our relay foot races and speed-shooting competition from the ground.
Open to: anyone
Format: Relay race versions of the mounted games, as well as speed-shooting archery competition. Teams are assisgned on a random basis. Participants may sign up ahead of time or on the day of the tournament.
Individual Mounted Games
Level: Beginner, Intermediate and Open
Prerequisites: Riding level 1 or equivalent, or own horse
Like the team games, these races are timed. However, riders are competing individually
Green Spur Tournament
Level: Green Spur rank and up
Prerequisites: Cavaliere Program members who have achieved the rank of Green Spur or higher
See this document for the tournament rules.
Jennifer Landels heads up Academie Duello's Cavaliere Program. She has been swordfighting since 2008, and riding since before she could walk. She started the program as an excuse to combine those passions.