Horsemanship Level 3: Saddlery As a Level 2 Horseman you were asked to be able to tack up independently with properly adjusted tack. For the most part this entails doing up the girth and throatlatch to the holes that show the most wear on your horse's saddle. If everything else is straight and in the…
Unless you plan to do all your equine activities within a few miles of your stable, you will eventually have to deal with trailering horses. For level 3 we don't expect you to demonstrate hauling, but we do want you to: Describe how to lead in and out of a trailer There are many videos…
Horsemanship 3 - Stall & Pasture The first thing you will be asked on the Level 3 practical test is to Describe good and bad features of a horse’s pasture & stall. You can read chapters 14 and 15 of the Manual of Horsemanship for an in depth look at desirable aspects of stables and…
We’re about halfway in our walk through the Blue Spur curriculum, and now it’s time to turn our attention back to Horsemanship. For the next couple of months the blog will look at the requirements for Horsemanship Level 3. Whereas Level 2 was simply a more in-depth version of the Level 1 topics, in Level…
The last item on the falsemount checklist for the Blue Spur is Demonstrate the mounted combat guards and show their use. To review the 13 mounted combat guards take a quick look at this video: You don't need to know all the many uses of each guard, or the alternate names, but should be able…
If you are going to spend any time on horseback one thing is guaranteed: at some point you will fall off. This is inevitable, and most horse-wisdom agrees that you must eat dirt a minimum number of times before you're considered a rider. One way to make this inevitability less traumatic, both physically and mentally,…
Read More... from The Short Fall: Falling from the Falsemount
Just as grappling can be done from the saddle, so can disarms. For the Blue Spur you will need to show how to: Conduct three disarms from the falsemount at the halt and in motion "In motion" means at the walk. Disarms are typically conducted when riders are at a standstill or their horses are…
In any knight's career there is likely to come a time when you find yourself deprived of your sword. No matter, grappling is a valid and common tactic from the saddle. For the blue spur you need to demonstrate how to: Conduct three grapples from the falsemount at the halt and in motion The three…
The second checklist item in the Swordplay from the Falsemount section is: Demonstrate proper defences and counter-attacks to all attacks from in-front on the far and near side. In this section we are looking for the ability to deal with descending, rising, and horizontal attacks on either side of the horse, performing core defences of…
Blue Spur Curriculum: Cutting from the Falsemount What is a falsemount? Our falsemounts are simply wooden horses from which we can safely work on perfecting techniques with steel weapons without the distraction of an animal with a mind of it's own, or the worry of injuring it. Falsemounts don't buck, bite or bolt, and most…
Swordplay from the Ground: Armed Grapples and Disarms Sometimes, despite having a yard of steel in hand, the best option is not to "stick'em with the pointy end." Whether its because you are too close for blade play, or because you're worried that slicing your opponent open will devalue him on the ransom market, the…
Swordplay from the Ground: unarmed grapples Wrestling was a large part of knightly combat, both from the ground and horseback. Not only did grappling provide a non-lethal method of taking hostages, it was sometimes the only option left when a knight had been disarmed, or when an opponent was too close for swordplay. In the…
Read More... from Up Close and Personal: Grappling from the Ground
*Forgive the pun. I know all you horsemen out there are eagerly looking forward to this type of shedding: For that you'll have to wait for Mother Nature's good graces. Today though, we're looking at Swordplay from the Ground: Shedding the Blade The Blue Spur curriculum requires you to Demonstrate shedding the sword while standing…
Swordplay from the Ground: turns of the sword In the Green Spur checklist we ask you to demonstrate the three turns of the sword, ie, the volta stabile, the mezza volta and the tutta volta. These are described in this post from last year, so first go back and familiarize yourself with the turns. For…
Blue Spur Curriculum: Swordplay from the Ground The Mounted Combat checklist for the Blue Spur has five sections: Swordplay from the ground Swordplay from the falsemount Spear fundamentals Mounted games Knowledge In the next few months on the Tuesday blog we'll be covering the checklists for the first two sections, looking at the swordplay requirements…
Riding Level II: Single-handed Transitions and Turns As you progress through your riding for mounted combat you will eventually want to be able to guide your horse without reins. In the interim, you will do most of your fighting with one hand on the reins. At level two we check on your ability to guide…
Riding Level 2: Regaining the stirrups In Riding Level 1 we asked you to drop your stirrups and retake them at the walk. In level 2, you'll be asked to: 6. Drop stirrups at sitting trot and regain at walk There's not much I can say about regaining the stirrups that hasn't already been covered…
Riding Level 2: Basic Seat Position I harp on it because it's so important. Everything you want to do on board a horse is so much easier when you start with good position. For Riding level 2 we want to see: 5. Basic seat position: walk & trot, sitting & rising with correct diagonal This…