Along with the daffodils and bunnies, a new series of Cavaliere program classes are springing up in April! If you are completely new to the program, come out for the Intro to Mounted Combat, or just show up as a spectator at the Mounted Combat Playday on Easter Sunday. And if you are working on your ranks, the new Mounted Combat Skills, and Riding and Horsemanship classes start April 12th.

Mounted Combat Skills
To be an effective swordsman from horseback it is necessary to hone your fighting skills from the ground. In this class we work on the sword, spear and grappling skills necessary for mounted combat. Each four-class series will cover all the material in the Green Spur checklist for Mounted Combat. Several iterations of the course will be necessary to cover material for the Blue Spur and up. The first half hour of class is clinic time, which is an opportunity for you to work on any areas you particularly want to practise, with an instructor available for guidance.

Saturdays 4 – 25 April, 3:00 – 4:30pm
Academie Duello, 412 W Hastings St, Vancouver
$120 + gst
prerequisites: Warrior Fundamentals or permission of instructor

Intro to Mounted Combat
Here's the place to get started in the Mounted Combat Program, whether you're an experienced swordsman new to horses, a proficient rider new to swordplay, or a complete beginner!

Sunday 5 April, 10am – 1pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$149 + gst

Mounted Combat Playday
An opportunity to put your skills to work. Come out for friendly practice and competition with mounted games, combat and archery. Assistants on the ground are needed for these sessions. If you are unable to participate as a rider, come out and be a squire for us to earn credits for future playdays. Spectators welcome!

Sunday 5 April, 1pm – 4pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$15 + $15 for use of school horse

Prerequisites:
Mounted Games: Riding Level 1
Mounted Sparring: Green Spur
Horseback Archery: Beginner Horseback Archery + Riding Level 1

Beginner Riding & Horsemanship
This six-class course is designed to help the beginning rider achieve Horsemanship and Riding Level 1. The curriculum includes:
Horsemanship:
- haltering, leading & securing your horse
- points of the horse
- parts of the saddle & bridle
- grooming & tacking up
- untacking and care of tack
- basic feeding and needs of the horse
Riding:
- turn out and checking tack
- mounting & dismounting
- warm up exercises
- basic seat position
- aids for walk, trot and halt
- circles & turns
- rising trot
- ground rails
- introduction to canter if ready
- single hand reining
- stirrupless work
- introduction to games skills

The cost of the course includes one free riding or horsemanship assessment. Students can expect to be ready to assess Horsemanship Level 1 at the end of the six classes. Readiness for Riding Level 1 typically takes two iterations of the course.

Sundays 12 Apr – 17 May, 10am – noon
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$300 + gst

Level 2 Riding & Horsemanship
This six-class course is designed to help the riders achieve Horsemanship and Riding Level 2. The curriculum includes:
Horsemanship:
- points, breeds, colours, markings & sex terminology of the horse
- grooming & tacking unassisted
- routines of the horse
- care & cleaning of saddle & bridle
- riding etiquette
- leading in hand at walk & trot
Riding:
- adjusting tack
- exercises at halt & walk
- basic seat position
- changes of direction, circles at walk & trot
- single hand reining
- dropping and regaining stirrups
- games skills
- canter work & identifying leads
- introduction to drill work
- introduction to jumping
- longeline work
The cost of the course includes one free riding or horsemanship assessment. Students can expect to be ready to assess Horsemanship Level 2 at the end of the six classes. Readiness for Riding Level 2 typically takes two iterations of the course.

Sundays 12 Apr – 17 May, 10am – noon
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$300 + gst
Prerequisites: Riding and Horsemanship Level 1

Horsemanship Level 3
This series has already started, but students wishing to make up classes from last year are welcome to register.

Sundays 8 & 15 March, 12 Apr – 3 May 10:30 – 11:30am
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$130 + gst

Horsemanship Level 5
This class will cover all the curriculum material for Level 5 Horsemanship in ten 1-hour sessions.

Sundays 12 April - 14 June
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
cost: $220 + gst

Riding Level 3+
A six-class series for riders working on Level 3 and up. Group lessons consist of up to four riders. Additional time slots are added as needed, and riders grouped by level as much as possible. Riders are expected to arrive at least half an hour before class and have their horses groomed, tacked up, and partially warmed up before the lesson starts.

Sundays 12 Apr – 17 May, noon – 1pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$200 + gst
Prerequisites: Riding level 2 or permission from instructor.

Mounted Combat
Using the plays you have developed in the Mounted Combat Skills workshop you will practise partner and solo drills and sparring from horseback, as well as mounted games and drill team work.

Sundays 8 & 15 March, 12 & 19 April, 1:00 – 2:30pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$200 + gst
Prerequisite: Green Spur or Riding Level 1 + permission of instructor

Beginner Horseback Archery
We are happy to welcome back Robert Borsos and the Borsos Torzs Horse Archery Club for our ever-popular Horseback Archery workshops. In this three-hour workshop for beginners you will spend an hour and a half on the ground learning the fundamentals and body mechanics of Hungarian-style horse archery. You will then have an opportunity to shoot from both the falsemount (wooden horse) and real horses led by experienced handlers. This workshop is appropriate for beginner archers and riders, experienced archers who would like to learn to shoot from horseback, and experienced riders who would like to add archery to their repertoire of mounted skills.

Saturday 18 April, 10am - 1pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$149 +gst

Intermediate Horseback Archery
This workshop is intended for those who have already taken Beginner Horseback Archery. We will spend about an hour on the ground refreshing our shooting skills, then move to horseback for the remainder of the workshop.

Saturday 18 April, 2pm – 5pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$75 + gst
prerequisites: Beginner Horseback Archery + Riding Level 1

Cavaliere Assessments
Sunday 3 May, 1:30 – 4:30pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Road, Richmond
$50 for partial assessment (Horsemanship, Riding OR Mounted Combat)
$80 for full assessment (2 or 3 of the above elements)

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.
Read more from Jennifer Landels.