Hauling your ... horse

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…

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Horsemanship Level 3

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…

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The Mounted Combat Progression

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…

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The Short Fall: Falling from the Falsemount

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,…

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Disarms 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…

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Grappling from the Falsemount

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…

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Defending from the Mount

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…

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Swordplay from the Falsemount

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…

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Be Disarming

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…

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Up Close and Personal: Grappling from the Ground

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…

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Shedding Season*

*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…

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The Three Turns of the Sword - Blue Spur

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…

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Winning the Crossing

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…

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Losing the Reliance on Reins

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…

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Finding the stirrups ... again

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…

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