[SCA] horses

[cellio]

This past weekend there was an event at Cooper's Lake (AEthelmearc 10th-year celebration). I was surprised to read that the event would include equestrian activities. This is something that's been growing in the SCA in the last several years, but most sites aren't set up for horses and Cooper's Lake has not historically permitted them. (The last time I saw a horse at Cooper's Lake, it was being ridden by Morgan Elandris through a Pennsic attended by a couple thousand people.)

I'd never seen SCA equestrian activies before, so I decided to go watch. The event schedule didn't give a location, but I figured it had to be somewhere out near the battlefield and it would be visible. I'm glad we ran into someone who knew better; it was actually tucked way off in a corner of the site that I didn't even know existed, accessible via wagon. There was a wagon just leaving the battlefield, so I hopped on.

I was told there were eight horses there, though I never saw them all at once. The owners had set up pens next to their horse trailers and were camping back there (rather than in the main part of the campground). It seemed like they were having their own private (tiny) camp-out; it's probably not a good idea to leave the horses for long in an unfamiliar setting, and I saw no indication that the folks we saw there were participating in anything else at the event. I understand not wanting to have spookable half-ton horses "downtown" at an event, but I hope we can find better ways to make things a little more integrated in the future. I don't know how much of that isolation was needed for the horses versus imposed by the site.

The arena (a fenced-off ring) was set up for quintains when I was there. The SCA rightly does not do jousting (too dangerous); this is "jousting" at a target. A vertical pole has a rotating cross-piece with a small flat area (think shield); the contest is to hit that with your lance and the more times it spins, the better your score. I was surprised to learn that the biggest factor in how much spin you get is the weight of the lance -- I would have figured that half a ton of horse would dwarf a few pounds of lance or that lance cross-section would matter more than weight, but neither of those is true. (I didn't ask, but assume that where on the flat part you hit it also matters -- the farther out the better, right?)

I was surprised by how much warm-up the horses needed first. (It seemed to be for the horses more than the riders.) I watched the following sequence with one horse: first the rider walked the horse around the ring a couple times, then went around a couple more times a little faster (what's after walk, canter?). Only then did she pick up a lance, which she carried vertically while riding the horse around the ring again. (This was explained thus: anything taller than the horse is perceived as a threat, so this is to get the horse used to seeing that.) Only after a few rounds of this did the person level the lance and ride slowly toward the quintain, hitting and spinning it a couple times, all still at that one-notch-above-walk speed. I never saw a full gallop; it might not have been practical in that size ring. (I asked someone about possible top speed and he said 20mph if they were using the whole length of the ring, but the quintains were in the middle so not as fast.)

All of this warm-up was to get the horse used to something it had done a couple hours earlier. Wow. I asked one of the people how often he practices with his horse just for maintenance, and he said three times a week. That doesn't surprise me. He said is biggest challenge is winter, when sometimes it's too cold for weeks on end to do this stuff.

I saw a lot of practice but not the actual competitions (had to get back for something else at the event). I don't know when I'll next get to see this; in addition to site limitations, the SCA requires additional insurance if you want to have equestrian activities at your event, which cost smaller events won't be able to absorb. So it's got to be limited to larger events at suitable sites.

Comments

[kayre]

Walk, trot, canter, gallop. At the trot, the rhythm of the hooves is even; at the canter, you get the da-dum, da-dum rhythm. Gallop looks much like canter, only faster. Technically, at the gallop, all four hooves are off the ground briefly during each stride; at the canter, a rear hoof stays in contact until the front hooves touch down. To get even more specific, a gallop is as fast as the horse can go, with virtually no restraint on the reins; if the rider is keeping a light control on the head with the reins, that's a hand gallop.

In show situations, judges usually only call for walk, trot and canter. Kidlet totally cleaned up at one show when the judge called for a hand gallop; she was quite clearly the only rider who practiced it and was comfortable at that speed!

The warm-up issue is partly to get the horse physically warmed up and moving well-- but often it's also to get the horse listening to the rider, and working in partnership.

Space for horses? In a crowd situation, I'd want either a fenced area with just one gate, or portable stalls; ideally, stalls inside a fenced area. You've got the potential for a loose horse, and LOTS of potential for unwary people getting kicked.

I wonder if SCA chapters ever look into sharing a show venue with a regular horse show? Horse shows are always looking for ways to bring in spectators-- costume classes are popular. Plus they already have the facilities and insurance. A lot of show organizers would be delighted to add a few SCA-specific classes, if the SCA were providing all the organization for those classes-- judging, gate managers, etc.

How's that for more than you probably wanted to know? ;)

[cellio]

Thanks! And not more than I wanted to know. :-)

The warm-up issue is partly to get the horse physically warmed up and moving well-- but often it's also to get the horse listening to the rider, and working in partnership.

Oh, good point -- I was comparing it to a person warming up before exercising, but had neglected the fact that there are two parties in this case!

As for space, there was a fenced ring where the activities took place, and there were separate fenced areas for use by each owner (usually one per horse, but one family brought multiple horses). The space between the two was open; owners led (rather than riding) their horses between the two. The whole area was, I'd guess, about a mile from the rest of the event.

I wonder if SCA chapters ever look into sharing a show venue with a regular horse show?

That's a good question, and I have no idea. It hadn't occurred to me that horse shows would be open to that; thanks for pointing it out.