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I hope the members will allow me a bit of leeway for a moment......
While this is for any who wish to read it, my targeted audience would be those in the mounted community. We have had some odd weather here in middle Tennessee this winter and awoke this morning to a blanket of snow everywhere. As the temp climbed into the mid 30's, I decided a good long ride would be in order. So, I saddled one of the horses and off I went. Clouds had been building back up and the temp dropped some and about halfway through my ride it started to snow again. After riding up a long hill through some heavy timber, I came to a large field and it was really putting it down. Some big flakes, too. I was bundled up pretty good, but was also pulling heat from my mount. No worries of getting mired up or stuck as I was on natures “4-wheel drive.” It was wonderful! I was a long way from civilization, snow falling and was working on a fine cigar. Does it get any better than that??? I try to get in at least two rides a week and while I don't always achieve it, most of the time I do.
I am not sharing this just for “kicks and giggles” but to encourage all of the cavalrymen out there to make regular rides and working with your mounts a part of your weekly routine just as much as repairing tack, selecting your uniform or anything else that you do in preparation for events. Now I know that I am probably preaching to the choir here as I think most of you do ride regularly...even in the winter, but it amazes (and appalls) me to hear men say, “I only ride when I come to events.” Or, “ I haven't ridden since we were at such and such event.” I am not sitting in judgment of anyone, but we spend such an inordinate amount of time, effort, money, etc. with making sure our kit is just so and our tack is built by this person or that and our weapons, uniforms and clothing are proper to match the unit, the time period and the region that we are portraying and then we don't work on our horsemanship with equal fervor. That is just a shame! Let's face it......we want to have all of our gear just right and I applaud those efforts, but the thing that separates the cavalryman from everyone else is his horse! I don't mean separation in a superiority sense at all but you know what I mean. Nothing looks worse than a cavalryman who can barely sit a horse and is constantly fighting with his mount to establish control. It looks bad, it detracts from the units effort and is terribly unsafe. Those men that we portray were pound-for-pound much better horsemen than we are and we can never be “too” proficient in this regard,
So, please take this in the manner in which it is intended and work with your horse on a very regular basis all through the year. It will improve your impression and make the whole experience more rewarding.
Again, thank you for allowing me to discuss this and we now return you to your regular programming.
regards,
Mark
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