Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Matthew Amt]

I'm a little confused--it took you over a minute to "vault" into your saddle?? It should take about as long as it takes to sit down in a chair, shouldn't it? Reenactors do this all the time, with mail and shield and a 4-horned saddle without stirrups or loops. Grab, hop, thump, about 3 or 4 seconds. I suspect that your "test" results will not give an accurate idea of how it worked for highly experienced warriors who were probably trained riders from the time they could walk!

You also seem to think that battle preparation begins when the enemy is already about 50 feet away and closing. Most of warfare was not sneak attacks at night! So there was generally plenty of time to dress, armor up, mount, and get into formation, long before anyone got into archery range. Sure, a sneak attack could be devastating, but launching such an attack was more complicated than you think, and the chances of getting lost in the dark or simply arriving with an exhausted, sleep-deprived force was often too great a risk. And having a few sentries and any kind of barricade or ditch and rampart allows the defenders to be awake and ready in time to wreck your assault. That's why people fought during the day!

I also don't see much point in putting on gear while in the saddle. I suspect they'd already be wearing their mail if they suspected any enemy contact at all, so all they'd have to do is put on their helmets. If there was unexpected contact with the enemy, they'd either hop off their horses to armor up (probably take about a minute), or just go in with shields if there wasn't time for that.

It is wonderful that you have an opportunity to do some riding in some sort of kit! It just doesn't sound like you're going to get TOO many valid conclusions from it!

Have fun,

Matthew