Had a go at Roman riding :D (pics included)

[Et tu brute]

Hi all, sorry for not posting in a while, i've been fairly busy.

I've been wanting to give Roman riding a go for a while now, and today I finally did it. A couple of months ago I was PM'ed by John Conyard (A member of RAT, and Comitatus) asking whether i'd be intrested in giving Roman riding a go, I (obviously ) was delighted and said yes.
Today was the next training session (Comitatus' cavalry train at Claire Chamberlains full tilt yard in Yorkshire www.thetiltrail.com ) and I went along. I was a bit unsure of exactly what it would be like, and if I would terrible or not, but once I was on the horse I felt great. I was riding in a Portugese saddle most of the time, here's a picture. It was a bit odd at first (having only ridden in an English saddle before) but I soon got used to it, and after 10 minutes or so I was fairly confident at cantering etc. Next (after a warmup) was to have a go with some missile weapons, here is a picture of some of the kit we used.
I tried wearing a mail shirt for a while, but in the end it was digging into my neck, so I took it off, so now I was just in my normal riding gear. I had a go at javelin throwing, I wasn't very sucsessful, as I kept throwing short, but it was fun all the same. next for something that turned out to be a bit more of my thing, (though I still wasn't very good!) horse archery. I don't have any kit of my own at the minute so I borrowed a bow (I think it was John's) here's a picture of me with the bow, it looks a bit odd as I don't have any other period kit on though. I managed to hit the target, which was Matt (well, his shield with him behind it), also of Comitatus. This was extremely fun as when you release the arrow you have no reins, and no stirrups!
Next was for some hand to hand stuff. With Matt as the target again, we were attacking him (his shield atleast) with all manner of weapons, mainly swords but there were also spears, and some sort of mace (not quite sure what it was). After this some of us had a go with a Kontos (I don't think I could even hold the thing let alone attack anything with it!) which was very impressive.
This was pretty much it, but there was one last thing, the roman saddle. A few of us had a go, (me included P ) there is also a picture of this.
That rounded off a great day for me, and i'm absolutely shattered! I just thought i'd share my first experiance of riding roman style with you all

[Et tu brute]

Here are a few more pics.

[Marcus Mummius]

Looks like a lot of fun! I wish I could ride

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Gee, is that blue sky!? hock: you must be somewhere overseas?

How is the saddle? Looks like a blast!

[Et tu brute]

Not overseas, just good old Yorkshire It was a boiling day though, i've got sunburn on my hands! (from the way you hold the reins) The saddle's are strange, the Portuguese ones are pretty comfortable, and hold you very securely so you can pretty easily shoot an arrow without losing your balance. The Roman one is much harder to ride on, because unlike the Portuguese saddle it has nothing at the back to keep you pushed forward. It's even harder for me, because of my size, John was saying that he can hook his legs under the saddle horns/corners, however because i'm fairly skinny that doesn't work for me.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I can imagine it needs a set of Roman thighs to allow the horns to grip and do their job! Get thee to the gym, young man! :wink:
How are you holding the reins, the european style? I tried that when I was young, but found it a little alien, after being used to the more informal western and bareback styles...Ah the good old days :roll:

[Et tu brute]

Yep, i'm thinking about maybe trying to build up a bit, just it'll make riding generally easier, I was neck reining all of the time while I was riding, you may already know but neck reining is just holding the reins in one hand and lifting them and moving them whichever way to turn the horse. This is all new to me, before today i've only ever ridden in an English saddle (with stirrups most of the time) and holding the reins the European way.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

OK, thats basically what western style is. Bareback, too if you had a bridle! It will take time, but don't worry. Just don't take any of the shortcuts some people try when bodybuilding! The right diet is far moreeffective in the long term!

Good riding! 8)

[garrelt]

You really need the western(working) riding style.
Don't forget in one hand the sword in the other the reins.
The picture added is from a late roman show we were part of.
For me it was the first time going through a close order formation.
It was fun, only one mishap broke a sword hitting a shield going through.
Thanks robert and rob for this picture

[Et tu brute]

OK, thats basically what western style is. Bareback, too if you had a bridle! It will take time, but don't worry. Just don't take any of the shortcuts some people try when bodybuilding! The right diet is far moreeffective in the long term!

Good riding! 8)

I think it'll be stamina that will be the thing that i'll try to improve, I did probably just over 2 hours solid riding today and I was shattered (and I still am) so I may start running or something similar.

@ Garrelt: Good picture, are you in a Roman saddle their?

[garrelt]

This picture is of my son Gavin(12) during last years roman show in Eindhoven(nl).

[Et tu brute]

Good picture, we were doing a similar thing with sugar beat, what period do you reenact?

[garrelt]

I'm was not riding a typical roman saddle.
It wasn't an modern model (spanish or engels) also.
It was a prototype for a treeless cussion saddle.
The gladius gavin uses in he picture is blunt.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Nice horses! Keep it up! Bike riding is good too, and less hard on the heels and ankles!

So do you put Chamfrons on the horses Garrelt?
And how do they react to them?

[garrelt]

We reanact from celtic (late la tene ) to ottonic