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Adventures
in the Cavalry - Problems Encountered! |
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by
John Conyard
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A week later in another hot
burning field we were frustrated, trying to pursued some different riders to
base their display on the skills of the Roman army, not just charging up and
down. The interest in riding like a Roman hardened into a resolve. Comitatus
must have our own cavalry, with our own levels of authenticity, and our own
accurate portrayal of what these horseman could do. Coupled with torsion
artillery, horses would add a new dimension to our larger displays. For me one of the great joys
of the hobby is being able to research a subject, collect the kit and develop
an impression which works in the field, on the march, and for real. I do it for a living, and I never tire of
it. But developing the kit and equipment for three Roman cavalryman would be
a long term project, which would need to be coupled with the need to learn to
ride as a Roman. This was and is a unique challenge. First we had to find a yard
where we could learn, practice, and hire horses for displays. The yard needed
an all weather school of good size, and a selection of horses. And we needed
an owner with no pre-conceived notions about what Roman cavalry should do,
but one which would work us to develop our own ideas. Claire Chamberlain’s Full Tilt yard
near Goole (East Yorkshire) gave us all of this, and more. We own a big debt
to Claire for her patience, honesty and good humour. She started us off with
suitable horses and let us slowly progress. All of this gave members the
unmatched opportunity to sit on horses and discover what riding like a Roman
is all about. Many just wanted to find out what it is like, but some wanted
to take it further. Some of us were already able to sit a horse, and for a
few of us it was an ambition. We were helped by new members joining who
positively wanted to ride like a Roman. It takes a certain level of courage
to ride, and confidence in your own ability. Just occasionally I do wonder
why I am up so high moving so fast on an animal with so little brain. I have
the confidence but little ability! But any doubt soon gets swamped in the
excitement, fun and adrenalin rush, and I hope more of us try it, at least
just the once, in the future. |
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Too often in the past we have worked
with great riders, talented people, who could please the public but didn’t
carry out a Roman cavalry display. I appreciate the need for the dramatic,
but if real Roman riding skills are not dramatic I really don’t know what is!
The starting point for our display was the second century writer Arrian who
details the skills Roman cavalry should achieve. To this we added the
experiences of the Eastern Emperor Maurice from around 580 AD. I didn’t expect Comitatus to
immediately start furnishing our own riders for displays. We would need
professional talented riders to do the things we were to ask of them. But it
is great when our own members do ride for us, a real achievement for all
those involved. Writers on the subject suggested it would take some time for
beginners to achieve the classic riding position of straight back, slightly
bent knee and toes down position. In practice we found that it was entirely
natural and took minutes to achieve. However a deep seat, one that is stable
and safe, only comes slowly and with practice. Everybody slowly develops
their own style. Initially I believed that
Roman horses were relatively small, between 11 and 15 hands, with an average
of about 14. However it soon became apparent that Romans had access to many
different breeds. I encourage anyone
to research the different breeds of horse used by the Romans, it’s a
fascinating subject. However it is obvious that Romans has access to every
shape and type of horse, although they did prefer uncut stallions. I suspect
the common run of cavalry mount in northern Britain resembled the modern Exmoor pony.
Better mounts would resemble the Akhal-Teke,
a wiry north African horse, used to improve many ancient bloodlines.
Migrations introduced larger and heavily built ponies similar to the modern Highland pony. Some
breeds like the Friesian
are very very old. I have great memories of Lee riding a Friesian really
looking the part in all his kit. Basically, almost any shape and size of
horse can be justified, and not just those based on skeletal evidence from
the period. We need to ensure that the
mounts we use match the abilities of the rider. We can then describe the
horse in relation to Roman breeds and teach the public something new. Equipping the riders was
relatively easy. By our period cavalrymen could for fill a range of
functions, using a range of equipment. Initially we have given them
relatively small round shield which can be pushed up the arm to allow for
horse archery and the use of the kontos, or held by the handle for close
combat. Our own shield maker soon manufactured an initial batch, and now they
seem to be multiplying. Research soon yielded a wealth of information on the Equites
Honorari Taifali, our chosen unit. Helms, armour, darts,
javelins, archery equipment etc. we had already. Many existing riders use
leather breaches to help grip the saddle, and resist the heavy wear and tear.
There is of course no evidence of this practice, and I was pleased to see our
existing clothing reconstructions worked perfectly well when coupled with a
simple sheepskin thrown over the saddle. The sheepskin cushioned the rider,
and gripped the leather of the saddle. It almost instinctively gave the rider
a deeper seat. They were used in conjunction with 18th and 19th
century military saddles, and seemed an obvious solution. But equipping the horses would
always be the biggest challenge. Roman re-enactment is wedded to the four
horned saddle reconstructed by Peter Connolly from fragments of leather
saddle covers. It was is use throughout the Empire and is depicted on the Arch of
Constantine. Yet by our period these saddles may have started to become
things of the past, as the army moved to the steppe saddle introduced from
the east. This saddle has a high flat pommel and cantle giving a secure seat.
It would have become the standard saddle by our period. Either would take time and
money to reconstruct accurately. Despite it’s anachronistic design, I want to
be able to use at least one old fashioned four horned saddle. I examined the
four horned saddles used by the Royal
Armouries, the Ermine Street
Guard and English Heritage,
as well as the designs of Peter Connolly and Marcus Junkelmann. Connolly has done
great work in reconstructing the internal wooden tree of the saddle based on
fragments of leather saddle cover. Junkleman took a different approach
without the wooden frame, to produce more of a saddle pad/bean bag. Every
reconstruction has it’s compromises, and all these reconstructions showed
more compromises and limitations than I was happy with. With the exception of
the Junkelmann concept, the reconstructed designs had to be sized specifically for each horse
for them to work, causing the horse minimum discomfort. But surely the Romans
were using the same saddle on various horses? And each individual horse would
lose condition during campaign and would finish up a shape far different than
they started with.
Normally authenticity leads
you to the correct approach to making things work. But in this case they
seemed to be operating against each other. Existing reconstructions are a
balance between authenticity, and getting the thing to work without crippling
the horse. The saddles based on an internal wooden tree are inflexible and
would only fit certain horses, for limited periods of time. Frankly existing
reconstructions don’t seem to work, and I have yet to met the four horned
saddle that you could use realistically in the field. The wooden frames are
not only inflexible but seem liable to break easily. That said I seem to be trying
to recreate the design. I want the resulting saddle to be easy to make,
capable of being used every day for a week on a pony trekking holiday without
crippling the horse, and cost no more than £500. I’m working with Chris from
the Saddler’s Den to
put a working design in place and I’ll update you on our progress. Already I
fear it will be a compromise!
This long term process would
not help produce a cavalry display last summer. We used Portuguese saddles,
the descendant of the steppe saddle. I was unhappy at using such a modern
general purpose design. However they worked on the horse, and when used with a
large sheepskin, looked the part. The steppe saddle would have been in
general use so at least the look of the saddle was correct, even more so than
using the four horned saddle. But it is a compromise and as such is
unsatisfactory in the long term. The tack is another area that
we need to improve. Currently we keep it simple and basic, following the
general patterns of the 4th/5th centuries. It doesn’t
look wrong, but small improvements would make it look better. While I love
the Ermine Street Guard decorated
tack, I want to avoid anything that isn’t of our period, and stick to actual
finds and illustrated examples from the later Empire. I think you can also
make a good case for Romans using horse shoes in northern climes to protect
the soft hooves of their animals in wet conditions. Putting together a Roman
cavalry impression takes proportionally more time and money than most
impressions we put together. And sadly few clients will be able to afford a cavalry
show, although those that can must be impressed with the massive success of
out August Bank
Holiday spectacular. To see five late Roman cavalry working as a team was
a great thrill. Although the public may only get the benefit of cavalry
display once or twice a year, currently some members get the enjoyment of the
experience once a month, which is a good return on the investment. Below: Use of the Roman crossbow (arcuballista)
from horseback. Note how it can be reloaded by hand using the pressure of the
saddle. Emperor Julian was on one ocassion escorted by ballistarii; rather
than being catapult operators, they may well have been mounted crossbowmen,
such as this.
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