German Cavalry Training

I came across these pictures while cleaning up my computer. These are pictures of German cavalry training probably sometime just prior to 1914. As you can see, jumping was emphasized quite a bit ... :-)

In this picture, it appears that the jump obstacle is somewhere about three feet or so. This is quite a jump to make while both hands are otherwise occupied...like with a lance. I've done this sort of jump once and it wasn't easy. :-)

These two pictures above really illustrate the need to clear a pretty high obstacle- and it's a sure bet that herd dynamics encourages the horses to jump- don't want to get left behind. Still, it would really be bad if a horse refused...

Note the pre-Caprilli set on the riders- they're leaning back on the jump.

15th Infantry - China c. 1912

Just to continue the China theme...with the outbreak of the Chinese Revolution in 1911 associated with the overthrow of the Quing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China, forces from the Western powers were sent to China to secure Western interests and avoid a repeat of the Boxer Rebellion. One such unit that the US dispatched to China was the 15th Infantry, which was initially stationed at Chinwangtao (1st Batallion and Machinegun Platoon) and later, joined by the rest of the regiment, at Tientsin. Ultimately, the 15th was to remain stationed in China until 1938.

Distinctive Unit Insignia - 15th Infantry


15th Infantry Route March, somewhere outside of Tientsin, c. 1912



This is something I'd like to research some more for a mounted impression for living history... :-)


Tropical uniform.

China Revolution 1911

Here's an upcoming movie that looks pretty interesting:



This is about the Chinese Revolution which saw the overthrow of the Quing Dynasty and the creation of the Republic of China led by Sun Yat Sen. Unfortunately, China very quickly fell into civil war and the rise of war lords which pretty much divided China and facilitated Japan's conquest of parts of China. China wasn't ultimately re-unifired until the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Colonial German Army in Sudwest Afrika

Military history has always been a fascination with me and especially when it comes to campaigning in faraway places. One such place is German Southwest Africa (today known as Namibia) where the German Colonial Army campaigned against the various local tribes during the early 20th Century from about 1893 through 1914.

The climate of Southwest Africa is arid and warm with most of it being composed of desert. To effectively campaign, the German forces were organized mostly as mounted infantry around 1904, consisting of 9 companies of mounted infantry, along with three artillery batteries, and the 7th Company being mounted on camels.

Below are two pictures of the 7th Company:

Hitting the Trail...

Lately, my wife has been taking up riding again so she's been riding Max and I've been riding anything else I can find in the barn... :-) I've been doing a lot of riding with Thor, a 4-year old Fjord Pony and it's been interesting,to say the least. Thor stands about 14-3 hands and it built like a linebacker so he definitely can support me. Thor tends to move at a leisurely pace, which sometimes annoys Max and he's definitely got mountain goat in him, the way he picks his way through rock areas and handles mountain trails. Thor is pretty steady for a 4-year old and there's very little that seems to bother him (he even rides at night with no issue) although he is a bit herd-bound in not wanting to be separated from Max.

This weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday, my wife and I rode a leisurely loop up to the sheep pens and back, about a 4-mile ride round trip. My wife got in some good saddle time with Max and I was able to get the "Fjord experience" riding. :-) Overall, they're very sturdy and mild-mannered horses (although Thor can be stubborn pony when he wants to be). I only wish that he was a bit more energetic.

It was definitely excellent riding weather- not too hot and it was a welcome relief to what we've been getting in the past few weeks. More later! :-)

KTLA Promo Spot - Part II

A friend of mine finally emailed me some still pictures from the KTLA promo shoot that our group did on September 16. Unfortunately, the actual filmed footage really didn't do justice to us but the pictures help tell a better story. I was portraying a Prussian Death's Head Hussar from the Napoleonic Era- this uniform is more about show than anything else. :-) Enjoy!

Max and I as Hussars...





Warming up Max a bit- all the standing around bored him. :-)

Fritz Bronner and his wife Margie, the founders of the group Warhorse.

Another group display.

6th Cavalry - China - 1900

I've been doing some research in regard to the China Relief Expedition/Boxer Rebellion and in particular, the role of the 6th US Cavalry. Here's a picture from National Archives I came across. This is Company L, 6th US Cavalry at the Ming Tombs, located north of Peking.

Practice Practice Practice...Sometimes

Today, Max and I went to do our usual practice with Warhorse. After the PR event we did yesterday, things were relatively low-key and we primarily worked on some more multiple figure eights, only this time with four sets of two riders. If if was tough before, it was tougher with the extra people and it all comes down to everyone has to pay attention and keep in synch- nobody can get ahead of the others.

Moreover, for the two people on each end of the line, they have to make sure that their outer circles are sufficient enough keep time with everyone else- since they do not have a another rider to deal with when moving in circles to the outside, the tendency is to speed up and this in turn will throw the other riders off. I probably should get a diagram because this no doubt, confusing people.

Basically each pair is making figure eights with each other but the thing is that each of the circles needs to integrate with the paid next to them. Each outside pair has it a little easier because they only have to pass one rider on one of their circles but for reasons mentioned above, they need to avoid the tendency to cut in close and fast when making the outside circles. When doing the circles, everyone passes each other left shoulder-to-left shoulder.

We worked at this for about an hour, each pair changing position in the line and each individual in the pair switching sides- the left rider always leads.

Think of the whole thing as an equine version of Busby Berkley swim follies... :-)

Afterwards, I took a leisurely ride home with Max and that was pretty much it. Not a lot of hard riding but it did force everyone to use their heads. :-)

PR Event for Warhorse & Militaria Heritage Foundation

Today Max and I participated in a PR event put on by a local TV station for the Warhorse and Militaria Heritage Foundation, the equestrian group that I regularly practice with. This was arrange was to promote the group in general and in particular for the Tournament of Roses Parade, which the group will be participating in on New Year's Day.

The basic format was that they would film a series of live segments that would feed into their ongoing news broadcasts. Basically, I was part of the background and Max and I were part of a formation maneuvering in the background. They wanted to start filming around 4:45 am so that required me to get up at 3 am, quickly dress in my uniform, and then head to the stables to saddle up Max. I arrived at 3:30 am and Max gave me the look of "what the hell are you doing here?" and promptly nickered for food. I threw him a flake of alfalfa to keep him occupied while I got everything together. It was difficult because a lot of this was being done in the dark (I was hoping that nobody would mistake me for a horse thief and call the cops :-).

I managed to get Max groomed and tacked up and by 4:15 am we were heading down the wash- it was going to be filmed in a field not too far away from the stables so the ride wasn't very far and most of it was in the wash so I didn't have to deal with streets. Since I was wearing a black Hussar uniform, it would have been bad to have met up with any half-asleep drivers...

I arrived on time and was soon joined by the rest of the group. Initially, they filmed us using very bright lights and combined with the dust we were kicking up, it made for an interesting situation, especially since we were being asked to work withing a confined area due to the cameras.

Max was completely on his game and once he got used to the situation, he completely got into the game and was doing maneuvers with the rest of the group just like it was a typical Saturday practice. We took turns calling out the commands for the maneuvers and the dust didn't make it easy.

We did a pretty good job and things even got better once it began to get light. The weather was nice and cool and by this time, the horses were working together as a group- they actually know a lot of the maneuvers and it doesn't take much to cue them to do what's required. A couple of the other horses were initially a bit nervous but Max seemed to calm them down by his presence and he just did his job. He's really come a long way in the past year. Now if we could only get him to be that way with a crowd and all the energy from a big event... :-)

We finished up about 8:30am and we headed back to the stables. Max got a nice bucket and the rest of the day off. I went home and took a long nap... :-)

Click here for some television footage.

Cooling Off...

This past weekend, Max and I were actually able to get in some nice riding since the temperatures finally dropped to a more moderate 80-something range. :-)

On Saturday, Max and I put in some time drilling with Warhorse. We spend most of our time learning to do a couple of new manuevers that are actually quite complex, even at the walk (we were definitely NOT ready to do them at a trot). Basically, the figure consists of line, dvidied into three pairs (with about 15 feet of space between each pair). The basic idea was for the rider in each pair to execute figure eights with their partners. In practice, it the middle pair have to choreorgraph their moves with the inside riders of each outside pair.

In the process of working out the spacing, several of us managed to cut too close to each other and we wound up banging knees- THAT hurts!

It was an interesting sesson and we'll probably be doing more work on this in the future. Max was definitely cooperative, even when one of the horses didn't want to cooperate and wound up crashing into his haunches- I thought for a moment he was going to kick out but he didn't. He just gave the other horse a dirty look. :-)

On Sunday, we did our usual lesson and we worked more on our flying lead changes. We're both slowly "getting" them although we have a ways to go- sometimes he understands the cues, sometimes not. We also worked on half-passes and those went pretty good although Max tends to trail his hanuches a bit- feels like a fish-tailing car. We'll need to work on that a bit. :-)

Afterwards, since it was still pretty (a pleasant surprise), Max and I did a quick ride around the Hansen Dam Basin- he wsa definitely energenic (more so as we headed home...). It was nice not frying in the sun for a change.

And Another Budwesier Clydesdales Ad...

Here's another one that's pretty cool:

9/11 Budweiser Commercial

My contribution to 9/11 commemoration:



Apparently,this was only aired once on TV. Pretty cool, especially the draft horses.

Chasing Coyotes

Last evening I worked Max a bit- it was nice to get out when it's relatively cool and it's almost a full moon so there was plenty of light. As we were doing our usual routine, I spied a big coyote (well, bigger than the usual scrawny specimens that are live around the stables) on the track.

Naturally, I decided it was the perfect opportunity for Max and I to perfect our cavalry technique so I quickly kicked him up into a canter and the chase was on...of course the heaviest weapon I had at the moment was a dressage whip but I figured it would answer well enough for saber purposes.

The coyote took one look at us and took off through some underbrush next to the track. Quickly judging the ground to be safe enough, we lept off the track and plowed through the underbrush for a bit until we'd pinned the coyote in an area with stacks of lumber. We weren't able to close in because of all the lumber on the ground but he was definitely cut off from the wash, which is the coyotes' major access point onto the property.

The coyote then made a break for it and I quickly spurred Max to cut him off- unfortunately, the layout of the lumber required a long detour and Max isn't the fastest horse so the coyote was able to make a beeline for the wash. We still chased him for a bit just to hammer the lesson home to Mr. Coyote that it wasn't healthy to come up to the stables. :-)

Just to clarify, there was no chance that we would have actually come into contact with the coyote but I do like to use these opportunities to work Max and increase the rider/horse bond. In a way I suppose I got a little taste of fox hunting, something I wouldn't mind trying at some point although it makes me a bit nervous. I don't think Max would be an ideal fox hunter candidate but it's fun to dream a little. :-)

That definitely got the blood pumping for both of us and after wards, we walked some laps around the track to cool down. Max definitely earned his bucket. :-)

And Now for Some Art - Part III

The following portraits were done by the artist Albert Lynch (1851-1912) who was born in Lima, Peru but spend most of his years in France. These pictures definitely evoke the spirit of La Belle Epoch.


Huile - Why does this lady remind me of Etta Place (of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid fame)?

Portrait of Woman

Woman Walking Steps

A Summer Stroll

And Now for Some Art - Part II

Here's some more artwork of a more military nature nature. And yes, it combines three of my favorite things: The West, Horses and The Army.

Charles Schreyvogel (January 4, 1861-January 27, 1912) was a Western illustrator, probably not as well known today as Charles Russel and Frederick Remington although he was their contemporary. Ironically, he was born and raised in New York City and did most of his work there. His subject matter tended to be Indian Wars-related of a heroic nature.

While perhaps the subject matter is somewhat dated by today's standards, it still goes along way to depict two cultures in conflict and the fact that the West was a rough place and death ever-present, far removed from many of the policy-makers who set things in motion.

The Duel


My Bunkie



In Safe Hands



Breaking the Line


Saving the Lieutenant


The Slienced War Whoop

And Now for Some Art - Part I

OK, I've always liked equestrian-themed artwork. Here's one by an illustrator named Edmund Havell who worked during the mid to later 19th Century.

Cold War Memories: The Fulda Gap & Reforger

Some 30 years ago, the Fulda Gap (pictured below) was one of the major avenues of advance for any potential Soviet/Warsaw Pact invasion of Germany. Today it looks peaceful and it's located in the middle of Germany but back during the Cold War, it had the potential to be one of the most bloody battlefield in modern times. Defending "the Gap" was the 11th US Cavalry.

The 11th Armored Cavalry was considered expendible, its real mission to buy enough time for the rest of NATO and elements of the US V Corps directly to the rear to assemble fro mtheir far-flun garrisons and forma viable defensive line. Less charitably, the 11th Cavalry was condidered a speed bump for any Warsaw Pact advance. Either way, it was expected that the 11th Cavalry wouldn't survive more than 48 hours, at the outside.

Fulda Gap looking east.

Insignia of the 11th Armored Cavalry.

In an effort to provide timely reinforcements, the US created REFORGER (Return of Forces to German) where troops flown in from the US would merge up with pre-positioned equipment stored at various secure sites (aka POMCUS). Naturally the Soviets were well aware of the locations of the POMCUS sites so it's questionable how successful this would have been in a real war. To test things, every year from 1969 through 1993 NATO would put have a REFORGER Exercise. Below is a picture that was taken at one of the REFORGER exercises in the 1980s.

Labor Day Weekend

As is typical for Southern California this time of year, Labor Day weekend tends to be very hot with temperatures going into the high 90s/low 100s. Also, it seems that this year there's been a lot more humidity than usual which makes things even more uncomfortable.

Riding-wise, I really did't accomplish much this weekend. With my truck dead, I have to borrow my wife's car and I'm not always able to make it to the stables as early as I'd like so by the time I arrive, it's warming up and that's no real incentive to do much extensive trail riding.

Friday, I managed to get in a nice evening ride and did my usual circuit around the Hanson Dam Equestrian Center and vicinity. I usually do this at a fast trot/canter in most places (when feasible/safe) and I do this primarily to give Max a moderate work-out. After not having ridden for four days, it's a nice way to get back into things.

Saturday morning found Max and I practicing with the Warhorse & Militaria Heritage Foundation at Gabriellano Park. It's been awhile since Max and I have worked in formation and Max was excellent, although a bit on the low-energy side (which I attributed to the heat). Max was well-behaved and we even got in some cantering in formation. It's nice to get back to that again. :-) Afterwards, we practiced the musical ride some- I'm anticipating that we'll be doing more of this as the Fall progresses; I've been informed that there are several events coming up.

Sunday, Max and I had our lesson. Max was acting pretty pokey so I really had to wake him up- something he doesn't always appreciate. As we've been doing for the past two months, we worked on flying lead changes. Overall, we're progressing pretty good although we both have a lot to learn. For Max, it requires a lot of physical effort so he's slowly learning how to position his body and understand my cues. For myself, I need to be better aware of my cues plus make it easier for max to do his thing. The downside is that now with every turn, Max assumes that a flying lead change is in order, even when it's not so we also had to practice holding the counter-cnater. Unfortunately, Max still kept changing leads and it was frustrating. I can't say I wasn't warned though- my trainer did tell me that like collection, max will use flying lead changes at the most inopportune moments.

Ultimately, the solution is that I need to be VERY clear with my cues and hold Max to them. Well, there's always something that needs doing with Max. :-)

I took Monday off and since I had a day off on Tuesday, Max and I rode up Little Tujunga to the Oaks in early evening. Parts of the trail are really overgrown, which can be a real pain at points because of the low-lying branches, and either the trails aren't being ridden as much or not getting cleaered as much (or a combination of the two). It was meant to be an easy ride (OK, we trotted and cantered at various points) and it was cooler than in canyon than in most other places.

That pretty much was my weekend. Lately, there's been a lot of distractions on the home front (like broken plumbing) so I haven't been to the stable as much as I'd like but I struggle on... :-)

No School This Semester...

Although I've been attending Pierce College for the past two years, I'm going to have to take a break this Fall semester primarily due to transportation difficulties combined with scheduling problems with some of the required classes. I've especially had a lot of fun working as a Teacher's Assistant for the riding classes but it's frustrating that some of the required classes are scheduled at times that make it impossible for me to arrange my work schedule around (and I have to work- no choice there!).

Hopefully, the situation will improve in the future.

WWI Party at 94th Aero Squadron

Recently, my WWI living history group met for a dinner at the 94th Aero Squadron, a WWI Aviation-themed restaurant. This was a relatively informal event and while there were only a few members present, we still had an excellent time and the restaurant provided a wonderful setting. It also gave people the opportunity to wear their better uniforms, free from mud and dust of the trenches. :-)

Unfortunately, Max had to stay home... :-)

Group shot of the Great War Historical Society.



Me and my compadre Robert.

A couple shots of me in my officer's uniform. Don't get to wear it too often... :-)

Morro Bay 2011

Well, Max and I are back from our yearly pilgrimage to Morro Bay...four days of riding pleasure while camping at Montana de Oro State Park which, so far, has been spared from the threat of being closed like a lot of other California State Parks due to budgetary shortfalls.

This year was especially good and the weather even cooperated. Although it was overcast and foggy for the first two days, it was much better afterwards and the skies would clear out by the mid to late afternoon. Nothing like sun and surf!

Max and I arrived relatively late last Thursday and by the time I'd set up camp and fed Max, it was too late to do any riding. However, a friend and I got an early start the next day. We decided to ride in the mountains so we selected a trail- this time the Bloody Nose Trail (because of the height but don't let it scare you! :-)).

We picked up the trail outside of camp and after descending into a small valley, we rapidly began to climb, the trail turning into a series of long steps at several points. Max was a bit excited to get out and he definitely wanted to keep up with my fiend's horse- my friend and I ride a lot of trails together and his horse tends to be the Alpha and Max is content to follow along.

After about an hour or so, the trail had progressed to a ridgeline and it gave us some wonderful views of Morro Bay and the surrounding contrydie. The trail finally ended by a cove and we followed another trail that roughly parallels the one major road leading through the area and has a panoramic view of the ocean. Unfortunately, my crummy cell phone camera wasn't working so I wasn't able to get any pictures here.

Basically, we followed a loop and after about three and a half hours, we made our way back into camp. Overall, Max did very well and while he'd gotten a workout, his physical conditioning was excellent and had prepared him well for this challenge.

The next day, we headed to the estuary located behind the beach and then followed one of the access trails onto the beach. The sand on the access trails is pretty deep and we tried to select the one trail that was the easiest on the horses (but they're all pretty deep- horses are gonig to get a workout no matter what.

U expected Max to be a bit antsy about the beach, especially since we did very little beach riding last year but I needn't have worried- Max was pretty jaded about the whole thing and his only reaction was to try and sniff the water more closely. My friend's horse was a lot more hesitant about the water so I rode Max closest to the water. What was funny was my friend's horse kept trying to get close to Max, which meant that he was getting closer to the water. Go figure. :-)

After walking about a mile or so on the beach, we headed inland again and gradually made our way back towards our camp, taking the long way through the estuary. While people may think that the estuary is boring, I find it relaxing and peaceful and the dunes provide a sound barrier so you can't even hear the surf.

The nex day found ourselves, along with most of the group I was camping with, down on the beach again. Everyone took the opportunity to acclimate their horses to the surf and I have to say that Max performed flawlessly, I even trotted and galloped through the surg and got in deep enough to cover the toes of my boots. The galloping part was especially exiciting and although the waves were breaking close to shore (it was high tide), Max wasn't fazed one bit. Go Max!

Overall, this was one of the best trips I've ever had and it seems that Max is finally settling down- although sometimes he'd want to not stay in one place, I forced him to stand in place on the beach and he ultimately complied (it's all in the seat!). Also, absent was any jigging, even in a large group of horses and even when some were getting upset over the surf- and I was gratelful for that!

As an aside, it was interesting to watch Thor get his first introduction to the surf- he wasn't a happy pony but he made some progress.

I look forward to returning next year. :-)

Looking down on Morro Bay on Max.


The group heading to the beach- Max and I rode drag going down to the beach.


Max and I on the beach- it had started to cloud over when this pisture was taken.


More on the beach with Max...


A better look at Morro Bay.


On the Cable Trail heading towards the beach...





Start of the Bloody Nose Trail- we came accross a couple of deer here.


Max eating after a long day on the trail.

Thor the Fjord Pony

OK, it's been awhile...so what have I been up to? Well, my riding schedule has been a bit compromised thanks to my truck developing major problems with the cooling and oil pressure system which means major $$$ to fix since it's a diesel...

But, in more pleasant news, I've been working a little bit with Thor, a 3-4 year old Fjord Pony that bleongs to the people who own the stable where I board Max. He's an interesting little guy and relatively green but he's mostly sweet and cooperative. He's had some training, mostly driving, and he understands the concept of yielding to pressure (sort of). :-)

So why the sudden interest? Well. I've always been interested in Fjord Ponies and well, he just looks so cool and "prehistoric". :-) And yes, he's got a sturdy frame, standing at about 14.3 hands and he's perfectly capable of carrying my large-size carcass with no problems. :-)

Another reason is that my wife had decided to get back into horseback riding, at least enough to get confidence to trail ride with me, so I've been having her ride Max- I know his moves and know that for the most part, he's a steady trail horse and will be good for my wife. Unfortunately, unlike in the past, there's a shortage of suitable horses for me to ride so I'm working with whatever I can find and Thor is it for now.

Riding Thor is interesting...he really doesn't like to trot much and he tends to want to break into a canter- I'm working on making him maintain the trot. Also, the trot and canter are shorter-strided than what I'm used to with Max and it feels a lot like being in a rocking horse (like one of those I had as a kid). Also, Thos is SLOW...I thought Max can be slow but Thor is positively snail-like. Unfortunately, he tends to be lazy and you have to remind him constantly to pick up the pace. I use a combination of spur and crop, in a measured manner. Unfortunately, some of the previous riders weren't so patient and one went as far as to smack him with the whip while holding him back with the bit- end result was she was bucked off. So, like any horse, you also have to give him a "way out" and that means being light on the bit. Of course, he's also not so educated on reining so it can be a trial. Not a bad boy but one who needs schooling.

Overall, Thor is an interesting horse to work with. More later! :-)

Here's a picture of us together:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

We in the US tend to take this more seriously but Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! :-)

Back from the Front...

Here are a couple of pictures from a recent WWI-themed party. This was the first time I've put on my complete officer's uniform and everything seemed to come together right. :-)