And Now Something Silly...

Non-horse related but I thought these were funny:





And I don't even drink Kahlua...:-)

Road to Nowhere (or I Hate Rain)

Well...this last weekend was almost a complete bust, thanks to the weather (or lack thereof). Max and I were scheduled to go off to Acton again for another Civil War cavalry weekend but there was the threat of a major rainstorm. I hoped that we'd dodge the bullet but by Friday night it was pouring down buckets so I figured that things were off.

So I slept in a bit and when I awoke, lo and behold it's clear and sunny outside!! So I quickly thought about quickly getting over to the stables, and stuffing Max in the trailer and heading out anyway- I might be late but I'd be there. But after checking the weather on the internet (big mistake), it appeared that there was still a storm system over the area so I nixed that idea (due to crappy cell phone reception, there was no way to call someone at the event to find out what the weather was like up there).

Just then, I get a call from my friend telling me that the Warhorse was practicing and to get my butt over there. OK...so I'm flying down the road in my truck, get to the stables, tack Max up and ride over to Gabriellano Park- about a hour's worth of work.

Max and I finally make it to Gabriellano Park and we managed to get in a good hour of Warhorse practice so it wasn't a complete loss- Max was pretty energenic once he saw his herd buddies. The weather was breautiful and afterwards I worked Max out some more back at the stables- nothing fancy, the usual transitions, side-passing and leg yields. Overall, it was about two hours of practice so Max and I got an OK workout.

Sunday found the day to be overcast and Max got the day off. I wound up helping a friend of mine on a movie shoot (for the same movie I did work previously with Max). It was a pretty long day and my job was taking still photos and actually shooting footage with a very complex (i.e. expensive) Cannon digital camera- I was literally handed the camera, given a quickie "how-to-work-the camera" course and left to my own devices.

My job was to take as many pictures as possible from various angles so that there's an extra supply of footage if the director needs it for various shots. Also, I was filming the crew as they worked on the production, the idea being that this would be the basis for a separate "the making of..." video. The location was over in Chatsworth Park (I haven't been there in some 20 years- it sure was a LOT smaller than what I remembered it to be).

The day went pretty uneventfully and as with almost every movie shoot I've ever worked on, the production was running WAY behind and there were all sorts of glitches along the way. We didn't get out until about 6 PM. Now, if I could only get PAID for some of this time...that would be nice! :-)

Such was my weekend!

Now I'm a Teacher's Assistant

For the past year, I've been taking equine classes at Pierce College and volunteering my time for some of their programs, all in an attempt to soak up as much "horse knowledge" as possible. As part of this ongoing effort, I decided to become a Teacher's Assistant (TA) for a basic riding class taught by the instructor whose basic riding class I took last semester.

I decided to do this not because I plan on becoming a riding instructor (although I wouldn't necessarily rule it out) but in order to observe the instructional process of teaching riding. It's one thing to be participating, it's another to be acting as an observer and helping out where need be.

Tonight was our first meeting so we pretty much just went over policies, proceedures, basic admin stuff, etc. The Pierce horse herd consists of about 18 horses although as a general rule, the instructors prefer no more than 15 students because of safety issues and span of control. Also, the horses actually belong to a packing outfit and they work in the Sierras from May through September taking riders on pack trips. What this means for the class is that we'll lose the horses in May so hopefully the weather or holidays won't cause us to lose too many instructional days, especially since we only meet weekly.

What's also interesting is that the Basic Riding Class is required of all students, no matter what their riding ability/experience is (although this isn't explicitly stated in the catalog). While some my disagree with this policy, it's more intended as a means of teaching students the protocol for how horses are handled at Pierce (it's a bit different than what I was taught to do so I a hard time keeping it straight sometimes).

Anyway, it should be interesting and I actually earn 1 unit of credit (yay!).

Collection Continues...

Lately it seems that I've been on this strange desire to delve into dressage in a big way (for me anyway) and especially collection.

Today Max and I took our customary weekly lesson and naturally the focus of the training was on various aspects of collection at the walk, trot and canter. Also, attention was paid to transitions between all three gaits with the focus on SMOOTHLY making those transitions and maintaining a seat on the vertical- I sometimes have a tendency to shift forward.

While working on collection at the trot and especially at the canter, for the first time I REALLY felt/experienced what it means to have a horse shift their weight onto the haunches. It's a weird feeling and if you didn't know what was going on, you would think something weird/bad is going on- in some instances it almost feels like the horse is literally falling apart.

The think that never fails to blow my mind here is that Max and I are getting to the point where in many instances Max VOLUNTARILY begins to collect up with little urging on my part. I can guarantee that NO amount of muscling on the reins or other force on my part is going to force Max to do what he's doing- it's all coming from him.

Now this by no means absolves me of my responsibilities as a rider and in fact, it demands even greater attention and physical effort- the rider cannot just sit and ride their way through- they have to actively ride this. What's also key is that I have to constantly ensure that my seat is correct- most of the time this means being on the vertical (i.e., I'm sitting perpendicular to the horse's back)and allowing my body or legs to swing forward (it's so easy to do), especially when collecting at the canter.

While collecting at the canter, as the horse collects up, the front of the horse seems to grow a little taller and the haunches drop down (duh!) and my tendency is to follow the horse's front with my body so that I'm leaning forward of the vertical. Naturally, this may seem to be the right thing but it's not and I have to constantly remind myself. Moreover, because the half-halts require "tucking" your pelvis underneath you (the best analogy, and it's a bit crude, is imaging having a hard bowel movement- yeah gross, but it's it the only analogy that works, at least for me). By allowing yourself to move forward, your actually lifting your rear off the saddle and thus you can't engage in complete half-halts.

As a final note, I've also begun to be more aware of just what my body is supposed to be doing in half-halt- it's almost like coiling oneself a like spring in the shape of a "c" with the pelvis being one end and the diaphragm being the other. You really learn to use those muscles!

Although I don't pretend to be any sort of an expert and I'm sure that I've missed a lot of technical points, I do find it amazing, especially since most of the people who do this started at a very young age and I started WAY later.

Finally, I also think Max is getting better at this and there's been times where he's now collecting spontaneously while trotting and cantering (at times when I don't necessarily want it)- very interesting! :-)

Back on the Trail

After a week of rain, things finally cleared out and slowly the ground has begun to dry. The downside is that it's been very cold at night and even during the day it was a bit crisp...the end result was something that's not normally seen here in this part of Southern California: SNOW!

Needless to say, I had to get Max out on the trail again and so I decided to scout out some of the storm damage. I avoided low-lying areas since there's still a lot of water and the attendant risk of quicksand. Also, any of the usual stream crossings in the Hansen Dam Basin are going to be higher than usual with a fast current (all the run-off from the mountains). My area to ride in was going to be somewhat limited.

I rode down the wash and except for fast moving water in the stream, it wasn't too much of a problem. When I rode under the Foothill Blvd. and 210 bridges, I noticed that the stream was only running on one side and it was fairly easy to cross so I could have accessed a fairly large area of the basin in either direction.

I decided to go towards the Equestrian Center and Gabriellano Park, working my way around the Equestrian Center and then heading east on the Haul Road. I then took a loop home that took me past the Park (where I decided to work Max some). Finally, I made my way up Orcas Ave. towards the stables.

Overall, there was the usual sort of earth movement and the run-off had deposited a large amount of ash from last August's Station Fire. There streams running through the basin had definitely expanded so it's going to be awhile before I get down there. I took a few pictures with my cell phone- not the best camera, it was more beautiful in person.

Max did pretty well and he was eager to get out after a week in his stall but he wasn't crazy. Working him out in the Gabriellano Park was definitely a good idea and we even reviewed some basic dressage moves and collection. Hopefully the weather will stay relatively clear for awhile (although another storm is supposed to be coming on Monday- we'll see) so I can get back to working Max.

Little Tujunga Canyon


Haul Road looking east


Looking east from Gabriellano Park


Big Tujunga Canyon, looking northeast


Another view of Big Tujunga Canyon, looking northeast

Infantry vs Cavalry

Some thoughts on the old "Infantry vs Cavalry" debate:

1) Horsemanship- The state of horsemanship was abysmal. For the most part, there was no formal instruction and it was up to the individual companies to train. With motivated/competant officers and NCOs, results could be achieved in time but to a great degree, training was of the character of "on the job", especially if the company was going on campaign (before departing, companies were reinforced with new recruits, some who had just barely enlisted).

2) Logistics- A good part of the horse's normal garrison ration was grain. Out in the field, supplies were spotty and for the most part the horses depended on grazing the local grass. After three or four weeks of campaigning, horses frequently broke down and if nothing else, lost a lot of weight. The horse breeds used by the Indians were far more hardy and capable of subsisting on a lot less. In fact, it could be argued that the march rates after three or four weeks were actually more favorable for infantry.

The reality was that for the most part, the cavalry was incapable of catching up with Indian war parties, who operated mostly in the Spring and Summer. The key strategy that Miles employed was the winter campaign when forage for the horses was hard to find and limited food supplies. Snow and severe rain limited mobility and especially with the women and children. Basically the Indian villages were "fixed" during the winter, making them a target. Miles basically gutted the Sioux with the 5th Infantry in the Fall of 1876/Winter of 1877.

IMHO, much of what we see and hear of the infantry vs cavalry debate is tainted by a combination of officers attempting to save their careers and justify their actions after-the-fact and later with Hollywood movies and just plain BS. The record is fairly mixed and I believe that both cavalry and infantry were essential, cavalry to provided a wide-ranging "presence" and the infantry to act as the proverbial "rock" to anchor a campaign.

The 1870s Walk-A-Heap

One of my interests has always been the military side of things in the Old West and especially things that people don't usually associate with the West such as infantry. When it comes to living history, people often only think about Custer and the 7th Cavalry and that unfortunate encounter at the Little Big Horn. This ignores 99% of what else was out there and contrary to Hollywood movies, bad novels and other media, infantry played a key role in the Army's campaigns during the Indian Wars.

I originally posted this on another living history board but I thought that it might be of interest here...and yes, believe it not, there actually WAS infantry in the West and they were often more useful than cavalry for heavy campaigning. :-)

The following is some general information for those who would like to put together an 1870s infantry impression so here's a brief overview:

First, you have to ask yourself what year are you portraying? Uniforms and equipment were in a state of flux during this era and often times key items were different from year to year. Contrary to popular belief, soldiers were not simply issued with leftovers from the Civil War (in fact, it was due to poor storage that a lot of these items were rendered unuseable which prompted the Army to seek replacements).

With that said, I'll start with the necessary kit for an 1876 impression:

1874 Sack Coat w/ branch of service trim on the sleeves. This was a four-button sack coat, unlike its Civil War cousin.

1872 Trousers or Civil War era trousers (preferably Schuykil pattern). There is very little difference between them and both were used.

1851 or 1872 Shoe (aka brogans). Both appear to have been used throughout the 1870s and the 1872 model was made with copper screws which in turn made them especially unforfortable in the winter.

1872 Forage Cap with appropriate branch of service, company and regiment brass. These are arranged a bit differently before and after 1875.

Campaign Hat- At this point there was no official issue model (in 1877 there would be) and the soldiers bought these from the post trader or other civilian source. These would be non-descript slouch hats in a variety of colors, mostly black, brown and grey. One note: DO NOT PUT HAT BRASS OR HAT CORDS ON THESE!!! The actual soldiers rarely did so (and it wasn't authorized) and it will mark you as a farb.

1873 Greatcoat- This was a pretty warm garment and was blanket-lined and had a double-cape.

1874 Canteen- This would be a converted Civil War era canteen and there were at least two different models.

1874 Haversack- This came in two basic models, the earlier in cotton duck with a tarred cover and a later one with a thick canvas cover.

1874 Meat Can- The Army's first attempt at an issue piece of mess wear. Descendents of this basic model were used by the Army up until the late 1980s.

1874 Knife, Spoon, and Fork- Once again, the Army's first official issue eating wear. Before this, soldiers bought whatever they could at the post trader.

1874 Cup. Similar to it's Civil War cousin in size and configuration. Unlike those in the Civil War soldiers did not install wire bales and efforts were made to keep these clean (from what I can tell from the research I've done).

1874 Clothing Bag- Rarely carried on campaign, this was intended as a means carrying clothing and along with the haversack, made up the Palmer Brace System.

Blanket- Can be either the Grey pattern found in the Civil War or the later 1873 model with purple stripes (yeah, purple! ).

Gum Blanket- Same as it's Civil War predecessor (it was the same item).

Shelter Half- Identical to the Civil War model, mostly the 1864 model. Wooden stakes simliar to those found in WWI/WWII were also issued along with two-piece poles.

Prairie Belt- This was the ammo belt consisting of loops. At this time there was no official issue item like this so soldiers would purchase their own from either civilian sources or from one of the Post saddlers. Old 1851 waist belts and NOC belt buckles were popular for conversions. By 1877/78, the Army finally developed it's own issue belt.

1874 belt and McKeever Pouch. These were garrison items and along with the haversack and clothing bag made up the Palmer Brace System.

Bayonet and Scabbard. The Bayonet scabbard was developed in 1872 and the bayonet was usually a converted Civil War era bayonet (althogh there some bayonets specially made for the 1873 Springfield Rifle. The bayonet was also a garrison item and was left behind on campaign.

The above is only a rough sketch and I'm partially going off memory here so I might have gotten a few things wrong so please bear with me. Also, while it can be successfully argued that it took time for items to be put into the Army supply system and distributed to the troops out West, the process still occurred in a reasonable amount of time so using this as an excuse to use Civil War stuff really doesn't cut it.

Also, and this is a gripe of mine, all too often the "it took time to issue new items" is used as a cop-out by people to weasel out of having to expend the money and time to procure the right stuff- in some cases, it simply doesn't work and makes you look like a farb. Also, while in some instances you can justify the Civil War item, in order to really set the Indian Wars impression apart from Civil War, you really have to use the stuff that's unique to the 1870s to really stand out. Just my opinion there.

Unfortuantely, there are way too many half-assed Indian Wars infantry impressions out there (and don't get me started on cavalry) and they're not even good Civil War impressions. LEAVE THE CIVIL WAR BEHIND! OK, that's my dos centavos on that matter.

Also, just an observation: While it's easier to put together a c. 1867 impression using mostly Civil War items, procuring the 1866 Springfield (aka Second Allen) is a killer- apparently the prices have gone through the ceiling.

On the other hand, doing a more latter impression such as the later 1870s or 1880s is easier from a weapons standpoint (though not much with the prices), getting the proper unifroms and equipment is a bit more of a challenge.

Finally, the one thing really holding back things is the lack of a good uniform vendor. The only game in town is the Quartermaster Shop and the authenticity of some of their items is pretty questionable (although the workmanship is pretty decent). Perhaps things have changed but at least that's what I encountered about four or five years ago.

Just my dos centavos but I hope people find it helpful.