Legio IX Hispana USA gallops off in a new direction

[Hibernicus]

Well, we've started...

... a project on the back burner that's moved up to the front..

Still need to make some Cavalry kit and finish other items... but its a beginning...[attachment=0:yl1tlrn7]<!-- ia0 Auxcav5.jpg<!-- ia0 [/attachment:yl1tlrn7]

[Iagoba]

Starting cavalry it´s quite difficult (apart from expensive), one commilitione at my group has done it for a couple of years. You have to re-train the horse, as without stirrups (and the foot on them) he doesn´t understand what you want! Also, the hanging sword doesn´t help.

Good luck! :wink: World is for the braves!

[jvrjenivs]

Starting cavalry it´s quite difficult (...) You have to re-train the horse

Or you just have to start with a horse that doesn't know stirrups

Okay, that's just some oditty. Indeed starting with Cavalry is a lot of work, time and money. But good luck with your new project! Looking forward to more pictures of the horsegear! There still is few cavalry around.

[Cheyenne]

I've had no problems switching horses with stirruped & non stirruped saddles.. even ones that I put my Roman saddle on for the first time... I ca't say i've had that issue myself..

What you might find however, is if a horse has been trained to respond to a rider with two hands on the reigns and you want a horse to neck reign, they will get a bit confused unless you do a bit of practice getting your mount to respond to the command. Sometimes i forget when I'm riding non re-enactment horses that not all of them understand this ...

[Hibernicus]

another pic...

Getting Willy accustomed to some of the kit.. Micarius says Willy had a blast. Next photo session.... with the saddle

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Nice horse, what is he?
Good luck with the new venture. You need to get a Witcham Gravel helmet, definately!! 8)

[John Conyard]

Compared to Yorkshire your place looks nice and warm. Really enjoy it, and best wishes

John

[Hibernicus]

San Diego can be green, but you can see some of the seasonal already dry and going to seed. In a month it'll all be dry and brown.. makes the pockets of green in the riverine valleys and canyons that much nicer... even the evergreen oaks and pines in the mountains tend to grey green as the water table lowers...

Not sure what variety of horse Willy is... he's a horse, kinda tall, but at least he's not a classic western quarter horse! ...he sure took readily to the minimal saddle with no stirrups.. not sure if its an equestrian saddle or a pony saddle.. the real saddle is next...

[Cheyenne]

Looks like a Gelderlander Cross to me... draught horse from Belgium

[john m roberts]

Willy looks a lot bigger than those horses on the cavalry stelae. On the other hand, his owner can say, "I have a big Willie!"

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

:lol:
Well, it is more noticable in the second picture how big his 'Willie' is.
Unless the rider is a smaller guy?

[jvrjenivs]

Looks like a Gelderlander Cross to me... draught horse from Belgium

Yeah, it indeed could be a Gelderlander horse. I'mBut those are not from Belgium, but from the Netherlands

Willy looks a lot bigger than those horses on the cavalry stelae. On the other hand, his owner can say, "I have a big Willie!"

If it indeed is a Gelderlander horse, that's probably true. Gelderlander horses have a 165 cm size (about 16.3 hands) where Roman horses. According to the conclusions John Conyard made from his research this is indeed much larger then "Roman horses" seem to were.

Much has been written on the size of the Roman horse. Ann Hyland has considered the various ancient breeds potentially available to the Roman cavalry, although she shows a bias towards the Arab.[5] To generalise there is a consensus that Roman horses in the west were around 13 to14 hands, with some as tall as 15 hands.[6] Roman monuments certainly show us a small stocky animal. Recent work on bone evidence suggests that actual military horses were what we would call ponies, robust specimens of 13.2 hands, with small regional differences.[7] Certainly it is safe to assume that strong animals were needed to carry armoured riders over considerable distances. Speed would have been a secondary consideration. Junkelmann used Camargue horses and more recently a Welsh cob, of 13 to 14 hands for his reconstructions. Native British breeds similar to the Fell or Dartmoor pony, would be best adapted to the British climate. Size is crucial in determining speed of manoeuvre, and the effectiveness of Roman cavalry.

[5] Hyland (1990) 11-29
[6] Dixon and Southern (1992) 163-173
[7] Johnstone (2004)
See: [url:2epo2av7]http://www.comitatus.net/cavalry4.htm[/url]

[Hibernicus]

Willy is a likely a Gelderlander /American quarter horse cross. This is just a guess. Micarius does not know with certainty...

Yeah, we know he's too big... but ...
..... making do...

Trust me, when this starts to take off we will do what's needed to acquire properly sized horses.

[M. CVRIVS ALEXANDER]

...Roman monuments certainly show us a small stocky animal. Recent work on bone evidence suggests that actual military horses were what we would call ponies, robust specimens of 13.2 hands, with small regional differences.

Here is our LEG XI CPF cavalry featured in Oct 2008.

P.S. The beautiful girl is my daughter Dasha.

[John Conyard]

I really like the look of this little pony. The impression has the "right feel" to it. I hope the horse is brave and responsive. If not he would be worth the time to make him so. It all looks good.

I really dislike members of RAT who set themselves up as experts on anything, and I fear I'm running the risk of labeling myself a hypocrite. But my enthusiam is leading me on.

Breast and breaching straps aren't always needed depending on the fit of the saddle, but they look good and I would quickly make some up. You can decorate them with antler, you don't need to use expensive metal fittings. Most such antler fittings have a simple design

[attachment=0:1qgiyh1i]<!-- ia0 antler pendant.JPG<!-- ia0 [/attachment:1qgiyh1i]

This one is from Malton, just up the road from me.

I would be tempted to stitch Carlisle style side panels to the saddle, which looks good.

[attachment=1:1qgiyh1i]<!-- ia1 saddle cover 2nd century Carlisle.jpg<!-- ia1 [/attachment:1qgiyh1i]

And I would really be tempted to use a gel pad, or extra padding, to raise the rear of the saddle up slightly to give the rider an better seat. I would get Dasha doing something Roman with the mane, to decorate the animal even more.

I would silver foil bits of the helmet as well, and get the rider to take his socks off, or hide them with material "foot bags" or sprang versions. A javelin quiver, some training javelins, and he 's ready to go.

I'd be very happy to ride alongside such an impression. Romans would favourite native breeds which would be more likely to stay healthy in the local climate. My Irish cob, on duty again at the start of this season, has spent most of the winter out in a field looking very hairy. But he's now trimmed and full of the joys of spring.