Friday, August 13, 2010

Major Howze Training

The Major Howze event at the National Cavalry Competition is a very challenging cross-country event that ends in an attack on a series of saber targets. The course is 6 to 7 miles long and crosses some challenging terrain. Last year at Nebraska we won the event with the help of a couple of riders from Fort Irwin.

The most dangerous part of the event is the saber attack at the end. Sometimes the horses will pass through the targets and then slam on the breaks sending the rider onto the ground. We lost one of our team members last year while preparing for the competition due to this very problem. At the competition one of the members of the team from Fort Carson also had this same experience.

To combat this problem, I had the guys practice last night attacking the saber targets in the arena where the ground is a little softer and the horses can't run off. I set up eight rows of targets with two targets in each row. I first had everyone go through at a trot without sabers. Then, we went through at a canter without sabers. Next, we went through at a canter with sabers drawn but did not engage the targets. At this point we started to have problems. One rider lost control and nearly hit the fence. A second rider was dismounted when his horse started to buck uncontrollably. A third had trouble but managed to stay on. The rider who fell was shaken up and his horse stepped through the reins and broke them. After we cleaned up the mess and got the rider out of the arena, we continued. We went through the targets again at a gallop but tried to engage them. Again we had problems. Another rider was dumped when his horse bucked and slammed on the brakes. Fortunately, the rider was not seriously hurt although his glasses were broken. We had a 50% kill ratio on the targets.

Not a very good showing but that is why we practice. It is a tough event, and people who take it on have to be prepared for some bumps and bruises. The Major Howze event is the essence of cavalry riding and is a big prize at the Cavalry Games.

2 comments:

  1. How then did the Cavalry do in the wars? Surely there was a special way to train them? I am sort of talking about the 19th century and all the cav actions? Did troopers get dumped then, while in action?

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  2. Usually, the cavalry dismounted to fight but there were problems. During the battle of the Little Bighorn, when Reno was charging toward the Indian village he realized that there was a big ditch that ran across the valley between him and his objective. He halted the charge but several horses did not stop and continued into the village. Of course, the troopers did not come out again.

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