National Cavalry Competition Part II

Photo of Martina and Bob on the pistol course--El Reno Tribune

DAY 4

Thursday was the first day of competition. The NCC has become totally dominated by military riders. Fort Riley sent a huge team of 13 riders, Fort Irwin sent 12, Fort Carson sent 8, Fort Hood sent a team of four as did Fort Sill. The re-enactors totaled about 17. With our nine riders, the field consisted of about 70 competitors. Last year's champion, Dan McCluskey was there as well as Dick Ross another of the repeat winners.

The first event in the morning was military horsemanship. All the riding events are fun accept this one. In military horsemanship you really have to know what you're doing and the scoring is all subjective. In the previous year, the Wonder Horse got me eliminated in Level 3 Military Horsemanship. This year my goal was to get through all the events without getting eliminated (I dropped down to Level 2 this year also). I had been having trouble with Apache not picking up the correct lead in the left canter circle and had spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to cue him so that he would. His cues for the right canter circle and left canter circle are different--another indication that the horse is just not wired right. We started out well and Apache stood still during mounting (I got a "really good" comment on my score sheet). After that things started heading down hill fast. Being a high strung horse, Apache doesn't like to do anything that isn't at full speed. His reins were like steel bands between his mouth and my hands. He took the canter circles on the correct leads, but took them too fast. And, there was no "free walk on a long rein". I got zero points for that portion. Apache walked, but it could only be described as a "power walk on tight reins." We did not get eliminated though and was pleased that I had gotten through my first event successfully. Meanwhile Brad and Martina picked up first and second place ribbons respectively in Level 2 Horsemanship.

The afternoon event was mounted pistol--every one's favorite. Since the Wonder Horse was behaving himself, I decided to take a chance and let him try. The course was challenging with a series of strong side and weak side targets. However, there was a narrow obstacle in the middle with two targets that had to be taken in rapid succession. As I watched, I notice that most horses were refusing at this obstacle. When our time came to enter the course, Apache did his "galloping in place" routine which is annoying, but in some ways good because he stays collected during this and is very maneuverable. We took all the targets and obstacles with ease and then approached the narrow obstacle in the middle. I anticipated Apache would refuse so I did not plan my target attack well. Surprisingly, Apache went through the obstacle without hesitation and I found myself unable to engage the second target in time. I did not place in the event, but was again happy that I had not been eliminated by the judges.

The last event of the day was the Major Howze event, a cross-country tactical exercise ending in a saber attack on a series of targets. The winds had picked up substantially by this time which caused problems that we would discover later. We were the first group to go and our guide was Alan, a great guy, but known for getting lost. We figured we were doomed. In a new twist, the event coordinator provided a map to the group leader who was supposed to follow the well-marked trail to the target area. About half way through the course, Alan told us we were off course and directed us through a wooded ravine. As it turned out, he had taken us off the route and we ended up cutting off a substantial part of the course. We broke through the heavy brush and found the trail on the other side and continued on our way. Apache was absolutely horrible. He fought me constantly for the first three miles of the five-mile course. I had to call for the column to slow down repeatedly so I could get Apache back down to a trot. Finally, we got to the end of the course where we were stopped by a judge because the targets had blown over and were being set up again. After about 10 minutes we were released and saw that our targets were on the ground instead of up at shoulder level where we could hit them. The Wonder Horse was near uncontrollable as we charged down the field. I saw my target and reached for it, but was not willing to lean down far enough to get it due to Apache's crow hopping and head tossing all the way down the field. Fortunately, enough of our team did hit their target and scored high enough to earn us second place. The judges apparently decided to not use the route times due to numerous problems with people going off course.

DAY 5

The morning event was field jumping, another fun event. I tried to warm up the Wonder Horse on the practice jumps, but he was rushing the jumps and generally being a pain in the butt, so I gave it up. I watched the Level 3 guys do their thing and then went ont he walk-though for Level 2. The course seemed really difficult. The jumps were not high, but arranged so you had to make lots of tight turns. I was convinced Apache would be unable to make the turns. When our turn came, Apache took the first jump well enough and I was surprisingly able to line him up for the second one. After that it became easy. He needed almost no set up for the jumps and cleared them all smoothly and quickly. We did not place but had a clean run. I was very surprised and again pleased that I had not been eliminated by the judges. It was the first time Apache had ever had a clean run on the jumps.

The afternoon event was mounted saber. The last time I had taken Apache in this course, he had dumped me on top of one of the ground targets. I was expecting the worst. The course was a bear. Lots of off-side targets and small strong-side targets (grapefruit). Apache's "war dance" gait worked very well on the course and I we were doing fairly well. When we approached an weak-side parry target, Apache had rotated to face the target which caused me to make a cut too close to his head. I hit the target and moved on, but was notified subsequently that I had been eliminated for an improper saber cut. I was very disappointed in the call by the judge, but what can you do? I didn't hold it against Apache, as the fault was mine, not his.

It was another exciting day and the team managed to pick up another couple of ribbons in the process. We attended a "water call" that evening and then went back to the hotel to crash and prepare for the final day of competition (mostly by taking pain killers and going to bed).

TO BE CONTINUED...