National Cavalry Competition Part III

Photo provided by Lisa Dzienkowski

DAY 6

We began the day with an opening ceremony even though it was the last day of the competition. An artillery team from Fort Sill was there with a couple of pieces to liven up the morning. We weren't sure how our horses Duke and Cal would do with the cannon, but both did fine. The ceremony went well. We marched past the grand stand in a column of fours and then came back around again at a trot. Everything went well and no one lost control or fell off their horse. Unlike last year at Fort Concho, Apache did not single handedly destroy the entire ceremony. I'm beginning to suspect someone has stolen my horse and replaced him with a normal one.

After the ceremony each of the Army horse detachments put on a riding demonstration for the crowd. We were up first. We used a modified routine since we were in an open field. We did a little precision riding, a few mounted drill maneuvers, a mock saber battle, and finally a saber charge. It was fun as we were just doing what we do best without having to worry about competing.

After lunch the competition continued with the Director's Cup competition for the Level 3 riders and the Combat Horsemanship competition for Level 1 and 2 riders. A few of our riders went to the Combat Horsemanship event without really knowing what it was about. It was the first time this event was held. One of our riders managed to pick up a second place ribbon.

Two of our riders were selected to participate in the Director's Cup. This is a multiple weapons course with jumps and other obstacles to navigate. Our first rider was eliminated when one of the grounds people inadvertently spooked his horse causing him to crash into a jump and lose his saber. Our second rider made it through the course but did not place.

That evening we attended the awards dinner where the ribbons and awards for each event are handed out. Members of our team ended up taking four ribbons in the mounted events plus ribbons in combat horsemanship, the Major Howze, authenticity, and bugle. Not a bad showing but the troopers wanted more, of course. The overall winner of the competition was a rider from Fort Riley. It was good to finally see a military rider win.

DAY 7 and 8

The next day we retraced our path back to Albuquerque. There was a hot air balloon festival in the city so we were not able to stay at the same hotel, but in a hotel in a smaller town to the south. We held our own traditional water call at the hotel that night to celebrate our winnings. The Executive Officer commandeered all the patio furniture from around the pool and decorated the table with a variety of liquid refreshments. He led a series of toasts and had us read cavalry poems which were pretty good but sounded better after the various jugs of refreshments had been passed around a few times. I'm not sure what we were toasting as the night wore on, but I think several people might have inadvertently re-enlisted in the Army without knowing it. The next day, we loaded up and started the final leg of our journey. We lost another tire on the way, but otherwise had no problems. The horses were very happy to be home and rocked the trailers as we drove across post. Another NCC in the bag. Can't wait until next year.