Equestrian:Overview of equestrian - Introduction

Introduction to equestrian activities

Horses and other equines were vital to the daily life, warfare, transportation, pageantry, and sport in the pre-seventeenth centuries.

SCA equestrian includes many of these activities: mounted combat, jousting, mounted archery, skill-at-arms competitions, medieval games such as Buzkhashi or Dakyu, historical performance riding and royal processions. Youth are also able to participate in several of these activities.

The equestrian marshalate oversees the use of all equines at SCA events and practices, which include both martial and non-martial activities.

As historical research continues to advance, new activities may be added at the discretion of the marshal-in-charge or the kingdom equestrian officer. New activities with higher risks than existing activities, or that involve new or higher levels of contact, are approved through experimental programs.

In this handbook, each activity description includes:

• a summary of requirements (e.g. authorization, armor, weapons, equipment),
• conventions (e.g. target areas, rules of engagement, acknowledgement of blows, judging blows, scoring).

Details on requirements for armor, weapons and other equipment found in the chapters on Equipment Standards.

Horses are large and sometimes unpredictable animals. You should exercise care whenever you are in the vicinity of one.