Equestrian:Activity - General riding - Performances

Performances

Formats vary widely and span multiple historical periods and cultures. These can be done by individuals or in teams, including mixes of youth and adults. The following examples are performance activities commonly practiced in the SCA.

Requirements:

1. General riding authorization.
2. If the performance requires you to carry or use a weapon, a weapons/games authorization is also required.
3. If multiple riders are participating together, spears and lances should be blunt or have a safety tip.

Palfrey competition

Palfrey competitions demonstrate the suitability of the horse as a palfrey, a highly valued riding horse in the Middle Ages. It is usually composed of two parts:

• A short presentation in which the rider shows how their horse is best suited as a palfrey, and can include music, fancy barding, garb, and heraldry. It typically does not include weapons.
• A practical course in which the rider navigates common obstacles one would encounter while riding in town or countryside, such as a bridge, step-overs, tight spaces, backing, retrieving a message, etc.

Ride Before a Prince / Ride Before the Sultan

1. Ride Before a Prince is taken directly from a section in Federico Grisone's 1550 book, Gli ordini di cavalcare, that discusses how best to present one's horse for a visiting nobleman or prince. Training exercises from Grisone's and other pre-1600 books on horsemanship are combined to create a short performance that best showcases each horse and rider.
2. Ride Before the Sultan is taken directly from bunud (exercises) in Mamluk Furusiyya (horsemanship) manuals dating from 900-16th c. CE. Each bund (exercise) specifies a riding pattern combined with lance-handling skills. Some bund are designed for one rider, others for two, others for many riders.
   • Bunud were typically performed in front of the Sultan, Amir, or other noble, in a hippodrome.
   • Competitors can choose to perform an entire bund or a portion of a bund, at whatever gait is appropriate.
3. Performances are typically 3- 5min.
4. Movements may be performed at whatever gait is appropriate for the horse/rider pair.
5. Competitions are judged by one or more nobles, supported by the organizer who assists the judges with explanations of movements and scoring.
6. Each movement is typically rated on a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the highest score possible.
7. Competitors are also judged on the complexity and difficulty of the performance, turnout, comportment of horse and rider, and other factors.

Carousel

Carousels are movements and riding patterns involving one or more riders to music. The movement and patterns are based on period riding manuals and descriptions of pre-1600 performances.

Carousels evolved in the 1500s from tournaments, and were intended to show the maneuverability, skills, and cohesiveness of the cavalry, and also highlight the increasing interest in riding as an art.

Cavalry maneuvers

Cavalry maneuvers consist of two or more riding in formation, including charges on the field. These maneuvers were used pre-1600s to efficiently move large numbers of horses and riders from place to place, and to form and advance in battle.