[Training] The non-Equestrian Knight (Solo)

[John Griffin]

Windmount Stables
Morning, 20th of Summer, 510 AV

John hated horses. Well, he didn't actually hate them, but he was extremely uncomfortable with them. As a lanky boy who had only grown into his body within the past year or so, he found it awkward to control a horse as well. But a knight was primarily a mounted warrior, so he had to learn the nuances of riding one. He had walked down to the Stables and asked to use one of the practice horses provided for knights. Really it was little more than a pony; but then, John was not much of a rider either.

One day he would have to ride with armor on, but the first, and consequently the last, time he had tried it the young knight had almost broken his neck when he immediately fell off the other side of the horse when mounting. Today he had brought one of the practice wooden shields, as well as his longsword and his lance. He didn't often ride, so he figured he might as well double up and get in a few runs with a lance.

John had saddled up the horse himself, and was about to mount when one of the workers had run up and stopped him. He was upset at the interruption until the stable hand fixed the main strap of the saddle. John had done it wrong. Now glad for the intervention, he thanked the boy before mounting.

John unhooked the shield from the horn of the saddle, where he had hung it before trying to mount the first time. He slipped it onto his arm then grabbed the reins with his free hand. John had stuck his lance in the ground, pointed end first, and left it there, choosing to do a little riding before he tried some lance work.

The knight kicked the horse into action, hunkering down a bit and holding on tight with his legs. Having kicked the horse too hard, it started into a canter. A few extremely unpleasant bounces later John remember to post up in the saddle, and pulled lightly on the reins to slow the beast down to a trot. This is a much better pace. He trotted the horse around for a few minutes, working on his control with the reins. Eventually he would have to control a horse with his legs, so he gave this a try. For the most part this met with failure, but he got the horse to turn twice like this. Happy with his partial success he trotted the horse back to his lance, and pulled it from the ground.

Already feeling awkward just on horseback, the addition of an eight foot long lance just made it worse. But it was his knightly duty to practice with such, so he ignored his discomfort and walked the horse forward. It took him a full minute to finally turn the horse once he found an empty stretch of pasture. John took a deep breath, held it for three counts, then exhaled. Here goes nothing, he thought. He kicked the horse into action.

[John Griffin]

The speed caught him off guard, and John almost flipped back out of the saddle. Using his legs and the stirrups to pull himself back upright, he hunkered down a little, bringing the shield and lance in tight. After a few seconds he decided to try to lower the lance into position. Heavier than he thought, the tip plummeted towards the ground. He struggled to couch it under his arm. The knight managed to get it couched for a few moments before his arm, unaccustomed to such, gave way, and he dropped the lance entirely.

Going with it, John drew his sword, and swung it down and out to the side a few times. Wary of the fact that he might cut himself if he tried to sheathe it while still at a canter, he grabbed at the reins with the fingers of his shield hand. It took a few more moments, but finally John was able to slow the horse back to a walk, and sheathe his sword. He looked back the way he came, the lance dozens of feet behind him.

John turned he horse back, and went to retrieve the lance. His foot got caught in the stirrup as he dismounted, and the knight fell back first unto the ground. Shaking his leg until his foot was untangled, John stood up and brushed himself off, no worse for the wear. He picked up the lance and leaned it on the horse, preparing to mount again. The young man mounted with no further incident, and brought the lance back up into pre-charge position. He urged the horse into a trot, and reset, moving back to his initial position.

Here it goes again, he thought. This time, try not to drop it. He kicked the horse into action once more. This time he was able to couch the lance properly and hold if for a few seconds. Lifting it back up proved more difficult. He struggled with the awkwardness of it, but managed to get it back up. Proud of himself, he thrust the lance into the air in triumph...and promptly lost his grip, the lance tumbling to the ground behind him as the horse continued on.

John sighed. Today was going to be a LONG day...

[John Griffin]

A few minutes later John had reset, having fetched the lance and ridden back to his start point. He figured he'd do a few more runs with the lance, then do some sword work. He might be alright with a sword on foot, but being atop a mount changed things up, and that took practice. One foot in front of the other, or two hooves as the case may be, that was how progress was made.

John kicked the horse, but it didn't budge. Looking down, he saw it grazing on the grass, seeming content. He muttered something almost unknightly and lowered and raise the lance a few times, holding it under his arm for ten seconds during each repetition. The horse took a few steps forward, to continue grazing, and John gave it a good hard kick. Too hard. The horse started to gallop. It was all John could do to hold on, abandoning the lance and shield within the first couple seconds. He got close to the horse and pulled on the reigns with one hand while holding the saddle horn with the other.

The horse refused to stop. John was holding the end of the reigns, and couldn't pull enough to indicate to stop. Clutching the horn dearly, he slowly worked his other hand up the reigns. Finally he had taken up enough of the slack, and he gave the the reigns a jerk. The horse veered right, John having jerked too far to the side instead of straight back. The young knight tugged on them again, making sure to pull back this time. The horse lowered its pace slowly until it came to a halt. Out of breath he laid his upper body on the horse's neck, breathing deeply. Maybe I do hate horses.

[John Griffin]

After a few minutes John sat back up. Feeling the urge to stretch his legs, he dismounted, and led the horse on foot. He took the equine creature back to his dropped gear. He was delighted to find both still in good condition. He might be a knight, but that didn't mean he had money to throw around. Especially since he'd only been a knight for three weeks. John hooked the shield on the saddle horn and propped the lance up on his shoulder. Still wanting to walk, he led the borrowed mount in a large circle before mounting back up.

This time around the knight made sure to give a measured kick, and the horse set off at a fast trot. John urged the steed to go just a little faster, and the horse picked up its pace to a slow canter. John practiced steering the horse with his legs with only a small amount of success. For the most part the horse just went where it wanted to. After a few minutes he found another good stretch of land, and practiced getting the lance into and out of position. His technique was still extremely shaky, and he had a considerable amount of difficulty couching the weapon. But at least he hadn't dropped it this time. That was progress.

[John Griffin]

Looking to do some more sword work, John found a small bush to lean his lance against. That done, he drew his sword and started walking the horse forward. He alternated left and right, swinging the blade down as if fighting off the advances of foot soldiers. After several repetitions of that he raised up and fought on his right side, besting several imaginary mounted opponents. He was decent with a sword, but it was still awkward using one from his position on the horse.

John urged the horse into a trot and repeated the entire thing. During one of his downward swings he nicked his boot, and immediately stopped swinging. Note to self, bring a practice blade next time. Wary of the fact that he could have just taken a few toes off, he stuck with fighting off non-existent enemy knights, doing so for several more minutes before he halted the horse and sheathed his blade.

John made his way back to the bush and picked up the lance. Just a few more runs with it and he'd call it a day. He grabbed the lance and worked it back up into the starting position, then trotted the steed over to a good stretch of land. Picking up speed he made several passes with the lance, holding it couched for several seconds each time, though just barely.

After five such passes he decided it had been enough for that day. He rode back to the stable and had one of the stable hands help him through the after ride process of taking care of the horse and riding equipment. He even gave the mount a carrot for its help in his training. The beast scarfed down the treat and nuzzled him just a bit. Maybe horses aren't so bad.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! John Griffin Exp +4 Riding, +3 Weapon (Lance), +2 Weapon (Longsword) Lore The Good and Evil Sides of Horses, Practice Blades Make Perfect Additional Comments Well done. Short and sweet but not lacking. If you have any questions/comments with the grading, feel free to PM me and we can work out a solution.