Ride before a Coronet (RBAC)

Current challenge

Missiles before the Coronet (tentatively 11/17/26)

If you are horsed - film yourself riding and launching a missile. Could be an arrow, a javelin, or something more exotic. How does this change your riding? How do you prepare the horse for the challenge? What do you ask of the horse at that instant? How was this done historically, and how do you adapt historical practice to modern concepts of horsemanship and safety?
Some possibilities if you are not (currently) horsed:
- Film yourself launching a missile from a horse simulator - (See below ) or from a barrel or a barstool. How does being seated change the skill of launching the missile? Javelin from the ground is somewhat different than from horseback; much less use of hip and long torso muscles. Or you could attempt to film the old Greek practice of starting your javelin throw by lying prone on the horse.
- Research historical mounted missiles. Find a citation for an unusual mounted missile weapon or technique.
  - Still looking for that reference to plumbata on horse. (I am pretty sure that I hallucinated the reference, but I'd be thrilled to have someone prove me wrong).
  - Research a culture of mounted missle work. There is an image of a woman hunting from horse in Taymouth and several images in Bocaccio of women hunting - including one with a bow riding sidesaddle. These may be fictional, but it would be a significant addition to our understanding of mounted archery if we could document mounted archery in Western Europe
  - The Cantabrian circle , the Parthian shot and others. What were these techniques? How were they ridden? what skills did it take to ride the horse and loose the missile? The context implies that these were done in formation, which implies additional skills.

In the second century AD the Roman cavalry was used to performances of a higher degree. According to Arrian Roman cavalry, usually auxiliaries, made use of a variation of exercises bearing Celtic or Greek names as Chelone (or the better known as ‘Testudo’, being a close formation similar to the Testudo of the infantry), Petrinus, Cantabrian Charge, Xunema and Toloutegon. These exercises were performed on a large square area of which the ground was carefully prepared. [Ancient Warfare Magazine VI..3 (2013). and 17 Arrian, Tactics 36 – 44.].

- - While I have references for the amentum from horseback, there isn't nearly as much detail as there is for the amentum on the ground. How were the techniques adapted?>

Next challenge

Please vote in the poll for our January challenge. The current leader is "Towards and away".

> Towards and away - Epy’s recent video reminds me of one of the sources that recommends practicing towards and away over and over. This could be the Parthian shot, or the corresponding shot with the javelin (backwards over the horse’s rump). Or simply the theme that Gesa has raised several times of being aware of the opponent’s threat radius - of ensuring that the engagement happens in a way that is more favorable to me.

Grimmsfield's wooden horse

An option for the unhorsed to practice mounted missiles.

Although if someone did a saddle fit on this horse and inserted a half pad or something to balance the poor beast, I'd buy a beverage of their choice!

Grimmsfield's wooden horse; the springs

The horse is built with springs. If you pretend to post , you can get a semi-reasonable simulation of a trot Or, you can ask someone to bounce it for you. Either way it is a chance to practice missiles without a horse.

Mounted javelin

Missing imagerry

I can't find a royalty free picture of mounted javelin, so the space to the left will remain blank until I can. We did film this week; I need to nag the camera person to send me the video, but I want to get back in the habit of updating this sit.

Technique: the step

Film this week was of me throwing jereeds over Bonnie's head. Most of the javelin throws I've seen in the SCA are either cross body or same side - the throw is perpedicular to the line of travel. Discussion on discord suggests that my local experience is unusual; that the optimum throw is forward, over the horses head and aligned with the direction of travel. This adds some of the horse's momentum to the javelin's momentum. At some point I'd love to test how much of that momentum is transferred, but that is future work. There is also the Petrinus throw - over the rump of a retreating horse, but that is a different tactical context. Interesting, but different.

I was concerned that throwing over the horse's head might be disturbing, so I wanted to try with jereeds first, since any spook or mishap is going to be less serious with a jereed. Bonnie was completely unphased. I'm not entirely sure she even batted an eye. It is possible that the jereed passed through her forward blind spot.

Bonnie is still recovering - limited trotting in a bareback pad. I will make an effort this week to see if I can throw while trotting, but maintaining a high quality trot is more important than javelin technique right now.

Bibliography for Mounted Missiles

These are some of the sources I've consulted, I'd be thrilled with suggestions of other sources.

“302. MS M.429, Fol. 149v | Commentary on the Apocalypse and Commentary on the Book of Daniel | The Morgan Library & Museum.” Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.themorgan.org/collection/commentary-apocalypse/112348/302.

Antoniolopo, ~. 15th Century Portuguese Weaponry IV – The Javelin. May 30, 2022. https://anno1471.wordpress.com/2022/05/30/15th-century-portuguese-weaponry-iv-the-javelin/.

Arms & Armor. “Javelin Amentum.” Accessed June 7, 2026. https://www.arms-n-armor.com/pages/javelin-amentum.

Ashdown, Charles Henry. British and Foreign Arms & Armour. T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1909. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48573/48573-h/48573-h.htm.

Gardiner, E. Norman. “Throwing the Javelin.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies 27 (1907): 249–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/624444.

“Nifterlaca :: Articles :: Weapons, Armor, and Tactics of the Romans, Gauls, Germans, and Franks.” Accessed June 6, 2026. https://www.nifterlaca.nl/eigen_assets/Artikelen/022-Wapens_wapenrusting_tactieken.html.

Regis_Ivan. “What’s the difference between a spear, javelin, lance, and pike?” Reddit Post. R/Explainlikeimfive, December 7, 2013. https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sa8rl/whats_the_difference_between_a_spear_javelin/.

Sahle, Yonatan, Seid Ahmed, and Samuel J. Dira. “Javelin Use among Ethiopia’s Last Indigenous Hunters: Variability and Further Constraints on Tip Cross-Sectional Geometry.” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 70 (June 2023): 101505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101505.

“Sítula_apulia._Jinete_cabalgando_sobre_un_grifo_-_M.A.N.Jpg (3912×4000).” n.d. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/S%C3%ADtula_apulia._Jinete_cabalgando_sobre_un_grifo_-_M.A.N.jpg.

Wannabe Bushcrafter, dir. Amentum War Javelin: Primitive Atlatl Killer? 2022. 08:40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfnCBzbY2Ig.

“Warfare - What Thrown Weapons Were Historically Used from Horseback? - History Stack Exchange.” Accessed October 4, 2026. https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/80131/what-thrown-weapons-were-historically-used-from-horseback/80133#80133.

Wikipedia. “Amentum.” March 26, 2024. https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amentum&oldid=243471309.

Wikipedia. “Amentum.” December 3, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amentum&oldid=1325442666.

Technique

I have sources that indicate that specific weapons were thrown from horseback, but very limited sources on technique. Javelin throws from the ground involve the entire body. The image to the left helps to illustrate the point. Those who prefer video might want to watch Tod's Workshop's video on javelin throwing. I'm not convinced that this technique is going to work on horseback - or at least not without far more training than I can afford.

The best explanation of mounted javelin throwing I've found is

> If a man, in the act of advancing his left side, drawing back his right, and rising from his thighs, discharges the javelin with its point a little upwards, he will give his weapon the strongest impetus and the furthest carrying power; it will be most likely to hit the mark, however, if at the moment of discharge the point is always set on it. Xenophon

What has worked for me, studying from the ground first, is to set my feet as though I were guiding the horse through a turn slightly to the left; imagine that the target is at twelve o'clock and I'm going to ride towards one o'clock and turn towards twelve. (this may change once I've done more practice throwing over Bonnie's head). I grab the javelin about two hands behind the balance point [1] and then reach behind my ear so that my elbow points at the target and the javelin is aligned with my forearm. Then I throw forward and make an effort to finish by pointing at the target.

This works for me to correct three errors that have plagued my practice.

[Note 1] Throwing a hurlbat /non-pointed object. This is a safety issue; see below. The javelin is safest when it sticks the target; danger increases when the javelin rotates horizontally or vertically and the shaft strikes the target rather than the point. This can cause the javelin to bounce back. Given that SCA rules permit throwing the javelin from as little as 5 feet, the javelin can bounceback into the horse's hooves. I have a hooftprint on one of my javelins and I never want that to happen again. Discussion with some expert Thrown Weapons Marshals (whom I will credit once I have permission to do so), suggests that the key is to hold the javelin behind the balance point.
Rotational throw. I want to rotate my body around the vertical axis , which causes my throw to miss the target off to the left. This also generates a horizontal rotation around the javelin which can cause a bounceback. In my limited experience, vertical rotation is more likely to cause a bounceback. The key to avoiding this is to concentrate on pointing your finger at the target after the throw, and minimizing the degree to which the torso rotates. This is another reason to work from the ground first.
Throw ballistically. Throw slightly upwards; allow physics to be your friend. The javelin is weighted forward - release upwards and let the tip do the job it is designed to do. Historical javelins were tapered on the back end to shift the balance point further forward.

Safety issues

Practice from the ground first. Practice on the ground until you are sure you can stick the target - that you're not rotating the javelin over a vertical axis (caused by grasping ahead of the balance point) or around the horizontal axis (overrotating the body). When you're comfortable that you can stick the target, introduce the horse.
The rider's job is to get the horse away. If something goes wrong, get the horse somewhere safe - away from the javelin and the possibility of bounceback. Let the ground crew worry about the target and the javelin. Delay any efforts to diagnose the error until you and the horse are safely away. I'd suggest the ground crew call a hold. This is one of the cases where an equestrian hold is different from a hold in any other SCA discipline. Don't freeze, move to a safe place and prioritize situational awareness. Once everyone is comfortable the marshal can resume.

Image Credit

Prior Challenges

Fix your horse 9/22/26 1930

How to prepare the horse, or teach the horse, etc. How to create a better partner for historic equitation. Stuff that the horse may not have received in standard modern training. This may include groundwork.

Agenda

Discuss charter/objectives
Review video RBAC Playlist (Bonnie broke her splint bone this summer; thus my only option is to film the work done to rehab her).
Determine next objectives (November and January). What shall we film and what shall we prepare? Poll

RBAC explanation

I'd like to see the sources....

I made some effort to find sources on horse rehabilitation (other than Ramey), but came up zero. Then I asked on Society Equestrian Discord (if that link expires, ping me and I'll create a new one.) K. Gotehird was kind enough to point me to Anatomy of the Horse, which has a very nice bibliography. I'm not confident that I'll be able to obtain, let alone digest those sources in time, but I'm grateful for the assist.

Why do I exclude Ramey? It is a good book, effective at what I perceive to be the goal - that of sharing the joy of historical Japanese relationship with the horse. The pictures are lovely and it is excellent as a coffee table book, or as something to consult for inspiration. But it is a spur to research, not a tool to research. The organization doesn't support my need to trace anecdotes back, or to locate them firmly in space and time. Love the book for what it is, but it won't help me in this challenge.

Update on Bonnie - Bonnie continues to rehabilitate and is doing quite well - she's up to 10 minutes of tack walk a day, and the symmetry and fluidity of her movemet has improved. She is less "wiggly" (technical term), which we think means she is more comfortable moving.. But the heat here means that the walk has to be done in the early morning when I'm not available to ride or to film. I hope to have more film this weekend. She gets new X-rays next week. We can tell that the bone callus is quite large, which we hope means it is strong. The vet will review the x-rays and determine what effect this has on Bonnie's future work.

Fixing my horse

Bonnie started tack work yesterday; I didn't film that because I wasn't sure how it would go and I didn't want film evidence of bad news. Yesterday's film - second ride - is to the left. about 6 minutes of work.

She broke her splint bone and then during the recovery blew three abcesses - in theory she's had 20 minutes of vigorous walking a day, but that has been limited by weather and soundness. For about the last month she has had turnout in a restricted paddock - small enough that she couldn't do stupid things, but large enough to move and eat grass. In the last couple of walks she has broken into a trot spontaneously, as though movement was bottled up inside her and it just had to spill forth.

This is really my first time through rehab, but some observations.

She starts out with the left hind (the one without the sock) stiff and slow - it is slower to pick up, tracks less far forward and is stiffer throughout the movement
By the end of the workout she is moving much more smoothly and the left hind is tracking roughly the same as the right hind.
My instructor (the rider) reports that Bonnie is not straight. Rider is working to maintain her on the straight, but is not putting any pressure on to move at a pace faster than Bonnie's comfort.

Questions

I'd still like to have sources on historic rehab. I strongly suspect that few of the historic rehab practices would pass muster today - our knowledge of medicine and anatomy is much better. I have no intent of recreating historic practice, but it would be useful to understand. I also would like to compare Western European rehab with Arabic and others. Suggestions on sources?

Ride Before A Coronet Charter

I’m going to continue the Ride Before a Coronet project; I’ve benefitted from the exercise. I won’t be able to bring the depth of experience that E. Pengully brought to the exercise, and I won’t be nearly as effective at promotion, but I find the research into historical riding interesting and I benefit from setting goals. I invite any/all to join me. Below are my goals, each of which are open to discussion/feedback if you want to participate.

Goal: Improve riding as described in historic sources.

Method: Propose and complete 5 challenges a year. (tentatively September, November, January, March, and May. That way we avoid Pennsic and the holidays.)

I’d like to maintain Epy’s three challenge sequence. I like filming one, preparing one and contemplating a third. We’ll promote preparing to filming, contemplating to preparing and select another challenge.
When I’m comfortable with my video, I’ll upload my video, identifying my goal for this video and the boundaries of feedback I seek. Although each exercise will be unique, in general I’m looking for:
- What did I do right? What was strong?
- What seems to be an opportunity for further work? (for another challenge)
I feel like we spent a great deal of time managing bandwidth; I’m going to upload my contributions and watch in advance of the scheduled meeting, then discuss my notes. (much the way the last session went). For the first video: I’m going to upload to my youtube channel, post the link to facebook and to discord and entertain comments on both facebook and discord. We’ll discuss what’s most productive after that.

Suggested challenges

These are only seeds, designed to inspire. I’d like for us to suggest more seeds and then at the end of every challenge suggest new seeds for exploration. This should be a dynamic list. (There is merit in repeating a challenge to show progress. Most of my riding involves plateaus where I cannot make progress through iteration - I have to go do something else, and then come back with a more mature understanding). The first three are meta-challenges that will show up in multiple variations and can be repeated.

Fix the horse - ways to prepare the horse, or teach the horse, etc. That creates a better partner for historic equitation. Stuff that the horse may not have received in standard modern training. This may include groundwork.
Fix the position - Changes to the rider’s position, or our fundamentals that improve equitation
Fix the weapon - which can include weapons (mace, spear, naginata), tools (garoccha pole, lasso, bullwhip, etc. any tool that was used from the saddle prior to 1600.)

Tack - what did historic tack look like? How was it different than modern tack? How did it solve the same problems? Why is it different? (assumptions about horse welfare? Material science? Different problems to solve?). Good challenge for the months when weather impedes riding.
Tack/Adornment - how can you adorn the horse and/or rider to match historic patterns? I’d particularly love to see some adornment that matches persona, or that shows non-Western horse/rider. Another possibility for months when weather impedes riding.
Skills before the Coronet - ride a skill, then ride an activity using that skill (e.g. improve the seat, then demonstrate the seat in pig sticking or in rings, etc.) - practical application of historical riding skills.
Martial integrity - attempts to make martial techniques more authentic. I’ve had friends who have tested their sword strokes against cabbage and I’ve read papers from ground based fighters who test their strikes against stacks of clay. I’d also love to find a way to measure the actual force delivered. Based on the questions I’ve seen, I’m not the only person who has wondered how much of my horse’s velocity transfers to a sword stroke or a javelin throw. Anyone who has done martial arts for any time knows that there is a spectrum between safety and authenticity. How can we explore the tradeoffs between the two.
Towards and away - Epy’s recent video reminds me of one of the sources that recommends practicing towards and away over and over. This could be the Parthian shot, or the corresponding shot with the javelin (backwards over the horse’s rump). Or simply the theme that Gesa has raised several times of being aware of the opponent’s threat radius - of ensuring that the engagement happens in a way that is more favorable to me.
Controlling the engagement - In my work with Fiore, I couldn’t determine how to parry unless I understood the angle and direction of the opponent’s strike. How do we move the horse so that we avoid angles that are dangerous and seek angles that are advantageous? Epy’s last video caused me to think about this a lot more.
Simulation - Epy’s recent video has some spear thrusts against a simulated opponent. How do we simulate in a way that is safe, authentic, and interesting?
Missiles before a Coronet - skills that support historic missile weapons activities. The goal here is not to hit the target - it is to show how you manage the horse. This could be as simple as demonstrating the balance and isolation needed for a Parthian shot or a Petrinus throw with the javelin
Drive before a Coronet - this was just fun.
Ribbon races/jereeds/catch - While the goal is to improve historical equitation and I don’t want to get away from that, mindful fun can teach historic riding.
I’d love to see some two person exercises (e.g. Koet’s high five game). It is possible that someone could design a structured jereeds exercise that would fit within this category.
Pas de Deux/ and or tandem cavalry drills (Dame Wellenstein’s class at Pennsic reinforced my conviction that this is a really valuable opportunity for historic riding, RBaC et. al. Should be possible to avoid some MtG incident reports by training more in squads so that riders are more effectively able to predict one another’s actions under stress. Historic, practical, etc.).

Research Opportunities/Challenges:

Apart from riding, I would welcome creative suggestions to address the following (I think that each of these are opportunities for those who lack horses/arena/filming infrastructure/whatever).

What are some additional historical sources from which we can draw? Grisone, Fiaschi are common; what other sources are there? I’m fascinated by Dr. Jobst’s work, but I haven’t found enough information to let me practice. What is an interesting pattern to ride? (non-video, for those who cannot, for whatever reason, film). I’d love to see non-western. There are some A&S seeds in here. (See sources below). I’d be eager for someone else to open the manuscript, look at the pictures and then try to translate it into a modern, safe, rideable, interesting challenge.
Source opportunity - Ceara of Morven may present 14th century cavalry maneuvers.
Tournaments Illuminated 134 did an article on the historic precedents of each of our equestrian games. I think it would be valuable to update that. Elsewhere I tell the story of trying to explain to a non-equestrian why we ride horses across tarps. I’m not personally aware of any historical documentation of riding a horse across a tarp. They had to confront the challenge. They certainly had the materials. But how did they train their horses to manage uncertain footing? Or the gate, which SCA equestrian has adopted from Working Equitation. Absolutely they had the challenge of opening a gate while mounted, or of otherwise manipulating objects/equipment/facilities while mounted. How did they train that? Do we have any records?
Is there a better way to film? Feels like many of us are struggling to film.
How can we increase the value? Is there a way to expand the value to the participant beyond a single film session?
? Gamification ? This is an effort and it would be nice to recognize exceptional effort - or exceptionally interesting effort or interesting failure. And sometimes it is worth watching someone else’s entertaining “Whoops”.

Out of scope

There are a couple of categories/challenges that are, I think, very important, but are - at least for me - too large to take on. I’m structuring this challenge around activities that will improve my skills as a rider. That means I’m leaving the following on the table; I have no intent to explore these, but I would fully support someone else doing so.

I think someone should explore how to make SCA (historic) equestrian more viewer friendly. How do we increase participation and viewership? How do we obtain stronger support from other activities? (martial, science, service, et. al.) If I try to do this, I’m going to fail at the things I value more.

Explainer before a Coronet. How do we explain SCA equestrian, either to a coronet or to the general population? If that’s too easy for you how do we explain historical riding to the general riding community? How do we convey the difficulty and value of the exercise? How do we explain the differences between period and cultural assumptions about horse welfare and learning and modern assumptions? Why do we do what we do? (Someone expressed confusion - why do we care about riding a horse over a tarp? I tried to explain why tarps were hard for horses, but they just couldn’t get beyond what was the historical value of riding a warhorse across a tarp ).Do a demo for the populace, explaining why historic equitation is important. What did you learn? What did the audience learn?
Spectacle/demo - things done simply for the purpose of “wow”. Jousting can fall into this. I’d love to see some demo videos of this - or even for someone to create videos that could be re-used by multiple groups.

Sources

I’m keeping this list here for now - at some point it needs to migrate to a shared reference; this is not the right format long term.

Doktor Hunrvogt, OL provided many, including these two:

Fiaschi -
Corte (as translated by Bedingfield)

Fix a position

I had planned to be filming "Fix Your Horse", but Bonnie isn't ready for rehab yet (bout of lymphangeitus). This is a video of a recent lesson on Spidicus, who is a much hotter horse than I'm used to. This is the before video that coach took while we were warming up.

Had you asked me, I would have bet a day's salary that my heels were under my hips. They clearly are not. So we spent time adjusting my position. Coach had me lean back till my core engaged, then lean forward till my core engaged then find the midpoint of the two - which is very forward from what I'm used to. But it does put my heels towards Spidicus' haunches, and puts the weight on the fork of my thighs.

I've got some more video that I'll be posting on my channel as I work through it. The later videos don't tell the story very well - if you watch closely you can see me correcting the error then making it all over again.

Fix your horse

This is the point in my cycle where I'd like to find sources/documentation to support what I'm doing to fix my horse.

How were horses trained and rehabbed in period?

Apart from Ramey I'm finding it difficult to find good sources for horse rehab. IIRC Xenophon discusses horse training as does Duarte - with very different approaches.

Dr. Jobst gave a talk , possibly at a HHRF meeting, and my takeaway was that Xenophon shows compassion for the horse, but beginning around the time of the Roman Empire European horse texts operate on a legalistic/punishment based training. Arabic sources continue a more partnership based approach - but I don't have the data to test that, or to explore what the distinction might mean.

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