As of
the new society equestrian manual, mounted combat went from being an
experimental activity to an official activity. Thanks to Mistress
Yaasamiin, Sir Alexis, Lord Ingolf and others for all their effort into the
new manual.
On March
28, 2006 Mistress Isolde, Society Equestrian Marshal approved new mounted
combat activities on an experimental basis. Members of the Conroi are
very excited about this news and owe Isolde our deepest and sincerest
gratitude.
Over the next few days the rules, regulations, pictures
and video will be added to this page.
For now (in part):
Greetings to the equestrians of the SCA,
I have several announcements to put out. First I would like to announce
that I have approved a new activity for EXPERIMENTAL use at official SCA
events. This will be a new division of the mounted combat. The rules will
follow shortly (probably tomorrow) but the general idea is that a slightly
heavier sword will be used and blows to head, arms and upper torso will be
legal. Many thanks to Ingolf and Wulfric for all the idea
and all the work that went into getting the kinks out of the rules. (Thanks
as well to the others who worked on it with them!!)
...
In the meantime, if you see Ingolf or Wulfric be sure to thank them for all
the effort they put into trying to bring another level to the equestrian
game we play.
Please cross post this to all of your kingdom lists. KEO's make sure that
you forward to your marshals.
In Service,
Mistress Isolde of Hawksholme
Society Equestrian Marshal
Rules:
Proposed SCA Mounted Combat Rules
Limits: This activity requires a special authorization. Only the
kingdom equestrian officer or marshals expressly designated by them for
this activity may approve riders to participate. Authorization is a
two-step process. Mounted combat candidates must be authorized Advanced
Riders. Horses must be deemed “authorized” for mounted combat by the
marshallate. Only single combat is allowed. No Melees.
Safety: Safety for both the rider and the mount must be maintained at
all times. All activities must be stopped at the first indication of an
unsafe situation. Equipment failure on fighter or horse is cause for
stopping all activity.
Equipment: Marshal may fail any piece of equipment that is deemed unsafe
for participants, equine or human.
Weapons: swords are the only allowed weapons for mounted combat.
Sword construction: Schedule ¾” PVC plastic pipe 1/16” wall thickness)
or 7/8” diameter shaved rattan is the base material for mounted combat
swords. All swords whether PVC or rattan shall be padded with ½ inch of
closed cell foam. Padding shall entirely cover the striking surface.
Swords shall be a minimum if 1.25 inches in diameter. Sword shall have
cutting edge marked with contrasting tape. Swords shall have a mass
weight limit of 5 lbs.
Sword Fittings: Any acceptable heavy combat sword fittings (sword
hilts, pommels, basket hilts) may be used on mounted combat swords.
PVC Swords: PVC shall be capped at both ends. PVC swords may be filled
with expanding foam to create a more realistically weighted weapon.
Thrusting tips: Thrusting is not allowed in mounted combat.
Armor: Little armor is required to engage safely in mounted combat with
the enclosed weapon standards due to the padded blades. The exceptions
are head and throat protection;
Fighter:
Head: Marshallate-approved helm with face protection. Helmets must be
constructed of metal of no less than 18 gauge. Face guards must prevent
a 1-inch diameter dowel from entering into any of the face guard
openings. There is no maximum width of the openings; however, the
materials used around the opening must be of sufficient strength to
prevent a full force blow from collapsing the opening. A chinstrap is
required. All parts of the helm that might come into contact with the
wearer’s head shall be padded or suspended in such a way as to prevent
injurious contact with the wearer. Similarly, parts of the helm that
might come in contact with the wearer’s neck or body should be padded.
Throat/Neck: Mounted combat requires Gorget of rigid material or Maille
Drape of significant weight to prevent lifting by prescribed weapons.
Hands: No hand protection is required. Leather gloves are suggested to
prevent abrasion to the hands.
Shields: Shields are not required. If carried they will be constructed
of wood of at least ½” thickness. Edges of the shield should be covered
or designed to minimize damage to weapons. Plastic shields and metal
shields are expressly forbidden. Metal shields present a hazard to
riders falling on a very thin edge.
1. Horse: In testing we have found that an occasional but rare
strike to a horse is inevitable. The parts of the horse most sensitive
to injury must be protected. Eyes and poll being the most sensitive the
following armor standards are requirements.
a. Eyes: two types of eye protection are acceptable for horses;
full-faced police riot protection or Racetrack eye protection of the
blinker type.
1. Police Riot gear. Full-faced riot protection made of 1/8 lexan
attached to the bridle of the horse. The protection must clear the
horse’s eye in all directions by ¾ of an inch.
2. Blinker style. The lexan/acrylic eye protection used by jockeys
and trainers at the racetrack. This consists of individual eyecups of
approximately 3.5-inch diameter. The blinker must use transparent full
eyecups. Partial eyecups are not an acceptable substitute. Eye
protection of this sort may be incorporated into a period horse garment
providing the garment ensures proper placement of the eyecups at all
times.
3. Period style eye protection with integrated complete eye
covering. Eye covering should not allow a 1" dowel to enter any
aperture protecting the eye. Eye covering must clear the horses eye by
3/4 of an inch and not collapse or dent with a full force blow from the
weapon.
b. Poll. Poll protection traditionally used for trailering is
adequate to protect the horse from injury. In lieu of commercially
produced poll protection rigid material (10 oz leather or equivalent)
with ½ inch of close cell foam must protect the poll of the horse.
4. Scoring: In order to minimize contact with the horse legal
target areas are head, arms and torso above the solar plexus. Neck shots
are counted lethal but discouraged. In trying to both protect the horse
and maintain a period perspective on the value of a trained mount this
system of scoring represents attempting to kill rider and capture horse.
Head- One hit is a kill
Neck-One hit is a kill
Torso- Above Solar plexus one hit target is killed.
Below Solar Plexus Two hits striker is killed
Arms- Two hits target is killed (blows are counted equipment is not
dropped)
Horse/ Saddle- Striker is killed
5. Unintentional contact: Unintentional contact with the opponent’s
horse by a combatants shield is inevitable. At the marshal’s discretion
a combatant may be removed from combat for excessive contact by shield
with the opponent’s horse.
6. General Conventions: Where not clearly delineated the rules of
mounted combat defer to kingdom heavy combat rules.
a. Holds- All holds are general, meaning any hold called on the
field ceases all activity riders will place weapons across the tops of
helm to quickly identify all have heard.
b. Charges- All mounted combat is conducted at the walk. Any gate
may be used to close for combat but the riders must be at a walk for two
strides to engage.
c. Engagement-Single combat –After lay on is called fighters are
considered engaged until one is eliminated or a hold is called.
Prohibited Activity:
No intentional striking or kicking the opponent’s horse.
No grappling of any sort.
No handling opponents Tack, harness bridle etc.
Rider striking any horse whether horse of opponent or self is killed.
Shields will not be used as an offensive weapon (no striking with any
shield surface)
Striking an opponent with excessive force.
