For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/teaching-horses-martial-arts-with-the-horsemen-of-eire/
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Alessia Pagani and Jack Gassman run Horsemen of Eire, an equestrian training school and medieval combat academy outside Wexford in Ireland. Alessia specialises in natural horsemanship and Jack takes care of the swords.
In this episode we talk about what’s natural about ‘natural horsemanship’, and its origins in American cowboys and medieval training techniques. There is a blog post here with pictures of the single and double pillar training techniques we discuss: https://dariocaballeros.blogspot.com/2013/09/antoine-de-pluvinel-images-from.html
Alessia spent time living and working as a cowgirl in Arizona and she explains how Rossfechten (swordfighting on horseback) is similar to herding cattle. Teaching horses to fight is not dissimilar to teaching humans to fight, when you understand their motivations and characters. As Jack says, horses intimately understand violence and will beat the shit out of each other over “you looked at me funny”.
We also find out why there is so much unarmoured longsword in Liechtenauer, why it helps to be a dancer, and how many plates you have to spin to run a business involving horses.
Audiobook Bundle Special Offer!
Don’t forget to check out my audiobook bundle for The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts. This includes the ebook and the audiobook version, narrated by Kelley Costigan. You can find it at guywindsor.net/tsg22. That link will get you 20% off the list price until 15th September 2022.
Historical dancing, historical fencing… and a bear, with Sarina Wagner
Swords for all humanity, with Janna Datahan
Want to write a training manual? How to write training manuals for historical martial artists, with Guy Windsor
Messers and More, with Bob Brooks
Writing Historical Novels: the Facts and the Fiction, with Elizabeth Chadwick
What is a volta? A very detailed examination of Fiore, with Dario Magnani
Horse Armour at the Royal Armouries, with Eleanor Wilkinson-Keys
Bronze Age Britons Were Weird, with Dr James Dilley
Community and the Club with Samantha West
The Politics of Eastern and Western Martial Arts, with Jonathan Bluestein
Medieval Music and the Troubadours, with Alix Evans
Swords in South Africa, with David Wagenfeld
Life in the Stone Age and Bothering Hedges with Sally Pointer
Business, Chivalry, and Life-or-Death Training, with Jason Kingsley
Washing paper and restoring books with Aurelia Sedlmair
How to fight like Sir Gawain, with Dr Przemysław Grabowski-Górniak
Seven Frenchmen vs. Seven Englishmen: who will win? With Dr. Rachael Whitbread
Force of Virtue with Jack Gassman
Medieval wrestling and making sense of the Liechtenauer swamp, with Jessica Finley
Big Blue Flags with Marli Vlok
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