the question to consider is: what age are we talking about? the technique of staying in the saddle has evolved ... here an example of how to get off a cliff before and after Caprilli:
Before
View attachment 260082 before and after
View attachment 260083
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Caprilli
Those photos are without any kit. I wouldn't want to lean forward like that with a lance. Even when you're taking a tank down a steep slope you try and reverse the gun!
Modern point to point, show jumping etc. has evolved from military riding. The Badminton horse trials for instance, were originally a military event. The obvious difference is that with military riding the horse is a platform to fight from. So in order to keep a deep seat we ride with long legs. Modern show jumpers ride with short legs in order to lift them selves up and forward. Military jumpers lean back.
I have no doubt that you and Martin are correct about the best rider response to a rearing horse. Martin described it in an earlier post on PF.
Could I ask about the rider's response to this situation? The rider is ambushed or attacked by an enemy emerging from hiding. At the exact same time as the startled horse rears, the rider tries to either bring a lance, rifle or carbine (not a sword) to bear on the enemy. The cavalryman's attention is briefly and desperately divided between defending himself and trying to control his mount. I'm excluding the sword because I want to visualize the rider responding with a weapon that is more difficult to handle especially with a startled and slightly out of control horse.
Does the rider fall off the horse?
My non-rider's guess would be probably he falls off and/or gets wounded or killed and falls off. The resulting pose of the falling rider could work and be interesting enough to make a good miniature scene.
In my opinion, a more visually interesting and dramatic pose would be the horseman staying on the horse. What does the pose of the horseman and horse in the described situation look like?
All the best,
Dan
ps - I'm not trying to provoke an argument or be difficult, just interested in what a well-trained but surprised rider might do in such a situation and what that would look like.
Dan, practice, practice and more practice. That's why it took so long to train a cavalryman. Again if I can dig out the pictures I have reference of mounted and dismounted fencing kit. Sword versus sword, sword versus lance, sword versus bayonet and lance versus bayonet were all competitions in the same way as lance,sword and pistol, or tent pegging.
Riding would be second nature, so that in the same way as you would avoiding an accident on a road without thinking. I think your lancer would react to the threat.
If the threat came from the right then the horse would shy left, the reigns would be shortish so the arm would be pulled straight and leftish. The lancer would turn his face to the threat and try to get the lance point there.
If the threat came from the left and the horse shied right then the best thing to do would be to bring the horse full around to get the lance arm in position.
Of course that's also why lances are rubbing close in !
Martin
