Corlisswyn smiled at the question, as it was one of the first demonstrations, she had to do the last time she trained for the Cavalry, and like most Rohirrim, she was well trained to groom and saddle a horse. Armor was still tricky, as she never did mount armor on her previous horse, Roan. While waiting for Hadassa to complete the mounted portion of her assignment, Corlisswyn looked around for a moment and found at the corner of the training center a well-stocked tacking area.
As Hadassa dismounted and tied the horse back up to a hitching post, Corlisswyn and the Larmægister slowly made their way near the horse. Not sure if this was part of the test, she began to explain. “I don’t know this horse, and this horse does not know me, so before I begin grooming it, I must first take a few minutes to introduce myself to the horse and gain its trust.” She stood to the left of the horse, about 20 feet away, and made sure the horse noticed her slow advance. Corlisswyn was careful to watch for body language; Roan used to flatten her ears whenever a stranger was near. She put her opened hand out towards the horse’s nose, allowing the horse to get a good sniff and catch her scent. The horse seemed calm; he had likely been introduced to many cavalry members over the years. She slowly moved her hand from the nose and patted it on cheek, bringing up her other hand and placing it on the shoulder, stroking it gently down the back. The horse was receptive and nudged Corlisswyn, probably looking for a treat. “Hey there, girl.” After about a minute, she slowly gathered the reins in one hand, twisting to make sure her grip was centered under the horse’s chin, untied them from the hitching post and walked her over to the tack area.
At quick glance she realized the horse was bridled with no halter underneath. She also did not see a halter in the tack area, but she saw a coupling she could use. “I would normally have the horse in a halter for grooming, but I do not see one available. We will be putting the bridle back on in short order, so for the sake of the exercise, we’ll leave it on for such a short time.” She clipped each bit ring to the coupling under her chin and then ran a lead rope through the central ring. She then tied the other end in a tumble hitch, “I’ve never had problems with my horses trying to run away while grooming, but the tumble hitch will keep her secure yet will release if she fights too hard. Without the quick release, the lead rope could injure the horse if seriously spooked. And we should never use the reins, even for short breaks to tie, if possible. When riding, I always keep a coupling in my tack kit for my horses.”
Corlisswyn then unstrapped the cinch from the latego and unbuckled the flank billet, walking around to the right side of the horse and folding them over the saddle. She then took both of the stirrups and hooked them over the horn. She then stood on the left side and carefully lifted the heavy leather saddle off the horse, lifting it straight up and over so it didn’t slide or hit the horse. She completed un-saddling by removing the under blankets, unfolding them, and shaking them out with as much force as possible away from the horse. She sat them on a saddle hold nearby.
With the horse now ready for grooming, Corlisswyn took a moment to gather her supplies. She turned a box upside down nearby and placed on top of it a metal curry comb, a hard-bristled brush, a soft-bristled brush, a bucket with some water, a sponge, a couple of washcloths, a wide tooth comb, and a hoof pick. “I like to have everything at arm’s reach to help speed up the process.”
Corlisswyn hoped that this horse liked a good brushing like her old horse Roan did. Epona, her current mare wasn’t a big fan She took a deep breath and faced the Larmægister. “When grooming my horses, I first start with the curry-comb, focusing on loosening and removing dirt. I brush in a circular fashion, going against the natural direction of the hair. But as the curry comb is metal, I have to be very careful not to dig the teeth in too deeply and injure the horse.” Corlisswyn then spent a good several minutes in silence, performing the task, smoothing the hair back down after brushing it. “I only curry comb along the neck, barrel, and rump of the horse since the curry comb is so rough. I then follow up the curry comb with the hard-bristled brush,” Corlisswyn picked up the instrument, “to lay the hair back down in place and brush off all the loose hair and dirt the curry comb brought up.” She again went silent and brushed the horse’s length from neck to rump following how the hair is laid.
“The soft-bristled brush is used everywhere, including the legs and face. Again, I like to start at the neck and move my way down and back. When I get to the legs, though, I take a moment to lift the foot, clean out the hollow between the hoof and the frog with a hoof pick, and check the status of the horseshoes. I frequently also follow up with a sponging to clear any dirt the brush couldn’t clear.” She quickly moved from leg to leg before returning to the backside of the horse.
“While I’m back here, I take a cloth I’m not going to use anywhere else, wet it, and clean the dock, under the tail.” She deftly and swiftly finished the task as the horse shuffled from side to side to avoid it, keeping a steady hand on the rump to soothe the animal. “I then comb through the tail. I get less of a hassle if I only have to deal with a horse’s backside once, rather than coming back to it for different tasks. I think they find the area generally vulnerable.” Corlisswyn picked up the wide tooth comb and slowly worked her way through the tangles, rubbing large knots between her fingers to loosen up the hair strands. After a few moments, the comb cleared the tail without any snags or hesitation.
“While I have the comb, I then move to the mane, and repeat my actions at the tail. At home I use a small set of stairs to reach the very top, but this horse is a good height for me.” She smoothed the hair as she pulled the comb through the main, patting the horse gently along the way.
“I finish off with the face,” Corlisswyn took a fresh cloth and dunked it in the water, “By cleaning around the eyes and the nose, and brushing with the hair with the soft-bristled brush. And finally, when my horse has been as good as this girl has been today, she gets a few sliced apples, which I keep in my pocket.” She wished she knew to have an apple in her pocket, but she left the house without a horse, and therefore without a treat.
“And now to saddling! Since she is still tied up and freshly groomed, I can move straight onto the placement of the blankets. First, I take a shaken, folded blanket,” Corlisswyn moved to the saddle hold and returned with the blanket, and coming in from the left side. “I hold the blanket at the fold with my left hand and place the fold above the withers of the horse, gently laying down the rest of the blanket. Then, carefully with my right hand, I take the blanket edges and pull it down so that the blanket did not disturb the natural placement of hair.” She performed the task as she instructed, followed by smoothing out the blanket from left to right. “I check for any folds or bumps in the blanket from the withers down the back, as they could force the hair in an unnatural direction while riding.” She moved to the right side of the horse and repeated the process, smoothing out the blanket several times.
“The saddle should have all stirrups and straps folded over the seat when placing it on the horse.” Corlisswyn had taken care to secure the straps when de-saddling, so she picked up the saddle and carefully laid it on the horse from straight above on the left side.
She moved to the right side and checked the buckle of the girth. She ran a hand under the saddle to make sure the blanket was still smooth underneath. She then let the stirrup, girth, and the flank billet hang from the right and returned to the left side of the horse.
Once on the left, she checked the blanket underneath, and then pulled the girth from underneath the horse. “Next step is to secure the girth. This saddle has a buckle on both sides of the girth, so I pull the girth through the buckle and slowly tighten, keeping two fingers between the chest of the horse and the girth strap. Once the horse exhales, I tighten one last time and complete the buckle.” Corlisswyn ran one last check of the blanket on the left-hand side, and then moved to the back of the saddle. “Finally, my saddle has a flank billet, so I buckle it up like the girth. At this point the saddle is now on.” She moved back forward to drop the left stirrup and moved to the front of the horse. “As one last check, I also have the horse lift both of her front legs to make sure no excess skin is underneath the girth. By forcing her to lift her front legs, she stretches the skin taut along her chest.”
Corlisswyn turned to face the Larmægister. “Before riding, I would also follow the normal procedure to bridle the horse.” She hoped she had been complete and easy to follow in her instruction to groom and saddle a horse. "As to armor, I never had a chance to purchase and fit armor to my horse before taking leave. As to tack, she is shoed. My previous horse, Roan, wore both a halter and bridle since as a young horse she liked to run away as soon as a bridle came off, and the saddle equipment, including stirrups designed to come off if I fall backwards off the horse and am still caught in the stirrups. I prefer my horses to wear a traditional snaffle bit on the bridle, which they've always taken well."
(And if you need an extension, please post in the 
