Photo By Sgt. Marcus Floyd | Staff Sgt. Jason Bishop, the military trainer with the 1st Cavalry Division Horse...... read more read more
FORT HOOD, Texas — Throughout the year, the 1st Cavalry Division Horse Cavalry Detachment is always on the road participating in parades, static displays and focusing on their mission.
However, there's one time of the year where the detachment's focus changes.
“These troopers work extremely hard all year with the mission,” said Capt. Jeremy Woodard, commander of the Horse Cavalry Detachment. “Trying to meet the mission requirements we're always on the road and working hard, but the [National Cavalry Competition] is about the trooper.”
Although the detachment trains year-round, training for the competition begins in August.
To prepare, the detachment military trainer, Staff Sgt. Jason Bishop, sets up several courses for the riders to run through.
“All through August and into the beginning of September we're just setting up courses,” said Woodard. “[The courses] change every competition, so we don't know what the courses will look like, but we know what obstacles will be present.”
After the riders complete the courses set up by Bishop, they are then ranked based on their riding levels and paired with a horse that matches their riding abilities.
Although a lot goes into determining at what levels the Soldiers will compete, Woodard said matching riders with the proper horse is the most important part of preparing for the competition.
“It's pivotal. It's probably the most crucial thing,” said Woodard. “The rider can control and do a lot with the horse, but you have to have the right abilities for some of these horses. Not all the horses are equal.”
Once the Soldiers are matched with a horse, they work with the horse exclusively to strengthen the relationship between the horse and the rider.
For the rider, building the relationship is based on his or her ability to align themselves with the horse, said Bishop.
“If you can't adjust yourself so that the horse is more receptive, then you're not going to have a good ride,” said Bishop. “If you're not reading the horse correctly, or responding to them correctly, then they are going to get agitated with you and they're not going to want to do anything for you. You have to earn the horse's trust.”
Bishop compares earning a horse's trust to how the Army teaches leadership skills.
“We're taught to know our Soldiers in and out and adjust our leadership style to match our Soldier's needs,” said Bishop. “You're not going to get anything out of your Soldiers if you're one way with everyone, and it's the same for every single horse in the detachment. Every horse is different.”
The better a Soldier knows the horse, the better chance they have of having a successful ride, which is necessary for the competition.
During the competition, the riders will not know what the courses will look like before they compete.
“The riders see the route for the competition that day,” said Bishop. “You get off your horse, the judge shows you which jumps to take in the correct order, you mount your horse and you start. The show we do on Fort Hood is the same thing every time, so the Soldiers don't think about it, the horses barely think about it.”
However, Bishop said the most important thing for the riders to remember is to have fun.
“There's always going to be those few riders that really want to win, everybody wants to win, but some handle it a little better than others. If you allow the stress of the competition to get to you, you're not going to ride as well,” he said. “I try not to put too much pressure on them, but at the end of the day the most important thing is to have fun.”
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2016 10:37 |
| Story ID: | 210811 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Knowing Your Horse: Training for the Competition, by SGT Marcus Floyd, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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