Still very windy, but NOT RAINING! Whew! The cats are all toasting in the sun...in the house. Here's Gimli soaking up rays on the kitchen table. Notice how he thoughtfully positioned himself on the place mat and not on the lace tablecloth. What a good little boy he is...sometimes! And in other news...

How about voting on this little "commercial" that I worked on last week? Starring Gordon as "the miner"! All you have to do is sign up at the Klondike site, then vote for our "Klondike Express" entry in the contest. I'm totally biased, but I think it's one of the best entries so far, so I have no qualms about begging for votes. I believe you can vote once a day, so help us pay down our

My uncle Dennis passed away a couple of days ago. He was my mom's little brother. He never married, but did a lot of traveling, genealogy work, and was a happy presence in our lives at holidays and other gatherings. He'd fought a fight with cancer a few years ago, and it was coming back to haunt him. He was doing all right, and then just dropped like a stone the other day. Kind of a shock. My

Pictures are finally up on the official site (they start here). Report here.

Did a school demo on Tuesday, the first ever for the Warhorse Guild! Gordon gave a talk on knights & armor, as the kids are doing their Medieval section right now, I guess. We armored Gordon up, then he kept talking while I rode back and forth behind him tapping the quintain on Gryphon. It being western Washington, the rain came on schedule and we cut things short, but the kids were about at the

Do we know how to do it right or what? Another slam-bang weekend at Tilbury camp! We had over 25 folks from the Academia della Spada alone! We played, we ate, we sang, we danced (well, some of us danced). There was jousting, English Backsword, archery, and pike drill. Probably other things as well. Needless to say, we'll continue doing this... Rapheal models his new helmet ornament (oops!

Gordon

Just an FYI for folks who might be thinking about this event for next April. I believe it conflicts with opening weekend of Southern Faire, but it was the best we could do and not have TOO many conflicts with dates for things. The later we got, the worse it got...



Feel free to ask us about it, here or on our yahoo group. It's just for us, so it's not "acting" per se, though being in character for the full immersion experience is strongly ecouraged. Think of it as, well, ... a SCHOOL! ;^D Yes, it's focused upon the Soldierly Arts of the Elizabethan and Jacobian period, but there are other aspects which may be of interest. Those who portray Gentlemen or Soldiers can gain a great deal of "backstory" from the experience of actually playing soldier in the "Lowe Countries", so consider it well worth your while to invest a weekend in this trailing the Puissant Pike. The stories are great! ("There were we, I shitte ye not...")



If you need to make special arrangements for it, now's the time to start planning. I'm driving down (hauling horses no less) from Washington for it, and we have a group flying in from Bristol Faire in Wisconsin as well, so just about anyone can manage if they start planning for it now.



Gordon





Subject: School of the Renaissance Soldier - 2008





The School of the Renaissance Soldier is pleased to announce the 2008 dates for the fourth annual "Actions of the Lowe Countries". The event will be held at Gibson Ranch (renaissancesoldier.com/events...h.php), in Sacramento California. The dates will be Friday April 4th through Sunday April 6th.



Actions of the Lowe Countries is a multi-unit, full immersion event for Pike, Shot and Horse (and Camp!), recreating a late 16th, early 17th century military encampment. Last year's event drew over 140 participants from as far afield as Wisconsin, Washington State, Nevada and Southern California.



Additional details will be announced soon, and on-line registration will be available in February. Make your plans now to attend this premier event!



At PDF flyer is available: www.renaissancesoldier.com/down...8.pdf



If you would like to get the latest news about the event, participate in polls, post your photos of last year's event, or participate in discussion with other "Lowe Countries" enthusiasts, join the "SRS Parley" discussion group by sending an email to: SRS-Parley-subscribe@yahoogroups.com





Patrick Gaul

School of the Renaissance Soldier

www.renaissancesoldier.com/even...c.php

Gordon

Matt, Matthew... I'm so confused! I'll get over it. Good to hear from you again, Matthew!



Anyway...



Per the Iberian Connection, they moved to Arizona: www.iberianconnection.com/ . However, I got my own Portuguese saddle from Frontier Equestrian in Eureka. They're somewhat more expensive than the random Portuguesa's on Ebay, but also a lot better a saddle. Not perfect by any means, but better constructed, and pretty solid. I've been riding mine for three years solid (it's pretty much the only saddle I ever put on Woody, and we ride fairly frequently), and it's holding up nicely. I need to restitch where my sword hanger rubs on the cantle roll, but other than that, it's in fine shape.



The big bugaboo with these saddles is the fit. I got lucky as heck with mine, as Woody actually has withers AND a broad back, which it seems most Iberian horses must have. If you have a mutton-withered horse, your out of luck, and if you have a narrow-backed horse, you're out of luck with them too. It's tough to guess, especially when several hundred dollars are on the line, but you might talk to a tack shop to see if they'll work with you on this. Maybe get one (not cheap, unfortunately) that you can have them fit to your horse, and if it doesn't, they can send it back, and try again. Better than the Russian Roulette that we otherwise have to do buying mail-order.



The Portuguese saddles are indeed close to perfect for a period saddle. Not quite, but closer than anything else, with the exception of the Royal Saddle, made in Portugal and a DEAD RINGER for an early 17th Century saddle: www.animoruitersport.nl/royalstyle.htm Looks like something from a Parisian cat-house, but it's VERY cool anyway! One of these days...



What I really want though is a good arming saddle like this one: www.bildindex.de/bilder/MI07990g11b.jpg to joust in. THAT will be TOO COOL! But it's definitely a custom-job, with both saddler and armourer working together to make me "the perfect saddle", which is hard to come by, I'm sure!



Oh, for bridles I just use USGI (repro of course) stuff from the 19th and 20th Centuries (I have M1874 and M1909 headstalls on my horses at present). It's good solid stuff that isn't going to break anytime soon, looks innoccuous, and is otherwise more-or-less "perioid". Not perfect, but serviceable. My bit for Woody is a curb for working Draft horses, while Gryphon is using a weird multi-hinged contraption borrowed from my pard Bev. Taxi uses his German WWII curb bit. They "look" period, though the only really PERIOD bit I've seen for sale was a GORGEOUS Garcia Bit and Spur-made bit that my friend Del Berg had for sale in his shop at the Ranchotel in Vacaville (right of I-80) Frigging GORGEOUS, fire-blue with silver, and straight out of the 17th Century in all ways. But I wasn't going to spend more on a bit than I had on my first horse, or car for that matter, so...



Anyway, feel free to query me, I'm all ears!



Cheers!



Gordon

Gordon

Aren't they wonderful? I've loved these illustrations for years, they are SO full of information! The nice thing is that on-line one can zoom in and get some REALLY cool details. Thanks for passing that on, Anne sure is happy with them! I guess I never managed to mention them to her... ;^(



Cheers!



Gordon