Hawkins,

It's nice to hear from another horse enthusiast who cares about the horse and understands condition and management from the sounds of your message! I think you would fit right in.

Laid back in camp? What's that??? Aren't we slaves to our horses?

MOST mounted units out here do all the things necessary for a cavalry unit. We have guard mount, horse guard duties, flag, parade, inspection. Bugle at 6 AM starts the day and shuts it down at 11 PM. No all-night drinking parties either, if alcohol is consumed it's done discretely. At events where it's living history we can be pretty laid back but at public battle events we are busy.

I guess I would say I have the most fun at non-public tacticals and training events. All of us in the Northwest Cavalry Association http://nwhorse.com/nca.htm get along and are friends. It's great to drill and ride together in large groups, we get a lot accomplished together and develop respect for each other and good comradeship.

We practice twice a month through the winter. Living on Whidbey you will have about a 3 to 5 hour haul to attend training, depending on what facility we use.

Stay in touch,
Capt. Ahearn