Exercises for a Cavalier's Steed

 

The Tutors will teach you that a large part of being a Cavalier is having a close bond with your chosen steed. Before they even accept you as a student, you must build an understanding and a bond of loyalty between yourself and your beast.

 

Once this is accomplished, you are allowed to start learning the ways of the Cavalier. The present day tutors of the warrior guilds can teach you the theory and practice of skills, but the actual training of your steed is left mostly to you.

 

The ways of Beastmastery are one way to train your steed, but simple exercises outside of those skills can help your beast remain healthy. Here are some that I have practised with my horse - they might not be suitable for other kinds of mounts, such as eagles and wyverns, but some of them can be adapted for winged beasts. The exercises I found easier to teach my steed are at the beginning of this list, and the more difficult ones are at the end.

 

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Manoeuvrability and Response

 

This exercise should be done in an area where your steed will have a lot of room to run. It might help to place bright markers, such as a flower or a large coloured stone, at various intervals in your practice area.

 

- Mount your steed and direct it into a trot, and then a gallop. Head towards your marker or visualized point, and as soon as your steed comes to it turn your steed sharply so that it is going in another cardinal direction entirely.

 

Depending on how fast you are going, your steed may not be able to turn in the new direction immediately, but repeating this exercise will help it be able to manoeuvre more quickly and accurately, and learn to anticipate and respond more quickly to your direction.

 

(For winged mounts, you can do this by having your steed change its flight direction at the markers or visualized spot).

 

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Changing Methods of Control 

 

Again, your practice area should give your steed enough space to move around. Markers are not necessary but can still be used.

 

- Direct your steed into a trot or gallop by squeezing your thighs against its side (or however else you usually direct it to move forward). As you do that action, also do something else at the same time (such as twitching the reins or tapping the side of its neck with your hand). You can even try just saying a word. Repeat this several more times, and then try doing only the second action (the one you do not normally use). If you steed does not understand what you want it to do, do both actions again for a little while, and then go back to only using the second action. Repeat this until your steed responds correctly to only the second action when it is used by itself.

 

This will help your steed learn to respond to different methods of communication. This will especially help in combat instances where you cannot use your arm because it is broken, or your thigh because your leg is suddenly gone, and so on. You can use this exercise for other actions you want your steed to do also, such as stopping, slowing down, turning, or attacking.

 

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Teaching Your Steed to Count

 

You might consider this to be an unnecessary trick, but it can be useful if your steed is intelligent enough, which I will explain after the exercise. Make sure you have several rocks or other items that are easily visible to your beast.

 

- First Part: Place one of the items in front of your steed, and make sure it is paying attention to it. Then, stomp your own foot, or make a sound, or click your teeth together if you want your bird to click its beak (or do whatever action you would want your beast to do yourself). Then take the item away. Put the item back, and then do the action again yourself. Repeat this a few more times. Then, take two of the items and put them in front of your beast. Do the action two times and repeat this like you did with the first one. Continue with three of the items, and then four, and then five. If your steed is intelligent enough it will understand what you are doing, and hopefully start replicating the action itself. If you need to you can manually make your beast do the action, by raising its hoof for it and setting it back on the ground, or opening its beak and closing it while making a clicking sound. If your beast becomes angry, it probably does not want to learn this skill and you might want to move on. If it is responsive, then keep putting items in front of it until it does the actions by itself and can accurately count the items in front of it.

 

- Second Part: Now that your animal knows how to count, you need to let it know when you want it to count. Place the items in front of your beast, but when you do ask, "How many enemies?" or "How many friends?" Repeat this several more times, removing and replacing the items each time. Then, try leaving the items where they are, and keep asking "How many enemies" or "How many friends". If your beast does not understand, ask the question and then do the counting action yourself. So, ask "How many enemies?" and stamp your foot three times for the three stones that are in front of you, or do whatever action you are training your beast to do. If your animal is intelligent, it will catch on quickly.

 

Eventually you will want to train your steed to recognize your enemies and allies so that it can tell them apart, though it should eventually be able to do this intuitively the longer you enter battle with it. You can try using scents that might be found on your allies, such as Glomdoring soil if you are from Glomdoring, and scents that might be found on your enemies, such as oil from Magnagora or soil from Serenwilde. 

 

This skill can be very useful when you are in enemy territory, especially if your animal has a good sense of sight - because it will be able to see things you can not. This exercise can be adapted for animals with a good sense of smell by using different scents instead, such as perfumes like dragonsblood and sandalwood. Make sure that you are in an area with good air flow and that the scents can be cut off properly by a good stopper in a vial or a wax plug, so that your animal does not get confused. 

 

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These are basic exercises that I have found useful for my steed. I may try to develop more advanced exercises, which I will also record in another pamphlet to benefit other Cavaliers.