Killing a Horse & Fighting with Compromised Limbs – Featured FightWriter: Serena Dawson

Serena Dawson

Over the next few weeks I’m going to concentrate on FightWriter questions. The first is from Serena Dawson.

What is a realistic way for a person on foot to kill a horse? Pole axe? Sword?

And what move/moves could a highly skilled warrior who has compromised legs use against another of equal strength and ability, (but with sound legs). The first guy had badly broken legs which healed but not that well. He can run with difficulty.Ok, let’s separate these out. How can a person on foot can kill a horse?

Anything that would cause that horse to fall while in a full gallop would compromise it. What you see in the movies where the horse and rider roll forward hard, then get back up, turn around and keep fighting is incredibly unlikely. I contacted a friend of mine who is a former barrel racer. She has fallen with her horse and they were both fine. But, she said, never a hard forward roll. One like that would likely hurt the rider so badly they wouldn’t be able to control the horse. So, the horse wouldn’t be attacking you as no one would be directing it to do so. You wouldn’t need to kill it.

But, let’s say it’s a possessed horse and it’s gotta go. (We’ve all been there. Am I right?) First, you really have to make that horse fall and hard. Let it run at you, side step and go for the legs with a weapon. It can’t just slip. It will have to make a good hard roll. Horses can get up pretty quick from a stumble, just like we can. A hard fall takes a little longer.

Horse getting up. It’s a quick moment when the legs are
all occupied and the neck is out.

As the horse is righting itself from the fall, there will be a moment or two when all of its legs are occupied and its neck is outstretched. If you have a sword, go for the neck. Even if you don’t hit an artery, the strike could damage the tendons and muscles and maybe hinder it in raising its head. If it can’t raise its head, its field of vision is limited. If it’s down and needs to be put out of it’s possessed misery, stab the head through the ear with a sword. (A professional told me that.)

Let’s say it’s not running, it’s just squared off with you and being aggressive. That is an issue. You need to get a buffer between you and the horse, a tree, a rock, fencing, something. If it breached the buffer you would need to run at angles. Four footed animals aren’t so good with quick turns. Unfortunately, you are are going wear out long before the horse so any weapon that helps maintain distance is going to be great.

Watch out getting too close to the head. Horses do bite! And, avoid those back legs. Keep at a 90 degree angle with it if you can and strike at the neck.

Question two: A fighter with compromised legs would want to use the combatant’s weight and momentum against them. Tai Chi is great for that. Yes, the slow thing you see people doing is deadly. (See video) You learn Tai Chi slowly. You perform fast-ly – which should totally be a word. The only leg movement necessary would be stepping to 45 degree angles to slip the strikes. From there they would strike the ribs or the neck using “Fa Jing” which focuses all the body’s energy into a strike. It’s pretty cool.

Hapkido would also be great as it, like Tai Chi, redirects or slips around an opponent’s momentum. It also employs joint locks that require ZERO strength. (See video)Both hapkido and wing chun have ground defense techniques. And, the principles of tai chi work on the ground as well. In all of those cases, the goal is to get up which is what your character should do. They would want to get up and stay up.

Thank you for the question, Serena.