Udo, thank you so much for this! I cannot believe I missed these other most valuable entries bv Victrix and Cel7 et al.....and Wayne, well noted on the Spanish notch.....another anomaly of this genre.
I think the mention of the 'swiping back cut' is a most viable suggestion. In some sword fighting the Italians used a diversionary slashing cut termed 'stramazone', which usually was on the forehead. This resulted of course in bleeding into the eyes and rendering the opponent notably distracted, unable to defend properly.
This seems more viable for such a feature than for dramatic wounding, which would be redundant in a thrust.
The notions of these relatively shallow and small notches for picking up items off the ground or for catching reins seem a bit tenuous and unlikely.
Thanks to JT88 for the Pottenstein detail!
Really sorry guys, not sure what happened, I cant even blame the UFO's
