One of the best features of this experience is the time spent with the horses and being able to learn and grow with the help of great mentors. There is no time wasted which is spent in the saddle, and I’ve taken as much time as I can to spend riding. So far I’ve ridden 6 of the 11 horses here and have faced challenges and rewarding experiences from each and every one of them. Kelly, who owns the troupe, is an accomplished horseman and has a wealth of experience to share. Dave, the senior jouster of the troupe and an accomplished horse trainer himself, has also been selflessly helping me perfect and refine my technique as well. Both of them have helped me tremendously, and I can’t believe how much my riding has improved in the last week! Huge thanks to both of them!
All of the horses used by the company are trained in Western Reining, and we try to have calm and relaxed horses for both the work we do on and off the joust field. The main principles are to get the horse to drape and hang, and be able to work off minimal rein. During the shows, we employ the stops, pivots, and collection that we spend refining during the week. We ride Tuesday through Friday, and perform on both Saturday’s and Sunday’s. So the horses here are in extremely good shape and extremely well trained. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden such beautifully trained horses before, and it’s such a blessing to spend 6 days of the week working with such wonderful creatures!
Just the other day, Kelly informed me that I would begin working with one of the newer horses in preparation to take her through her first show and joust. Her name is Maggie, and she’s an 8 year old Belgian/Quarter Horse cross. Of all the giant horses here, she is the smallest of the lot, and looks tiny next to the massive Clydesdales and Percheron’s typically used. She’s a light chestnut, with a flaxen mane and looks more like a Quarter Horse mutt than a draft mix. But she’s lovely to ride, albeit a tad fast and forward and has a tendency to get heavy on your hands. She’s definitely a lot of horse to ride, despite her small stature, and has been an exciting challenge thus far. With only three days to prepare her for opening weekend tomorrow, I was feeling quite overwhelmed, to say the least! I’ve slowly been progressing with her, starting with dry passes in the lyst and through the quintain, and have gradually moved her up to wearing her armor and doing trotting passes with another horse. Maggie wears a demi-chamfron on her head and a peytrol around her chest, as well as her barding costume. She’s been a bit uncertain about working with the armor, and is still getting used to having other horses in armor riding around her. Thankfully the entire team has been behind us, and I am so grateful for them putting up with my silly requests to get Maggie ready for her debut! Today she amazed me with how well she did during dress rehearsal; so much was thrown at her and although it took us time, we were able to work through a lot of her fears. When you look at the big picture, it really is a work of art to be able to train these horses to ride out in armor amidst a crowd of people and noises in a small space, with an armored knight on their back, and then stand quietly before running directly towards another horse!
Tomorrow we will have to contend with a muddy arena full of horse eating puddles, a large cheering crowd, drums, speakers, faire rides, lots of armor, and a cacophony of other distractions. However, I am confident that Miss Maggie and I will be able to work our way through it all. It may not be pretty and it may not go according to plan, but as long as I am there to support her and build her confidence, I am certain we will emerge successful!
I plan on writing another post Monday to let you all know how Maggie’s debut went, but want to know what you’d like to see more of. I was debating between going over the warm-up techniques we use with the horses here and going over the training method, or delving more into the people I’ve met and the adventures I’ve had thus far. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to write about both, but would love some input on what to focus on more right now.
That’s all for now! It’s a “school night” for me so I’ll be headed off to bed early in preparation for opening weekend tomorrow! Please send Maggie and I good thoughts! Much Love!
She is fierce in her warhorse costume!
Getting used to her costume pieces!
Lady of the Knight 
Working on the reining type stuff will lighten her up. The trainers Allison Rich and I like so much here in Colorado work that way too
She does look a lot like your Jaybird, Liz. Seems you and Maggie were meant to be. 🙂 I hope you both rock it this weekend!