Author Archives: Elizabeth

To tired to tinker with a thoughtful title….

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Elizabeth

Let me open this post with an apology. I know that I stated that I would try to update my blog twice a week, but honestly I have been so busy and have had so much come up that I haven’t had much time to. Last week a vicious storm ripped through town and caused some damage (tree’s down, holes in my tent, and a lost wifi signal…). So posting has been difficult for me lately and I feel very out of touch. Not having any service on site or in the surroundings little towns has also been a pain to deal with. Anyways, let me just start by saying that I am sick of the rain here. Seriously peeved at the amount of moisture falling from the sky. Sunday we had to perform for almost 45 minutes in a torrential down pour that left me soggy and dripping. Water in my eyes, soaked through my boots, and every piece of clothing I had on was dripping. The arena completely flooded and we had to shorten or last show due to the condition of the field. Today it started coming down in buckets as we were riding and of all the riders, only 3 of us stuck it out and continued to ride in the flooding conditions. Yep, we’re hardcore jousters. Who then have soggy bottoms and socks and end up putting diapers on their feet to keep them dry. Ok, only I did that, but it worked. Even though I was teased relentlessly about it. Maggie has been…. a challenge. She is definitely the most difficult horse I have ridden and it’s been a definite change of pace working with her. I feel like I’m learning so much by working with her, but am also so worried that I will end up not teaching her something correctly and end up causing some bad habits with her. I know I’m not a perfect rider, but if Kelly and Dave feel I have the skills to work with her I guess  I need to have a little more confidence in myself. My brain is near exploding after every ride and on show weekends half the time I want to strangle her and the other half I want to sing praise to her about how well she is doing. I know she’s dealing with a lot in the show, and I’m extremely proud of what she is dealing with, but her problem points irritate me because I know that she is capable of performing at the level that I am asking her. She’s great at practice, but she’s so smart that she’s figured out that she can do it wrong in the show and because she only has one shot to do it, she can get away with it. Last week, I discovered that she’s getting frightened of not only the sound of the armor but also of people screaming (like when I make my war cry to go in and hit the guys or when they cry out in alarm when I smack them), so for practice, Harry rode in his armor and I rode along side him and just hit him with a stick and we both started screaming. Maggie and Penny took such a fright to this, they both took off around the field. When we finally got them stopped, Kelly just looks over and says, “Ok, now do it again”. So we did. Both of us rode along in the field screaming bloody murder and me hitting harry until they were both ok with it. It was pretty hysterical and throughout the rest of practice we just have surprise screams to help desensitize Maggie.   I don’t have much else to say, except  tequila is nicknamed “te-kill-ya” for a reason and I am so grateful for amazing friends. We also recently pitched in and bough a Nintendo 64 to play Super Smash Brother on and me and the guys were up till almost midnight playing it while Collin’s wife, Christine, made us snacks. It was awesome. I’m also getting to put my vet skills to work as we’re had some medical issues with the horses. Abraham had a abscess burst out through his heel bulb after we spent almost 2 weeks soaking and treating him and Christine had a puncture wound get infected and abscessed that we’ve been dealing with. I’ve spent almost every day here either soaking and packing a foot or flushing, irrigating, and cleaning a wound. Oh, and who can forget battling a picky Cylde to take her meds… However, I do love it, and secretly really enjoy getting to help fix our sickly steeds.   This week I”m planning to really start getting back into shape with my armor, and it means I’ll be working with Maggie on her training first, then suiting up and riding one of the more seasoned horses in my kit. It’s going to mean lots of riding, and I know I’m going to be sore by the end of the week, but my goal is to be ready and confident to joust by the end of Sterling. Grrr!   I’ll sign off with this lovely picture. Epic chocolate fight. We manage to have fun even when we’re soaking wet and miserable with the weather. Moral of the story, don’t piss off a girl with chocolate cake.

Chocolate Fight!

And here’s a pretty rainbow! I think it’s starting to turn into a double rainbow!!

rainbow

Rainbow over Sterling

 

Categories: Adventure Time!, Horses | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Weekend Update!

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Elizabeth

Let me just start by simply stating that we survived the weekend! All things considered, Miss Maggie did fantastic with the new challenges placed before her, and I am exceptionally proud of the accomplishments that we made. There are definitely some sticky spots that need to be sorted out, but I am confident that with time, she will gain full warhorse status.

 

During the weekends there are two joust shows, one at noon and the second at 5:45. It’s extremely spaced out, and makes for very long days. We have to have the horses ready and down on the field by 10am when fair opens so we can start running horse rides, a laborious task that wears you down, but that is also extremely gratifying when you get to spread the love of horses to small children. You seem to forget the sunburns and thirst and sore feet when you have a child love and pet on the horses after persuading their parents to let them ride 3 times in a row on all the different horses, or when the child whose shy and nervous to ride come back around grinning ear to ear and lovingly petting their mount. Plus it’s also a bonus when Barb takes pity on us and brings us cake!

 

The first show on Saturday was manageable… I kept my seat and Maggie stayed in the arena, so that’s good! The show is quite long and involved, so I won’t go into the details of the entire proceedings, but will touch on the important parts. Maggie is struggling with the large horses in armor carrying loud clanky knights running towards her, but I completely understand how terrifying that is for a horse! There’s a bit where the knights won’t stop fighting so Shelby and I have to ride next to them and hit them with batons to make them stop, and then we backhand them and cause them to fall off their horses, thus restoring order to the show. However, Maggie hates this part, and tends to bolt after I lay my first hit, which means we have to one rein stop, come back around, hit them again so they fall, and then bolt away again. This is our biggest struggle, but Harry has offered to get armored up during practice this week so Maggie can get used to the process. Being the princess she is, I really had to work to help her overcome the scary puddles that were scattered throughout the arena as well. She wanted to skirt around them in the lyst, which is definitely something you want to avoid when you have to ride a strait path against an oncoming horse. But by the last show she barley flinched when the gunshot went off and she cantered strait throughout her ring passes and passes in the lyst. She was bravely riding past the other big horses as an out-rider and stopped bolting when the knights hit each other and shattered their lances. I worked her through her fear of the crowd and the drums, and she was finally starting to relax by the last show.

 

Considering this was her first ever show and before Wednesday she had never been exposed to the majority of the things thrown at her this weekend, I am aglow with pride for that little mare. She’s extremely smart and once she figures out something isn’t going to eat her, she’s very willing to get over it and try for you. There were a couple of times she flat out said, ”NO!” and we had to have a little discussion about that, but those moments were very few and far between. Thankfully my own mare, Jaybird, is very similar to Maggie and I’m able to take the lessons Jay taught me and transfer them to my work with Maggie.

 

The whole process of taking a new horse through everything has been utterly exhausting, both in the mental and physical sense. I’ve spent countless hours in the saddle with her and my brain is about ready to explode with all the information that’s been thrown at me. However, I’m loving every minute of it, and am soaking up every little bit of information Kelly and Dave give me. I know we’ve barely skimmed the surface of what Maggie has to learn to deal with, and I know it will probably take most of summer to get her fully trained, but boy oh boy has it been an experience! I look back on how I was so nervous on Thursday and Friday that I was almost to the point of tears, and can only shake my head and laugh. I’m always very modest about my horsemanship skills and never give myself acknowledgement, but working through this weekend with Maggie really made me more aware of what I’m capable of doing. And it makes me even more excited to continue learning and become an even better horsewoman.

 

First weekend is done, and there are many other ahead. And so far, I can honestly say that’s it’s been worth it. I’m so glad that I took my chance and followed my dreams; quitting my job, living in a tent, and living from paycheck to paycheck has been rough, but the payback is 100% worth it. My joust family is wonderful and supportive, and I’m thankful everyday for taking this opportunity. Huge thank you to everyone who has been there to support me through this journey, you know who you are! I’d also like to extend a huge thanks to my parents for supporting though all my decisions. Much love to you all!

 

***working off an extremely slow internet connection right now, just wanted to get the post out but will try to find pictures tomorrow and update tomorrow when I find some images!***

Categories: Horses | 1 Comment

Miss Maggie and Me!

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Elizabeth

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!

She is fierce in her warhorse costume!

 

 

Getting used to her costume pieces!

Getting used to her costume pieces!

 

Categories: Horses | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

Beginnings

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Elizabeth

Good morning excited and eager new readers! Thank you for taking the time to read my first (of hopefully many!) blog posts. For those of you not familiar with me and my journey thus far, let me introduce myself! I am the Dame Elizabeth and have been infatuated and completely overtaken for my love of horses and jousting. About a year and a half ago, I unknowingly stumbled upon the sport of jousting, and since then have been enthusiastically pursuing it. Focusing on the full contact style, I have on and off been pursuing this style for the last year or so, and have most recently been invited to join up with Warhorse Productions and their team, the New Riders of the Golden Age. They are the oldest full contact troupe in the United States and focus as much on horsemanship as they do on jousting. I was picked up by them after jousting at Sherwood Forest Faire in Texas the past few years and so far, I couldn’t be happier with my decision to ride with them! I’ve quit my job working at a small animal clinic and am ready to dedicate myself to my passion.

Now that the introductions are out of the way, let me begin to tell you the tales of my adventures thus far in the distant land of… Sterling, New York.

state signs

State Signs!

Rather than spending pages recounting my travels and tales thus far, let me summarize; I traveled from Colorado to New York over the course of 3 days, spanning a total of 9 states, 1,822 miles, and over 26 hours in the car. It. Was. Not. Fun. Especially when you’re driving alone. But thankfully I had amazing friends whom I was able to stay with on my travels, and had good snacks to eat, and jammin’ music to listen to, so it was manageable, to say the least. Even though I’ve only been here a week now, I’ve already made some wonderful friends, and enjoy the crew that I’ll be working with (more on them later). I’m staying in a tent, complete with futon, lighting, fan, etc. so the situation isn’t as bad as you might think. There has been some talk of raccoons forming raiding parties and attacking at night, so I’ve been sleeping with one eye open thus far (UPDATE: the stories were right, there are definitely nosy coons in the night that cause you to lose sleep and go to drastic measures to deter them). The bugs are of course atrocious, and I’m trying exceptionally hard not to scratch my numerous mosquito bites as I try to write this. But it’s all worth it because the horses and people here are just fueling my passion even further, and every night I go to bed with a smile on my face because I’m so content.

When I first decided to actually pursue this opportunity to come out here and work with the troupe, I had a lot of people question my choices because they couldn’t understand the logic behind it. Truth be told, there is no logic, but instead there is passion. I’ve come to realize just how much of an impact horses have on my life, and while this transition does not make any sense logically, it makes sense in my heart. Today I woke up sore and bug bitten after an unfulfilling night of sleep, but as soon as I got out to the horses and started morning chores, everything seemed to fade away. For me, being around horses is therapy, and there really is nothing better for my soul. The past few days I’ve faced challenges with the horses I’ve rode, but there is nothing quite as fulfilling as that moment when it clicks between you and the horse and you both flow together harmoniously. Time doesn’t matter. Personal problems go away. Stress and doubt dissolve. It’s just you and a two thousand pound animal working together. I’ll definitely spend some more time in my future posts going over the riding techniques we focus on here and everything I’ve been learning, but I cone wholeheartedly say that this is some of the most rewarding riding I’ve done. I’ve left every ride happy with the accomplishments I’ve made, and am proud of how my riding skills are slowly improving. My mentors here are both wonderful riders and teachers, and I’m so grateful to have the resources I do through them.

Besides the jousting crew being stellar, I’m very fortunate to be able to be a part of the faire as a whole. The cast here is wonderful, and Sterling Renaissance Faire is the only faire to hire professional actors as their cast. Aside from being skilled and top notch at their job, they are all friendly and welcoming, and I’ve already started to get to know them all. Friday evening, they practiced their “pub sing”, which is basically an event at the end of the day where the entire cast gathers and sings song together. The sun was setting behind them, and as we sat there and watched them practice, it made me realize how fortunate I am to have this opportunity with these amazing people. The entire cast is all about love and happiness, and I’ve heard countless tales of people who have done as I have, and left their 9-5 jobs to live this lifestyle. Everyone is always all smiles, and it makes me more confident that I made the right decision.

Fair opens this weekend, so soon we will begin blocking out the show and figuring out our positions. I think I will do a mid-week blog post that focuses more on the riding aspect, and then spend next Monday after opening weekend focusing on how first weekend went. If there’s ever anything that you as a reader would like for me to focus on, please don’t hesitate to let me know and I will gladly focus an entry on that! And any questions you may have, please forward them on to me.

Thanks again for reading and I look forward to your feedback on my first post!

 

Categories: Adventure Time! | Tags: , , | 7 Comments

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