The day started with a warm up ride, during which everyone practiced carrying lances.
JP practices at the quintain while ground crew Christian stands by to assist.
Kyle practicing with the dragged target. This game simulates hunting small prey with a spear.
Jeff practicing at the dragged target.
In the afternoon session we did thrown spear, cut / thrust, tent pegging and another melee.
Joel is one of our newer students. At the Tournament of the Phoenix 2009 he realized his dream of jousting might actually be possible, so he has been training with us since January. Here he's practicing the thrown dart for the skill at arms competition.
Hilarious pandemonium. Everyone had a great time in the melee with foam bats.
Kyle and Joel are new IJL affiliates who will be competing in the skill at arms at the Tournament of the Phoenix in October
Jeff thumping JP
It was a gorgeous day, the horses were in fine form, and as you can see from all the smiles, everyone had a great time. This was a fantastic way to work on lots of different skills, and it was so fun I'm sure we'll do it again soon!
'Knight School' is a monthly event focusing on training riders and horses for jousting, knightly combat and associated mounted skills. Our next Session is May 1. Please see the Knight School website for more information, or email info[@]knightshool.us.