Tags
author, cavalry, event, fun, horse, horseback, horsemanship, horses, joust, jousting, knight, knights, lance, life, medieval, reenactment, STALC, Stephanie Beavers, tilt, tilting, writer
So my fiance and I got to go see something pretty cool yesterday. Down in Osoyoos, the Society of Tilt and Lance Cavalry (STALC) put on some live jousting. (Btw, I totally love their slogan: “Joust do it.”)
For those of you who might not know what jousting is, it’s when two people on horseback, in full armor, charge straight at each other and try to hit each other with long pointy sticks.
Like this:
But seriously, it’s pretty cool. Jousting was originally used as a way for knights to gain prestige, wealth, and status. Like any sport, there are rules and points and whatnot. You get so many points for hitting the shield, shattering your lance, or unhorsing your opponent (unfortunately, we didn’t get to see anyone get launched out of his or her saddle).
The folks at STALC said a set of armor costs upwards of $6000. …Shiny…
We were assigned a knight to cheer for based on our section in the stands. This was our knight:
I am a lousy fan because I don’t remember his name. But he was still awesome.
He didn’t win, but he was one of the most experienced knights, and he did really well.
There were a few other folks dressed up too, and most of them were involved with STALC:
But all in all it was a pretty small event. Still, I plan to go again next year!
Stephanie Beavers 