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Lance-wielding riders take to their imposing horses, display training moves
They came on horseback, brandishing lances not far from where fairgoers wielded deep-fried Twinkies.
Jousters.
Sunday, they hit the Kern County Fair atop imposing draft horses.
A half-dozen riders who showed off training moves Sunday afternoon heralded from all over: Kerry Silson came from Orlando, Fla; Maria Temperini from Italy; Mindy Leach from Gig Harbor, Wash.
But the American Jousting Alliance and its founder, James Zoppe, are from Frazier Park. And two riders, twins Morgan and Shane Mead, live in Lebec.
The group's first showing at the fair brought a whiff of Renaissance Festival to an event more known for Tilt-A-Whirls, sheep and Spam.
The knights, ladies, support crew and even the horses sported medieval togs: chain link here, a doublet there, steeds draped in colorful cloth festooned with coats of arms.
Zoppe says the alliance counts a couple of hundred members all over the world.
Some find the group on the Internet, some through the Ren-fair circuit or word of mouth. Through the alliance, members get training and weapons-handling skills with an emphasis on safety, Zoppe said.
"We have very few injuries," he said.
Sure, some of the advanced jousters knock each other off a horse now and again. Zoppe, whose website says he's trained horses for Hollywood, has been de-horsed twice.
But tournaments feature a scoring system based on hits to an opponent's shield. Players can also lose points for any number of missteps.
For lance-and-shield, metal-helmeted jousting events, riders prefer draft horses like the massive Percheron stallions Zoppe owns. The big horses help players absorb blows from 10-foot wooden lances.
Smaller horses are used for games featuring arms-handling skills.
Even with an emphasis on safety, the sport "gets your adrenaline flowing," Zoppe said.
Gretchen Wenner
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