Since we had such a large ground crew, we increased our degree of difficulty for the skill-at-arms games. They were a lot of fun.
I remember Lady Kaelyn doing quite well at the games, riding beautifully as she always does. Although she went off to college in Montana, I hope she'll be able to participate in some of our shows and tournaments this fall.
Also a pleasure to work with was my big friend, John Swanson. Although they had a rocky beginning, Sir John has learned to get the best out of Mr. Brutus. Brutus really ran his heart out for John.
The jousting match that John and I had at the end of the second show was quite exciting for me. As far as jousting goes, there's nothing like good shield presentation and hard hits (every one) with safety and confidence between competitors.
Our Chief Weapons Master, Stan Lucas, Moe the jousting horse, and I had an interested incident. Stan was holding the shield up as we all took turns galloping forward and hitting it out of his hands.
As I watched and waited for my turn, I realized he was holding the shield pretty firmly. (The safest technique is to let it go as soon as the lance hits it.) So when my turn came I was determined to send it flying. When I made the hit something happened. I did hit the shield a little low in order to send it into the air but something else happened as well. The lance richoched alarmingly quickly downward. Stan threw himself to the ground in order to keep himself from being hit. I felt a little at fault although I wasn't sure exactly hiw this happened until I saw a picture. Sometimes that forzen image really tells a story.
This is what I saw: Upon impact, Moe lifted the front part of his body into the air. I believe he did this to create more impact, although with Moe we can't be sure (at least not yet). I am sure that Stan has lightning reflexes!
We're hoping for an increase in budget for this event next year so that we can invite more riders.
My thanks to all who helped make this fine show possible.