Today the Joust takes place in the list. The list, too evolved over time from a simple tilting yard with no ropes or lanes, to what we use today with two well defined lanes roped on all sides that spans a total of 200 feet. Each lane varies in width with the different styles of jousting from 5 -6.5 feet. Both Knights enter the list on opposite sides, accept their lances then come about to face each other, salute their opponents by the raising of the lance, and then charge. The average speed at contact has been clocked at just over 20 miles an hour per knight. Scoring can vary from tournament to tournament, but generally points are given as: 1 point for a touch with the tip of the lance on the target area, 3 points for breaking the tip on the target area, 5 points for breaking the lance on the target area, 5 points to each knight in the event their lances meet tip to tip (this is where the knights lower their lances so perfectly simultaneously that the tip of their lances make contact) and of course, the unhorsing of the opponent gains the knight 10 points. In days of old, you would have won your opponent's horse for the unhorsing. Today if a horse is HIT in any fashion by a lance, 10 points are deducted from that knight's score for the first offense. If a second hit is made by that knight on any other horse, he is disqualified from the tournament. We take extreme measures to insure the absolute safety of these majestic War Horses. As with the knights of old, a knight without his horse was just infantry or dead.
Our warhorses often wear a bard made up of the colors and emblems of the knight's coat-of-arms. The most commonly worn pieces are the Chamfron for the horse's face protection, the Peytral for chest protection, the Crupper for hindquarter decoration, with additional decorations on the secondary reins.
We owe many saying used today to the knights of medieval times such as (Running at full Tilt) this is when the Knights enter the list come about to face each other, then salute and charge, at the charge the Knight starts lowering or Tilting their lances, with the lance now parallel and just before impact it was chanted by the fair crowd HE IS NOW RUNNING AT FULL TILT. We also got Spurs from the Knights. Knights and only Knights were allowed to wear Spurs in medieval times, when a worthy person our Squire in training was Knighted it was said he had EARNED HIS SPURS. The spurs were meant to be used only as subtle aids to que the horse in to different moves. Many more sayings and inventions came from the knights of old, but why read about them when you can come to one of our events and see and hear it straight from the horses' mouth?
Our warhorses often wear a bard made up of the colors and emblems of the knight's coat-of-arms. The most commonly worn pieces are the Chamfron for the horse's face protection, the Peytral for chest protection, the Crupper for hindquarter decoration, with additional decorations on the secondary reins.
We owe many saying used today to the knights of medieval times such as (Running at full Tilt) this is when the Knights enter the list come about to face each other, then salute and charge, at the charge the Knight starts lowering or Tilting their lances, with the lance now parallel and just before impact it was chanted by the fair crowd HE IS NOW RUNNING AT FULL TILT. We also got Spurs from the Knights. Knights and only Knights were allowed to wear Spurs in medieval times, when a worthy person our Squire in training was Knighted it was said he had EARNED HIS SPURS. The spurs were meant to be used only as subtle aids to que the horse in to different moves. Many more sayings and inventions came from the knights of old, but why read about them when you can come to one of our events and see and hear it straight from the horses' mouth?
