The one where I own up to something - Part 2

Part 1

On Saturday Z picked up Kaswyn and I and we went to the SCA event. We parked our horses in stalls and went to check in. Then we got our ponies ready and headed over to the arena. I got Kaswyn used to me carrying a weapon and swinging it around while I was on his back. I let him see and sniff all the equipment and then we were ready to go.

Here is Z on Henry.



And here is me on Kaswyn! Dig his funny pony clothes!



The games that we would play in the SCA with our horses that day were -

*Behead the Enemy aka "heads"
*Tilting at Rings aka "rings"
*Pig Sticking
*Birjas
*Quintain

All of these games are meant to train the rider to have skills needed in combat, like maneuverability for heads, accuracy for rings and pig sticking, hand eye coordination for birjas, and strength, speed and courage for the quintain. I got video of both Z and I doing the games with our ponies, but they might be hard to see because they are kind small and far away. But you'll be able to get the idea.

To do "heads", there are fake heads or round foam pieces on top of posts which are set in a straight line. Your job is to weave a slalom course down the line and knock the heads off the posts with a sword.

Here is Z, and then me, doing the heads with our horses.





For rings, the posts have crosspieces that have rings dangling from them. You ride your horse down the line and try and spear the rings, which are of different sizes. Smaller rings get you more points.

Here is a pic of me tilting the small rings, then doing a game with bigger rings and a sword instead of a sharp pointy lance.





And here are two videos - Z then me doing rings.





Pig Sticking is where you spear fake styrofoam pigs on the ground using a sharp lance.

Just me doing pigs, I didn't video Z.



The birjas is where you take small stick and throw it through a ring and then catch it on the other side without knocking the ring off the post. This is a picture of me just after I caught the stick, and you can see that I knocked the ring off the post.



Videos of Z, then me with the birjas.





Finally, the quintain is a shield on a cross arm on a post that swings around. You gallop towards the shield and then hit it with the lance to make the shield spin around as many times as possible.

Here are Kaswyn and I running at the quintain.



Videos of the quintain, which is a whole lot of fun!





Both Kaswyn and Z's horse Henry were awesome. Kaswyn was a bit excitable and wouldn't stand still between games, but he adapted well and was a complete star. We ended up winning the challenge course, which was where you run through all the games for points and who ever gets the most points in the quickest time wins. I was shocked, and even got a little prize out of it. Also everyone who rode was really nice, and even though it was a competition there was much cheering and supporting everyone.

We also tried mounted archery, where I had to ride Kaswyn down a roped off lane, drop the reins, and then shoot a bow at a target off to the side. He, of course, was wonderful, but my aim sucked and I missed the target entirely and hit the side of the barn. Oops.

The best news is that Kaswyn didn't get hurt! I did, however. As I was dismounting the end of my belt (which has a very heavy metal end) came flying up over the saddle and hit me right below my eye. It was bleeding and everything, and now I have a bit of a black eye. Better me than him, since my black eye will not generate any vet bills!

All in all it was a great time and I'm certainly going to do it again because I had a lot of fun. Provided, of course, that the footing is safe and that I can afford the gas it takes to get there. I think Kaswyn had a good time too, which is important. I would not go again if I thought he was really stressed out or too upset by the whole situation.

So now that I've outed myself about the SCA geekiness, be prepared to read more about my dorky hobby. Especially since Kaswyn is now a big dweeb too!