Three Teams of Jousters to Compete at the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament 2015

The Leeds Easter Tournament will occur this coming weekend, from Friday, April 3, through Monday, April 6. Also called the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament, it is the only competitive jousting tournament sanctioned by HM The Queen Elizabeth II. The winner of the tournament "holds" the Queen's Jublilee Horn Trophy and the title of Queen's Champion until the next tournament. Although the trophy resides in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds throughout the year, the tournament winner's name and coat of arms are inscribed on a small shield which is permanently attached to the chains supporting the Queen's Jubilee Horn Trophy.

Out of the four jousters who were invited to compete last year, Mark Caple won the honour of being the Queen's Champion for 2014. You can read more about Mark and his experiences during the tournament in an interview he gave The Jousting Life. But who will win the honour of being the Queen's Champion for 2015?

2014 Queen's Champion Mark Caple on the jousting horse Aramis, Mark Atkinson holds the Queen's Jubilee Horn Trophy (photo from Royal Armouries Tournaments)

For the 2015 Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament, six jousters were invited to compete for the honour of holding the trophy and the title for the year. The jousters will compete in three teams of two:
Team England – Nicky Willis and Andy Deane;
Team Burgundy – Ben van Koert and Steve R. Gagnon;
Team Poland – Jan Gradon and Jarek Struczynski.

Nicky Willis

Nicky Willis at the Tonsberg Medieval Festival 2013 (photo by WinPics Photography)

Nicky Willis will be riding for Team England. Nicky is a professional horse trainer and barn manager and has been involved with supplying horses for the Royal Armouries international jousting tournaments since 2003, however this will be first time she has ever competed as a jouster at any of the Royal Armouries tournaments.

She has been jousting since 2008 and has competed in a number of other tournaments across Europe and Australia. Her proudest moment came in 2013, when she earned the title of Joust Champion at the Tonsberg Medieval Festival Tournament. Nicky will be the first female jouster to compete in the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament.

To learn more about Nicky, check out "Meet the Jouster: Nicky Willis" on the Royal Armouries blog.

Andy Deane

Andy Deane at Arundel International Tournament 2014 (photo by Stephen Moss/PhotoSM)

Andy Deane will also be riding for Team England. Andy works as a visitor experience team coach at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. You may remember him from the recent interview he did about his participation in a particularly amusing training video.

Andy has been involved in armoured combat since 1985 and in jousting since 1993. He joined the Royal Armouries jousting team in 1995 and served as captain of the team for a number of years. He has competed in numerous tournaments in various countries over the past 22 years, and has won the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament twice, first in 2011 and again in 2013. In 2014, he won the individual championship at the prestigious Arundel International Tournament.

To learn more about Andy, check out "Meet the Jouster: Andy Deane(Old Iron-Arm)" on the Royal Armouries blog.

Ben van Koert

Ben van Koert at Arundel International Tournament 2014 (photo by ARW Photo)

Ben van Koert will be riding for Team Burgundy. Ben first encountered competitive jousting while working as a fire-artist for the event, Ridders van de Haar in 2004. Over the next few years, he became more involved with medieval reenactment and attended several tournaments. In 2008, he began to help out as ground crew for the jousting troupe Stichting HEI. Then, he also started taking riding lessons.

After some additional training with the jousting troupe Destrier and with renowned jouster Arne Koets, Ben competed in his first joust in 2011. In July 2014, along with his teammate Per Estein Prøis-Røhjell, Ben van Koert won the Team Championship at the prestigious Arundel International Tournament.

To learn more about Ben, check out "Meet the Jouster: Ben van Koert" on the Royal Armouries blog.

Steve R. Gagnon

Steve R. Gagnon at the Tournament of King John III at Gniew Castle 2013
(photo by Andrzej Wiktor)

Steve R. Gagnon will be also be riding for Team Burgundy. Steve works as an art and creative director in the advertising industry -- emphasis on 'creative'. When he is not jousting, he likes to draw, paint and sculpt. He also writes the occasional article for The Jousting Life. You can see an example of his skill in both the written and the visual arts in the article, "A Few Yards of Scarlet Velvet".

Steve first began jousting in the year 2000 in Canada. He began jousting internationally in 2009, and has since competed in Belgium, France, Poland, England, USA and, of course, his home country of Canada. He has also organized several international jousting tournaments. However, his proudest achievement so far was winning the jousting competition during the Tournament of King John III at Gniew Castle in 2013 against 11 of the world's most renowned jousters.

To learn more about Steve, check out "Meet the Jouster: Steve R. Gagnon" on the Royal Armouries blog.

Jan Gradon

Jan Gradon at the Tournament of King John III at Gniew Castle 2013
(photo by Andrzej Wiktor)

Jan Gradon will be riding for Team Poland. Jan Gradon is one of two main organizers (his teammate Jarek Struczynski is the other) for the largest international jousting tournament in Poland, the Tournament of King John III at Gniew Castle(Turniej Króla Jana III Sobieskiego na Zamku w Gniewie), about which he did an interview with The Jousting Life. Jan has been loosely involved with historical reenactment since 1996, but became more seriously involved when he joined the Society of St. Michael Archangel (TaŚMA) in 2004. He became involved with historical equestrian reenactment with the group Xiazeca Druzyna in 2005.

Jan has competed in tournaments in both Europe and North America. Some of his favorite tournament memories include participating in the first international joust at Gniew Castle in 2008 and winning the tournament championship at the Tournament of the Phoenix in 2011. He is also quite proud of winning the mounted skill at arms portion of the prestigious Arundel International Tournament in 2014.

To learn more about Jan, check out "Meet the Jouster: Jan Gradon" on the Royal Armouries blog.

Jarosław 'Jarek' Struczynski

Jarek Struczynski at the Tournament of King John III at Gniew Castle 2013
(photo by Andrzej Wiktor)

Jarek Struczynski will also be riding for Team Poland. Jarek is the other half of the dynamic duo that organizes the Tournament of King John III at Gniew Castle. He is, in fact the main man behind the reconstruction and regeneration of Gniew Castle(Zamek Gniew) and its development into one of the leading centers for historical reenactment in Poland. Jarek is also heavily involved in various other military/historical events throughout Poland.

Jan and Jarek make a great team and were previously paired as Team Poland at Arundel International Tournament 2014, where they were given the nickname "The Joust Brothers". Jarek has competed in a number of other tournaments around the world including competitions in Poland, England, Belgium, France, Norway, Canada and the USA. He earned the highest individual score at Le Tournoi du Lys d’Argent in 2012 and the Tournament in Trondheim, and he earned the title of Tournament Champion at the Tournament of the Phoenix 2013.

To learn more about Jarek, check out "Meet the Jouster: Jarosław 'Jarek' Struczynski" on the Royal Armouries blog.

Since jousting horses are also a rather important part of any tournament, the Royal Armouries blog has also created a separate post for each jousting horse who will be involved in the tournament.

Wouter Nicolai on the jousting horse Albert during the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament 2013 (photo from Royal Armouries blog)

Click on the name below to see the information, photos and videos about each horse:

Albert: 16.3 hand, Irish Draft x Thoroughbred
Alfie: 15.1 hand, Traditional Gypsy Cob
Aramis: 15 hand, Dales x Irish Draft
Dylan: 15 hand, Dales
Patrick: 17 hand, Irish Sport Horse
Rupert: 16.3 hand, Irish Draft
Ted: 15.1 hand, Irish Cob
Tino: 16.1 hand, Lusitano x Irish Draft

You can find out more information about the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament (aka the Leeds Easter Tournament) and other jousting events on the Royal Armouries Tournaments Facebook page.

Related articles:
An Interview with Jouster Mark Caple, Champion of the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament 2014

Andy Deane and "How to Train a Knight"

Interview with Ben van Koert, Half of the Winning Team at Arundel International Tournament 2014

A Few Yards of Scarlet Velvet

An Interview with Jan Gradon, Coordinator of the Tournament of King John III at Gniew Castle

Mark Caple Wins the Leeds Easter Jousting Tournament 2014

Training for the Joust with Destrier

A great deal of work goes on before a jousting demonstration or tournament is seen by an audience. If you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes, this article written by Andreas Wenzel will give you a glimpse of how the members of the jousting troupe Destrier train.

Written by Andreas Wenzel:
(with pictures by Dr. Richard Pearn)

Destrier’s year is split into a “training season” and a “show season”, with the former starting at the group’s AGM(Annual General Meeting) in October, and lasting to the first show in May. During this period, Destrier’s riders are working on expanding their skills with their own horses, or are taking private lessons to advance their riding skill. Once per month these personal efforts are complemented by a Destrier training weekend. Then many of the almost 40 Destrier members gather at one of Destrier’s horse suppliers – usually at Nicky Willis’s Tournament Stud near Silverstone, and occasionally at Dom Sewell’s Historic Equitation near Peterborough.

Destrier training is traditionally organised by the society’s Vice-Chairman (currently Mark Caple), but many of the group’s experienced riders help out by running one of the training sessions, or by giving advice from the ground and in separate in-session work-outs. This was also true at Destrier’s February training weekend at Tournament Stud, Destrier’s main base. This impressive location includes bedrooms for riders, spare stables for guest horses, an indoor riding school purpose-built to house a full-length tilt rail, and extensive grounds permitting long hacks and outdoor cavalry manoeuvres. Tournament Stud’s own horses were joined by three of Historic Equitation’s mounts and several personally owned horses for the weekend.

Members of Destrier practice at Tournament Stud(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

With numerous members of various skill levels present, Mark separated both days into three one-hour training sessions, each preceded by a warm-up element consisting of flatwork dressage.

Saturday’s first session, run by Stacy Evans, focused on basic skill-at-arms skills, with disciplines including the lance at the rings, the sword at the cabbage and javelins at archery targets. During the session, individual riders were called into a separate area for 20-minute one-to-one workouts with Kyle van Dolah, a Destrier member and qualified riding instructor.

Stacy Evans practicing tilting at rings(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

The objective for Saturday’s second session, run by Mark Caple, was to train in harness on the tilt. Consequently several of Destrier’s jousters and jousters-in-training suited up, while other members converted the indoor school into a jousting arena for a range of lance control, timing and accuracy exercises. Kyle was kind enough to continue the one-to-one workouts, providing opportunity to work on one's riding position while wearing armour.

Andreas Wenzel canters the tilt in armour(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

Saturday’s final session, run by Andreas Wenzel, began with an extensive drill lesson where riders practiced moving as a mounted combat unit in a variety of formations in the three basic gaits. This was followed by some skill-at-arms in formation, for example using the lance at the rings while maintaining a line abreast. The session was then concluded by a three-round practice melee.

Left to right: Silvana Burnes, Kyle Van Dolah and Tina Steiner practice tilting at rings while in three abreast formation(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

After an excellent dinner at the local pub, accompanied of course by strictly non-alcoholic beverages,

Destrier members quaff a drink at the Kings Head pub(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

...and a good night’s sleep in Tournament Stud’s bedrooms, some of Destrier’s lady members got up early and saddled a few horses with side saddles for some out-of-schedule jumping practice. This is strictly speaking not part of Destrier’s programme, but was actually training for English Heritage’s Victorian Gymkhana show in which Destrier members Kyle van Dolah and Emma Pearn are performing.

Kyle Van Dolah jumps her horse while riding side saddle(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

Having slept through the side-saddle affair, Andreas armed himself with a bracing cup of tea and took over the Sunday morning session. After another drill element riders practiced with a variety of skill-at-arms exercises, including taking the cabbage with the sword while jumping a low fence. This was concluded by a rather nail-biting five-round melee.

Silvana Burnes slices a cabbage in half while jumping her horse(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

Sunday’s second session, again with riders in harness, was headed by Jason Kingsley and dedicated to an advanced exploration of sword cuts and parries from horse-back, featuring a variety of related exercises.

Jason Kingsley(left) works with Amy Wallace(center) and Mark Caple(right) on mounted sword fighting(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

The final session of the weekend was a repetition of Saturday’s first, with Stacy Evans and Kyle van Dolah once more honing riders’ basic riding and weapon skills.

Valentin Timur tilts against the quintain(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

The content of Destrier’s training weekends across a training season follows an ultimate multifaceted plan. While each rider’s individual skills are given opportunity and focus to improve, the training schedule also aims to enhance the group’s ability to work together as a unit. New ideas and concepts are thrown into the training sessions for experimentation and testing before being introduced to Destrier’s displays. Because of this each Destrier training weekend is different and involves a wide range of riders and trainers in addition to those who are mentioned here.

Destrier members practicing at Tournament Stud(photo by Dr. Richard Pearn)

To learn more about this jousting troupe, check out the Destrier website and Destrier Facebook page.

Klas Lundberg Continues to Lead in the European Championship Joust at Spottrup Borg

This article has been updated. Click here to see update.

At the end of the fourth day of the European Championship Jousting Tournament being held at Spottrup Castle in Denmark, the defending champion, Klas Lundberg of Sweden was still in the lead. Hometown favorite Ole Bach trails by only two points. The two jousters are poised for a photo finish during the finals of the tournament on Friday.

Klas Lundberg(left) and Ole Bach(right)(photo by Ronja Knightingale)

Surprisingly neither of the overall tournament leaders actually scored the most points during the second day of jousting competition. Joakim Løvgren, a Danish jouster in his debut tournament actually outscored all the more experienced jousters during the semi-finals, earning him his place in the finals on Friday.

Sadly injuries have caused several other jousters to withdraw from the competition before reaching the finals. Female jouster, Sarah Hay, who is from Australia but was competing for the English team, was in third place overall at the end of the first day of jousting. Unfortunately, in the last pass of the day, her right knuckle was broken, ending her ability to compete in this years tournament.

Sarah Hay(left) and Darth Rimmer(right)(photo by Spottrup Borgmuseum)

During Thursday's semi-finals competition, Steve Hemphill, an American jouster competing on the German team, suffered a shoulder injury and had to withdraw from the competition. He had already earned 82 points, and who knows how far he could have gone if he had not been injured.

Steve Hemphill tilts at rings(photo by Spottrup Borgmuseum)

Toin Peeman of The Netherlands was injured in his last past against Nicky Willis of England. He had already earned his place in the finals, but it is uncertain whether he will be competing in them. The decision will be made based on how he feels Friday morning.

Toin Peeman receives medical attention(photo by Ronja Knightingale)

Currently, the list of the six jousters who will be competing in the finals is as follows:

Klas Lundberg, Sweden - 125 points
Ole Bach, Denmark - 123 points
Petter Ellingsen, Norway - 96 points
Joakim Løvgren, Denmark - 86 points
Gunnar Cederberg, Sweden - 85 points
Toin Peemen, The Netherlands - 84 points (injured)

[UPDATE: Apparently, although the raw points given here are accurate, the points earned for jousting were weighted more heavily than the points earned during MSA. Once the weighted scores were worked out, Steve Hemphill had actually earned a higher score than Toin Peeman -- despite not competing in his final match due to injury and a tired horse -- and therefore earned the sixth spot in the finals.]

And here are the jousters who competed in the semi-finals, but did not reach the finals:

Steve Hemphill, USA/Germany - 82 points (injured)
Nicky Willis, England - 78 points
Per Nerlund, Sweden - 78 points
Xavier Fauvel, Belgium - 73 points
Darth Rimmer, USA/England - 71 points
Luc Pettilot, Belgium - 71 points

With Klas and Ole so close in points, the finals should be an exciting competition. Apparently, Klas has been jousting so aggressively that on two occasions not only did he break the tip of his lance which is designed to break upon impact, he actually broke the shaft of his lance as well. (None of the injuries are attributed to his actions.) And with his hometown cheering him on, it is certain that Ole will be doing his best to finally win the title of European joust champion.

Klas Lundberg(photo by Ronja Knightingale)

Ole Bach(photo by Ronja Knightingale)


Many thanks go to Broder Jakob of Spottrup Borgmuseum and Ronja Knightingale who have been providing me with the information and pictures for these articles.

Competitors From Around the World to Compete at the 2012 European Championship Jousting Tournament

Seventeen jousters, including several female jousters, who have demonstrated their skills in previous tournaments around the world will be competing at this year's European Championship Jousting Tournament which will be held at Spottrup Castle in Denmark, July 23 – 27, 2012. This event is sanctioned by both the International Jousting Association(IJA) and the International Jousting League(IJL), and the winner of this tournament will become the 2012 European Jousting Champion.

SWEDEN:

Klas Lundberg

Klas Lundgerg is the current European Jousting Champion and will be defending his title in 2012. He has been riding since age 6. He started with dressage and jumping, but nowadays, he mostly rides western and competes in classes such as reining, herdwork and roping. He also makes armour parts, spear tips, etc... However, his day job is teaching welding. He has been in the Celeres Nordica jousting troupe as a knight since 1994. He tried competitive jousting and competed internationally in IJA World Championships 2005. He's an IJA level 4 instructor.
(photo from Facebook)


Acheivements:
Winner of European Championship in 2010
Winner of European Championship in 2009
Uppsala tournament 2008 – joust, 2nd place
Uppsala tournament 2008 – skill at arms, 1st place
Uppsala Tournament 2007 – joust, 2nd place
Uppsala tournament 2007 – skill at arms, 2nd place
Oslo International 2006 – skill at arms, 1st place
Uppsala tournament 2006 – skill at arms, 1st place
Uppsala Tournament 2006 – joust, 1st place
New Zealand 2005 - IJA World Champion of Chivalry
New Zealand 2005 – joust, 4th place
Oslo international 2005 – skill at arms, 1st place
Oslo International 2005 – joust, 3rd place

Per Nerlund

Per Nurlund is part of the Celeres Nordica jousting troupe in Sweden. He has been riding since 1968 and has been training horses since 1980. Lately, he has been working to develop a better jousting saddle. Per has only recently started jousting. He has participated in several jousting competitions in Sweden, but this will be his fist international event.
(photo from Facebook)





Gunnar Cederberg

Gunnar Cederberg has experience jousting with the Celeres Nordica troupe in Sweden. He is only 19 years old, but has been riding since he was 6, mostly dressage but also jumping. He has been riding in tournaments for many years, but this will be his first international event.
(photo by Asa Cidh)

BELGIUM:

Frederic Piraux

Frederic Piraux of Belgium has been a member of the Compagnie des Hackamores jousting troupe since 2000. He is also the founder of the International Jousting League. From 1989 – 1995, Fred worked as a mounted policeman. He is currently an instructor for the Liege Police Academy. When he's not training with horses, he studies historical swordsmanship. Fred now runs clinics around Europe where he teaches beginners to become accomplished jousters and combatants. He has participated in shows and competitions in USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. (photo by Pamela Morgan)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010 – 5th place
European Championship 2009 – 4th place
Conclave 2009 - Mounted Games Champion
Conclave 2009 - Mounted Archery Champion
Hackaland 2009 - Historical Division Champion
Hackaland 2009 - Mounted Archery Champion
Taupo 2008 - winning team
Hackaland 2007 – Champion
Gniew 2007 - Champion
Hackaland 2006 – Champion
Eyneburg 2006 – Champion
Sword of Honour 2005 - winning team
Sword of Honour 2003 - winning team

Mathieu Kevers

Mathieu Kevers is a 24 year old from Belgium. He is part of the Compagnie des Hackamores jousting troupe. He is an experienced rider and has competed in tournaments for some years now. This will be his first competition in Denmark.
(photo by Danny Van Hecke)

DENMARK:

Toby Kaas

Toby Kaas is a descendant of one of the old knights of Denmark. He jousts with the Himmerlands Middelaldercenter. He has done a lot of jousting and knights tournaments in Denmark.
(photo from Ridder-Kaas.dk)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010 – 17th place
European Championship 2009 – 14th place





Ole Bach

Ole Bach of Viborg has done a lot of jousting both in his home country Denmark and internationally. He rides with the Ildhesten jousting troupe. In 2009 and 2010, he earned third place in the European championship in Jousting. Ole was the crowd favorite last time, and we suspect that the crowds cheering him on will be just as loud this year. (photo from spottrupborg.dk)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010 – 3rd place
European Championship 2009 – 3rd place

FRANCE:

Luc Petillot

Luc Petillot has been riding for many years, and is one of the best knights in France. He has been jousting for the last 10 years and is one of the key members in the International Jousting League. He is the manager of the group Excalibur ile de France.
(photo by Cori Killian)




Achievements:
European Championship 2010, 8th place
European Championship 2009, 6th place
Hackaland 2009 – behourd, 1st place
Gniew 2008 – joust, 2nd place
Gniew 2008 – skill at arms, 3rd place
France 2008 – joust in 3 tournaments
Gniew 2007 - crest melee, 1st place
Gniew 2007 – joust, 9th place
Gniew 2007 – skill at arms, 10th place
Normandy 2006 – joust, 1st place
Eyenburg 2006 – joust, 2nd place
Liege 2006 – joust, 6th place
Liege 2006 – skill at arms, 1st place

Xavier Fauvel

Xavier Fauvel rides with the Excalibur ile de France jousting troupe. Also known as Xavier de Gonneville, he has been jousting since 2001 and is a well-known competitor around Europe, however, this will be his first competition in Denmark. He won the European Championships in 2003 and 2004. He participated in the World Championships in London, Canada in 2003, and was the winner of the Polish tournament in Golubsky Castle in 2011.
(photo by Pamela Morgan)




Marie Baron

Marie Baron is a seasoned jouster and a fierce competitor. She has been in the jousting troupe Excalibur ile de France for 8 years and has participated in many international tournaments in the the past few years.
(photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010, 14th place
European Championship 2009, 9th place
Liege 2006 – joust, 1st place
Normandy 2006 – joust, 2nd place
Eyenburg 2006 – joust, 2nd plac

NORWAY:

Petter Ellingsen

Petter Ellingsen rode his first horse 14 years ago, and has been jousting the last 13 years. He runs the company Ridderhest and was the organizer of the first Norwegian championship in jousting. He is an IJA grade 4 jousting instructor and has done shows and competitions in Norway, Sweden, France, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Poland, New Zealand, USA, Australia and England. Overall, he has participated in more than 300 shows and tournaments.
(photo from Petter Ellingson)


Achievements:
European championship 2010, 2nd place
European Championship 2009, 2nd place
Gniew 2009 – jousting champion
France 2009 – Tournament champion
Australia 2009 – joust, 3rd place
Hackaland 2009 – joust and skill at arms
Uppsala tournament 2008 – skill at arms, 2nd place
Gniew 2008 – jousting champion
Gniew 2008 – Behourd champion
USA 2008 – Team and individual champion
Hackaland 2008 – Jousting champion
France 2008 – skill at arms, 1st place
New Zealand 2007 –joust, 3rd place and skill at arms
Sonora 2007 – joust, 3rd place
Eyenburg 2006 – winner grand champion(jousting, skill at arms)
Sonora 2006 – joust, 1st place.
Eyenburg 2006 – Crest melee, 1st place
Liege 2006 – joust, 4th place
Liege 2006 – skill at arms, 4th place
Oslo 2006 – joust champion
Hackaland 2005 – jousting and skill at arms champion
New zealand 2005 – IJA world skill at arms reserve champion
Agincourt 2004 – joust, 3rd place

Ivar Mauritz-Hansen

Ivar Mauritz-Hansen began his knightly career in 2007 when he became a member of the reenactment group De Norske Frilansene Compagnie d'Oslo in which he started out as a foot soldier. He also began training to ride horses, focusing on knightly riding, at The Riding School of Trollspeilet, where he is still being instructed by Per Estein Prøis-Røhjell. In the winter of 2010, Ivar bought his horse Laszlo, a Holsteiner gelding, which led to more training and even more focus on knightly riding and sports. In the spring of 2011, he was accepted into the riding group of Frilansene and has since participated as a knight in most of the battles and tournaments that Frilansene attends.
(photo from Petter Ellingson)




Achievements:
Hamar Medieval Festival 2012
Hadeland 2012
Bergenshusdagene 2011
Oslo Medieval Festival 2011
Hamar Medieval Festival 2011
TV-production for NRK Super 2011
Battle of Wisby 2011
Battle of Hamar 2011

ENGLAND:

Nicky Willis

Nicky Willis has been riding since she was 11 years old. She has tried lots of different riding disciplines such as dressage, jumping, western, driving and tournaments. For the past four and a half years, she has worked for Tournament Stud, where they breed, train and joust the horses. She has been doing Mounted Skill at Arms(MSA) and jousting for several years. Her first joust outside England was in Belgium in 2010. The tournament at Spøttrup Borg will be her third joust representing England abroad.
(Photo from Facebook)



Achievements:
European championship 2010, 11th place

Sarah Hay

Sarah Hay is from Australia, but will be riding for England. She has been riding for over three decades in a variety of disciplines such as western, dressage, jumping, sporting, side saddle, mounted archery and jousting. This is her fourth year of jousting, and her third year of competing internationally. In recent years she has won international tournaments in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This extremely accomplished female jouster is not a member of any jousting troupe, but is a member of the International Jousting League.
(photo from Facebook)




Achievements:
1st place archery, Warsaw, 2012
5th place joust, Warsaw jousting tournament, Warsaw, 2012
1st place MSA, Blacktown int joust, Australia, 2012
2nd place joust, Blacktown int joust, Australia, 2012
2nd place MSA, St Georges day int joust, Australia, 2012
2nd place joust, St Georges day int joust, Australia, 2012
Tournament champion, France, 2012
3rd place horse archery, Hackaland, Belgium, 2012
Tournament champion, Hackaland hist joust, Belgium, 2011
Tournament champion, Winterfest international joust, Australia, 2010
Tournament champion, Abbey int IJL tournament, Australia, 2010
3rd place MSA, France, 2010
4th place joust, France, 2010
Tournament champion, Belgium, 2010
Tournament champion, Winterfest international joust, Australia, 2009

Darth Rimmer

Although Darth Rimmer is from the US, he will be riding for England. He began medieval foot combat at the age of 16 and began jousting in 2009 after attending the Sword of Chivalry tournament. He is a member of the Knights of the Golden Sun and participates in re-enactments of many different time periods including Medieval, Ancient Japan, Great War and WW2. His motto is: "Per Angusta in Augusta" (Through difficulties to great things).
(photo by Ulrich Kiener)



Achievements:
Hackaland, Belgium 2011
Tournament of the phoenix, USA, 2011
Tournament of the Phoenix, USA 2010

GERMANY:

Ulrich Kiener

Ulrich Kiener began riding in 1990 (English, western, horsemanship). His first experience with a jousting tournament was in 2006, and he has competed in several tournaments since then. He is a member of the Societas-equestris, and he and his wife run the IJL Team Germany “Deutsche Tjostvereinigung” and give seminars for Mounted Skill at Arms and jousting. In 2000, Ulrich also began historical sword-fencing, and has participated in several competitions both semi and full contact.
(photo from Facebook)

Achievements:
Roma (joust), 2012
Kaunas Hansadays (jousting), 2011
Battle of Grunwald (jousting), 2011
Forest (Belgium), 2011

Steve Hemphill

Steve fondly remembers his father teaching him how to respect, train and ride the family’s horses. In the 1980's, he became interested in medieval and renaissance history while he was attending college, and in 2003, Steve decided to renew his interest in horses and to combine it with his love of medieval history. Since then, he has produced and competed in a number of medieval equestrian events around the world which showcased competitive jousting and other medieval equestrian sports. Steve is a member of the Board of Representatives of the International Jousting League and a level 2 Jouster with the International Jousting Association. He is the owner of a’Plaisance, Ltd. and the Executive Producer of the “Lysts on the Lake”. When Steve is not involved with jousting, he can be found competing in Dressage and Eventing. (photo by AzulOx)

Achievements:
Neauphle Le Chateau 2012, winning team
Verneuil-sur-Avre, France 2012
Lysts on the Lake 2012
Lysts on the Lake 2011, 1st place jousting
Tournament of the Phoenix 2010, 1st place MSA
Lysts at Castleton 2010, 1st place MSA, 1st place jousting
Tournament of the Phoenix 2009, 1st place MSA


For more information about the European Championship Jousting Tournament at Spottrup Castle in Denmark, see the previous article about this event and/or see the Spottrup Borg website.