This tournament was held in conjunction with the Northwoods Renaissance Festival in Redding, California.
It was a well attended event with a good deal of advance publicity spearheaded by Alliance member, Bil Woodford. This seems to have proved what I have believed all along. People are really fascinated with this sport of jousting!
The Tourney Judges were right on the mark. The winner was the man that the audience, the other competitors and the judges all agreed was the best Knight on the field. That Knight would be Sir Quint Ross of South Lake Tahoe, California. He was hitting aggressively and honestly in every match he jousted in. His warhorse, the Clydesdale, Nickodemus, seemed to sense this as they were both on the same wavelength with each other.
The only time I saw any wavering in this harmony was when Quint was barreling down on the shield quintain. He had Nickodemus on the correct course, just to the right of the shield. Well, Nick had another course in mind and he didn't let Quint know until the last minute when he jumped square in front of the shield at the last second. Sir Quint's eyes got as big as saucers as he realized in that split second that he had to hit it, or get hit by it. He hit it!
Steve Weems, of Marina del Rey, California, introduced his new Shire gelding, King, to the Tourney field for the first time. As might be expected, they didn't work perfectly together but this country boy (the horse) showed a lot of promise.
I'd like to close by saying that it was great to present a Tournament in the ideal conditions of a rodeo arena.
May Chivalry Live On!
Tournament Results
Tournament Jousting
1st Place - Quint Ross
2nd Place - Bil Woodford
3rd Place - Steve Weems
Ring Spearing
1st Place - James Zoppe
Spear Throwing
1st Place - Quint Ross
Shield Quintain Hitting
1st Place - Quint Ross
James Zoppe
Founder and Director
American Jousting Alliance