A new contact in the horse world I made this past month teaches jousting with his Morgans. When he told me most of his "knights" are cubicle workers or other corporate management types I was surprised. Most of them have never ridden at all before minus a pony ride a small children before he trains them. Granted his horses are amazing and he's a very thorough teacher, but jousting looks so incredibly hard. Have any of you ever jousted?

It seems like an interesting thing to do, but I personally could never do it. It sure is fun to watch, Rennasiance Fairs are amazing.

Could jousting kill the riders in the medieval times? I have seen movies and some would have a really bad blow in the head and would land head first breaking the neck. Even though I love watching jousting even jest in movies, I would not like the idea of jousting myself.

Jousting can definitely kill a rider, as can any type of riding. The tip of a lance could easily penetrate the arm or body and cause injury. Back in medieval times that could easily lead to gangrene and amputation in a much less pleasant manner than today. After you are knocked from the saddle you continue on foot with a sword as well. Also another dangerous pursuit. Today's modern jousting is obviously just for show with an emphasis on safety and has much more modern ways of keeping participants safe including armor design and such. I used to have friends who did foot combat for fun. Most of the practices are done with PVC pipe and thin plastic shields for safety. The real stuff is only used for conditioning and absolute necessary dress rehearsal.

The possible injuries look horrible. I could never imagine myself jousting, I can't even stand watching it. There is so much that could go wrong.

But the same could be said of crossing the street. A delivery truck could flatten you, a plane could fall out of the sky, you could catch a deadly disease...the list goes on and on. I think I would be willing to try it if I had the chance and a good teacher. The guys I know who did reenacting hadn't been hurt badly in the decade or so they had been doing it. Their biggest problem was overheating as the armor gets real hot in the sun, and most Renaissance Fairs are in the summer. We used to have to pour buckets of water over them before they could handle the armor to get it off. And man did it ever steam.

If I tried jousting with my horse he wouldn't like it. He wouldn't appreciate me having a long spear on him and if I ever hit someone with the spear, he would be in the next county.:D

How exactly does the jousting go? I mean, when you watch this in movies, its not like anyone is really paying attention to the horse during "battle". IM curious to know how it works. Thx!

In todays times we care about the welfare of a horse. Back then, a horse was thrown away and no one cared. You can view this article for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jousting

What is different between the movies and real life is they used working horses instead of the sleek horses you see in the movies. The armor was very heavy and you need a big strong horse to support the armor.

I can't remember exactly the title of the movie but it was about jousting. Is it true that only blue bloods or people with royal blood can join jousting in the medieval times? So I guess its like a game of golf nowadays where only the "can affords" could become members and play in a golf club.