Destrier.org.uk

Jousting at the English Tournament Society Edgcote

2011-04-01T03:19:00.000-07:00

Destrier Jousting at the English Tournament Society Edgcote Tournament 2010

[click here to watch the video]

Manor Park Farm, Ruislip

2010-09-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

It was slightly strange returning to the area where I grew up, driving into the suburbs, past familiar landmarks from long ago (including the site of the stables where I learnt to ride), but this time with a family on board and horse trailer in tow. Manor Farm is a small oasis of green amongst the neat houses of Ruislip, and Destrier were the main attraction for Hillingdon council’s Medfest, providing our usual skill at arms display and a joust on both days of the weekend.

Nate and Tiff made the long journey up from Cornwall to be with us, Tiff also returning to the area of her past, the two of them staying with her sister just down the road.

The shows were very well received by an enthusiastic audience, whose enjoyment was aided once again by Rupert’s excellent commentary. I was riding Magic of course, while Nicky and John of Tournament Stud brought Mutley, Bert and Argie. Susie on Argie showed us men how it should be done in the skill at arms, taking the highest score with some deft sword and javelin wielding, but Jason was to ride him in the joust, taking on Andreas on Bert and Will on Mutley, and Magic and Myself. It’s always nice to speak to the audience after the joust, and as usual we heard plenty of very positive feedback (especially from my 5 year old nephew, who was seeing Uncle Graham joust for the first time).

Rain was always a feature of the event, but somehow we managed to survive without getting too wet, despite the huge cloudburst after the joust on Saturday. At least the rain stayed away on Sunday, so tents could be packed up dry. As time blurs the other details of the weekend, I’m sure we’ll all remember Ruislip for the urban foxes. They surprised us with their complete lack of fear for us humans, their antics including dragging Emily’s boots out under the side of their tent during the night – hotly pursued by Andreas! The next morning I was told of how a fox stalked into Magic’s paddock, and as he approached, Magic lifted his hind leg in warning – a warning the fox probably regretted not heeding as he was sent howling into the undergrowth by a hefty kick! Henceforth Magic now has the title ‘fox slayer’!

Thank you to everyone who came to Ruislip and helped make this another Destrier success. Next for me will be the big one at the Royal Armouries, then we have Destrier’s last show for 2010, at Edgecote near Banbury. It looks like we’ll have a good turnout for this one – am really looking forward to seeing everyone again and finishing off the season in style.

Avoncroft

2010-09-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings provided Destrier with a lovely setting for our joust and skill at arms displays on the 7/8th of August, and a very appreciative crowd – apparently a record number for the museum – enjoyed the action over the weekend.

All didn’t start well though, with Jason’s much loved jousting horse Segunda being taken ill on the journey up, and having to be taken straight home again to recover. We’re pleased to hear that she is doing well and wish her a speedy recovery.

Segunda’s place was taken by a relative newcomer, Bert, ridden by Tournament Stud’s John Neave, and the pair made a cracking debut – welcome to the world of Destrier jousting.

Zoe stood in as commentator at the 11th hour and did a superb job – thank you – and thanks also to everyone who turned out and worked so hard to make this event such an enjoyable success.

Dress Rehearsal

2010-06-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Just to say thanks to everyone who came to the dress rehearsal last weekend, I cannot remember a more enjoyable and positive get together. The sun shone too!

Saturday consisted of a brush up of our skill at arms and hunting games show with a bit of rethinking on the way the individual games were run so that when we tried again on the Sunday morning it all flowed a lot better with opposing teams running at different games one immediately after the other to keep it all flowing. When it came to the drag boar some of the horses were a little reluctant to attack it - a new thing for them really. However 'Coal' on of the new Geldings, only broken last year, proved fearless in the face of the furry, stinky one, trampling upon it with great enthusiasm. In fact Coal showed great promise throughout the whole day never looking too fazed with John aboard wearing half armour.

The Saturday afternoon was given over to some of our newer members, Nathan, Tom, Alex and Kasumi; a chance for them to mount up and gain some valuable experience in the saddle under Nicky's excellent tuition. In addition time was spent teaching the basics with sword and javelin so that a little skill at arms could be safely practiced. All four did very well showing promise in the saddle as well as enthusiasm in practicing with their weapons - keep it up Guys!

later in the afternoon of Saturday a number of us were filmed walking and trotting through the woods, spears in hands, as if on a medieval hunt. The light was not perfect but at one point the sun came through the trees upon which Andy hurried us into position for a few valuable takes. I believe some of this footage will be going on the website and - not having seen it yet - will look atmospheric.

The Sunday afternoon joust started well however one or two of the horses became a little lively toward the end so at the end we spent some time on basic schooling runs, without lances, just to reestablish the old routine. There were some great breaks though, 16 balsas being mashed in total. The horses seem to be very happy running along the solid tilt in fact it appears to encourage them to run in tight against it - so much so - that on my pass against Sean George it almost looked like we were heading straight for one another. The resulting break was big, the ferule strike ripping the lance from my grasp. Good stuff all round though guys in what is quite a tight arena with a very short tilt rail.

Now for the thank you's - to Andy for bringing his video camera and taking the shots all day on Saturday his enthusiasm was most welcome although sitting on the tilt rail to film passes might be a bit tricky Andy!. A big thanks also to Graham's Dad, Michael, who upon turning up in his beautiful 1964 e-type Jaguar, spent the day taking a mass of photos of the days proceedings (a few of these will follow on another e-mail). Some of this footage will go towards enlivening our website. Also thanks to our new and not so new members who worked hard on the ground to support us. Last, but by no means least, a huge thank you to 'Tournament Stud' for hosting Destrier, to Nicky, John and Dan who selflessly gave up their time to support us. I think they had a great time too.

Looking forward to Dorset when we can do it all again!

God bless

Will

A weekend at Tournament Stud

2010-06-08T02:23:00.000-07:00

The weekend of the 5th/6th June saw several of us getting together at Tournament Stud, primarily to sort out and refurbish the group kit - but there was also plenty of time for riding and socialising.

The weather on Saturday was glorious, and it wasn't long before those macho torsoes were on show (rather unfairly, Andreas had been bronzing himself on his honeymoon in Egypt, which did rather highlight the pasty whiteness of the rest of us!)! The tilt rail now has new supports, it's covers have been washed, and we have totally new counter tilts. The lance racks are no longer falling apart and the rings have white tabs on them (courtesy of the Past Tents folk who were still at work) so they are more obvious - primarily so the audience can see when we've succeeded in taking a ring, but it might help us a little too (I hope so anyhow). We do still need to locate the pegs and guys for the awning, but this will be sorted at the dress rehearsal. All the kit is now sorted and stored in a stable, all ready for the Dress Rehearsal in a fortnight and the first event at the beginning of July.

When all was done we tacked up and headed off into the Northamptonshire countryside for a hack, all very calm and relaxing. I also took Magic into the new indoor school, which is complete with a tilt rail and promises to revolutionise winter training. A fantastic facility - we are very fortunate.

Having set up our tents, we lit the range and enjoyed a barbeque. Slightly different to your average barbeque in that one of the guests was Jason's horse Segunda! We were in her field, so I suppose it was only fair. As it got dark, we were treated to a lightening display as thunder rumbled around us - pretty spectacular and certainly a memorable evening.

We'll be back at Tournament Stud in two weeks time (19th/20th June) for the Dress Rehearsal, where the plan is to set up camp exactly as we would at an event and enjoy riding and socialising together as we polish up our skills. There will also be some photography and filming taking place to get some good quality shots of the group for publicity, so bring your kit and best 15th century smiles.

Fashionable clothing for the well dressed Lady and Gentleman in the second half of the fifteenth century.

2010-01-26T02:19:00.000-08:00

The medieval tournament was the perfect place for the upper echelons of society to display their wealth, and wearing sumptuous fashionable clothing was a very obvious way to demonstrate just how important you were. Contemporary accounts from some of the most famous tournaments of the second half of the 15th Century record how knights would enter the lists accompanied by numerous squires dressed in silk damask or velvets, their horses caparisoned in similarly expensive fabrics.
Men’s fashion aimed to exaggerate the wide-shouldered, narrow-wasted look, with padded shoulders and pleated gowns helping to achieve this ideal image. The basic garments of doublet and hose were common to all levels of society, hose being made of woollen cloth carefully tailored to be as tight fitting as possible. Doublets were also made to fit the body closely, and the hose were laced to the doublet using ‘points’ – metal tipped cords. From about 1460 fashionable doublets are often seen with padded shoulders, which support the gown worn on top, and are sometimes also open at the front and down the sleeves to reveal some of the white shirt worn underneath.

The gown, worn over the doublet, could be a long garment reaching the floor, and the illuminations in Rene of Anjou’s famous tournament book shows the judges wearing red gowns like this. Merchants and townsmen are usually depicted wearing long or middle length gowns, while the young, vain or fashion-conscious are usually shown dressed in rather short garments. Some commentators at the time are known to have frowned at the length of some of these gowns. All were cut full in the body, and then gathered into pleats at the waist, with sleeves that could also be left open along the seem to allow the arm to protrude. Fur lining – or just trimming round the neck and sleeve openings – are often seen, providing not just additional warmth in winter, but another chance for display.

In England, famed for its wool trade, good quality woollen cloth would be quite acceptable for a high quality doublet or gown, but the Burgundian and Italian taste for ‘flashier’ silk damasks, velvets and cloth-of-gold invariably had an influence on what was worn by the really wealthy.

Hats were worn by all, and styles varied considerably, The big chaperon, popular earlier in the century, was going out of fashion by this time, but was still seen occasionally on older gentlemen. Tall ‘acorn’ hats are often depicted, as are the ‘Robin Hood’ style that was popular over a long period.

Of course, the ideal image of the young, broad-shouldered, slim horseman would be incomplete without long, thigh-length riding boots, bucked at the ankle for a close fit.

Various other garments for men can be seen in the paintings and illuminations of the time. Sleeveless tops worn in place of the gown are shown being worn by squires in several pictures, sometimes pleated like the gown. Livery coats are often thought of as garments issued to soldiers in their Lord’s heraldic colours, but ‘livery’ refers to an issue of cloth made to a nobleman’s retainers, so could be in any colour, style or fabric.

Ladies’ clothing from this period conjures up most people’s image of the ‘fairytale princess’ – long flowing gowns and high pointed hats! The tall cone-shaped hennin was probably most popular in France, and then only on occasions were the wind was unlikely to cause havoc with it! In England a shorter, truncated version was popular, draped with very fine silk that was sometimes supported on wires extending from the top of the hennin. From about 1470, a black velvet frontlet became fashionable, and this would eventually develop into the Tudor ‘gable’ head-dress.

Gowns were high-waisted with narrow arms (not the long flowing sleeves from earlier in the century). The neck line was very wide and usually trimmed in fur or velvet, exposing a triangle of the underdress or a separate piece of material known as a frontlet. This underdress was sometimes made from a very rich fabric, and can often be seen when the front of the gown is hitched-up to aid walking. A wide belt completed the outfit, often with very decorative gilded buckle and belt-end.

As with more recent fashions, those of the 15th Century were constantly changing, but the above is intended as a guide to what was worn by the upper classes during the decades Destrier concentrates on.

Now booking for 2010!

2009-12-17T07:58:00.001-08:00

2009 was a great year for Destrier - we've had a lot of fun and put on some spectacular shows! We're now taking events bookings for 2010, so get in touch now before you miss out!

Destrier wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - hope to see you in it!

Contact Destrier

Training a horse and skill at arms principles

2009-12-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

"The horses used by Destrier for their performances come from several different yards across the UK, but all have to be trained to a high standard.

Mounted skill at arms has two main and rather obvious, participants who have to work in harmony to achieve the best results; the rider and the horse. Both need to be trained to be safe and secure, to work with sharp weapons at speed, with ground crew safety in mind and strange looking targets scattered on the floor, and quite often a noisy crowd of spectators.

Firstly, to actually strike a target the rider needs to get close enough for sword, or the right distance away for javelin to be most effective. No matter how good the rider, if the horse simply swerves away from the target, it makes a good strike either impossible or particularly difficult.

A horses training comes in several stages. Firstly the horse is introduced to the targets as part of its normal schooling routine. The boar or deer target is simply put into the arena with the horse as if nothing unusual is going on and the horse is encouraged to simply ignore it and get on with the normal training for fitness and suppleness. Often horses will be signally unimpressed and unafraid and so a faster speed and a more direct and closer approach can be tried. Many horses, especially those who are bolder seem to be naturally unafraid. Others will snort and make a big fuss about the target and will need to be coaxed to smell it and become acquainted. Usually, with patience almost any horse will grow accustomed to any new object and eventually ignore it. Quite often the orientation of the target will have an effect on the horse, in that, if the boar is pointed directly at the horse it seems to have a bigger fear factor than if it is pointing away. Whilst this is anecdotal, it does make some kind of sense since horse are prey animals and anything facing them might be interpreted as a direct threat to their health.

Once the horse is fully used to the target types, and will run happily past the target without deviation it is time to train the rider about his or her line to the target.

Ideally the rider will imagine in their mind the perfect line, and ride for an imaginary marker in the distance neatly past the target at the correct distance for their weapon, rather than at and over the target. As the weapon strike draws closer the rider must prepare to throw or cut and this can have an effect on the rider’s balance, and also the horse’s direction. Quite often novice riders will ride towards the target and then swerve away at the target as their weight shifts in the saddle and the horse senses a direction change, riding in a swerve that is obvious to the ground crew but difficult to spot from the top of an excited horse going at a gallop, and quite annoying for the rider. This can be corrected for by practising simply riding past the target at speed and making sure the line is straight as if the target didn’t exist. Only when the rider can do this is the weapon strike re-introduced and usually the problem is solved.

Sometimes, especially with more experienced horses and novice or nervous riders the horse will take advantage and anticipate the target by deliberately swerving aside or running on the wrong side of the target. The only way to correct this is to go back to basics and make the horse go past the target at a slower speed, possibly even at a walk until it re learns to go in a straight line.

As with all equestrian training, skill at arms is about patience and repetition rather than anger or aggression. The more calm a horse and rider are the better the pair’s line and speed."

Welcome to Destrier.org.uk!

2009-12-11T02:27:00.000-08:00

We're very proud to be re-launching our website. While still under construction we hope to provide you with more pictures, videos and information on Destrier as well as how to book us for 2010. Looking forward to seeing you :)