Of Warhorses and Writer's Block

Florida. Sunny Florida. Sunny, green Florida. It was wonderful to escape the cold of Ohio and venture down to Pensacola the last weekend of February. There was really not a lot of excitement down there. It was mostly relaxing, fun...and well, warm.

There were three of us knights: Shane, James Acuff (Lords of Chivalry and honorary member of the Knights of Valour), and myself. None of us had jousted since last fall, including the horses, and we were all pretty rusty. The shows were still good, if I may say so, but the jousting was not at its best. Still, I surprised myself with how comfortable I was in front of the crowd. Especially after my nervous fiascos last season all of you read about. Please do not mistake me, I was not completely at home out there, but it was loads better.

Ah, I forgot, there is something to tell. The king was rather....enthusiastic shall we say...about me being down there. The first show on Saturday he gave me a hard time for being a woman knight jousting. It was annoying, but sometimes that kind of thing helps me joust. You know, I have to prove them wrong. That evening the gentleman who played the king came up to me and made sure there were no hard feelings, said he really liked that I was down there and we chatted a bit. I told him not to worry about it and explained to him that kind of taunting helps me....that was a mistake. Great going, Jessica.
The next day during the show he was trying to be "nice" and help me out by taunting me more. Er, rather, he gave me hell. It was already one of those days that felt off which made his heckling (and bad jokes) worse. My armor felt heavy, my allergies were clogging my throat, I apparently did not stretch sufficiently...and when Katie put my helm on and he said, "Sir Robert (Bob), what happens if Dame Jessica breaks a nail?" I was about ready to run Paladin over to the throne and throttle the king (not one of my best moments, I'll admit ;)). So my focus in jousting shifted from focusing on the joust, to just being angry...which is not good for technique lol. Thankfully I eventually got over my stupidity and the last pass felt great, so all ended on a good one.

I wish I could have taken all of you down there with us to enjoy the sun (and your company). From walking around with Scott at the small, but enjoyable Gulf Coast Renaissance Fair, to eating at a great (though very squished) Irish pub, to jousting on the best jousting horses in the world, to spending time with other awesome people, and everything in between, it was a wonderful time.

Sorry about the short blog. It seemed like there should be more so I kept putting it off and thinking about it, hoping I would come up with more to write that would not bore you...but everything I came up with seemed boring, ha. Oh well. Sometimes less is more.


With love to you all
~Off to the lyst!~

The off season was not so off....

Hello to all of my weary winter readers! With the season about the start up again, I thought it fitting to give an update on how the off season went.

It started off well. The talented Jane Staton came to take pictures of Connie and I in our training back in November. That was fun, but I am sorry to say that Connie's training since has not gone well. Jousting horses are very special and not all horses can be such. While I consider Connie very special, she does not seem to have what it takes to be a jouster. Since I am getting married and moving back to the city anyway, I am looking for a good home for her. She would make an excellent brood mare. Oh yeah, I am getting married. That is probably news to some of you. The off season has not been so off *big smile*.

For now, let's go back to November:

Connie has a very sweet disposition and is smarter than your average draft horse. If for nothing else, because she has learned simple human sign language. She will nod her head if you have something she wants, and will shake her head if she is uncomfortable or unhappy. Unlike some horses where it is hard to tell if something is wrong, Connie makes it easier. I love her to death.

However...

She can be stubborn and strong willed when she chooses to be. This is a great picture of that...and a great picture of my bad form lol. Oh well.

Ah, that's better.

I love this picture. It is so cute! This is one of Jane's little girls. She looks smaller than she is. Remember, Connie is 17.2 hands.

Scritches after a long, hard ride.

The bridle comes off...

...and Connie's favorite part: me rubbing where she sweated underneath her bridle.

Her "I hate you for getting my head wet" face.

Thank you very much for coming out, Jane. It was fun and I hope you had fun as well!

~~~~~~~
On a personal note, I am getting married. He proposed on Christmas Day and I said yes, of course. The wedding is in August (so excited!). For those of you who might worry, he is very supportive and encouraging of my jousting. Truly, I have been blessed with a great guy. And no, I am not wearing armor on my wedding day, haha. I may be what some consider a "tom boy", but I am still rather feminine and wish to wear a dress. A white dress :).

This coming weekend will be the first time I have jousted since the Ohio fair. It should prove interesting. May be really entertaining. My intended, Scott, will be joining me in Florida to do so, and will get to see jousting behind the scenes...and how crazy I really am, haha. Right now I am so nervous! After not jousting for a few months I hope I still have what it takes and more! Ack...
Still, it will be nice to see my jousting family!

I am not sure how often I will be jousting between now and the Ohio fair, but whenever I do I will try and post a blog update to let you guys know how everything goes. Thank you for reading and thank you for all of your support!

~Off to the lyst!~