Monday, November 24, 2014

Brego rocks the quintain

In between fox hunting, dressage lessons, and jump lessons, Hubby has been working with Brego on jousting training. It takes a pretty special horse to joust - we have found that the bossy horses do best, as they are not intimidated by another horse barreling down the lane directly at them. Brego thinks he owns the world and everything in it, so that's covered. They also have to be OK with the sound of armor, both on their rider and on other riders. Paddy probably won't ever joust, because the sound of a full set of armor really bothers him. Brego only wants to know if perhaps there is a treat tucked somewhere in all that armor. Surely, there must be... somewhere?

Training a horse to joust is a multi-step process. You have to introduce the armor, a few pieces at a time (more armor = more clanking + heavier rider). Getting a horse used to having things swinging around his head also takes time, since many horses don't like it when things magically appear in their field of vision. You need good halt-canter canter-halt transitions, and horses must learn to stand patiently at the end of the lane for each pass. When you have those elements, you can introduce the quintain. The idea is that it gives the rider target practice, and it also allows the horse to experience the sound of a lance hitting. Here's Brego's first few passes at the quintain.


Brego still has a way to go in his training. He's already done "honor" passes (no targeting) against me on Paddy, but I don't have the armor needed to do a real pass where the riders actually try to hit each other. We're hoping to meet up with some of hubby's jousting friends in the next month or two so we can have a real practice against some opponents. Given how easily Brego has handled all the "scary"  jousting experiences, we have no doubt he'll rock the actual joust just as well as he's done everything else!

29 comments:

  1. Omg that is so awesome! He looks like he was made for this.

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  2. Pretty sweet. I am very impressed by how well he is handling everything.

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    1. He's taking to the whole jousting thing better than any other horse we've ever worked with!

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  3. This is now on my horse-y bucket list! Brego looks like he's been doing it for ages, what a good boy!

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    1. If you come to blogger weekend, we can totally set you up!

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  4. Brego is so amazing -and looks GREAT cantering down the lane! and yea, i'm also surprised your husband still has all his fingers lol

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    1. They are working a lot of straightness and good departs, but the stuff in the middle is awesome! :)

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  5. Is it weird that I think it's ridiculously awesome that you have your own jousting lane and practice target IN YOUR BACKYARD?!

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    1. Yes. If I was your neighbor, I'd be a total creeper when you did this stuff.

      Also I'd probably steal Paddy and hide him in my house.

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    2. Our neighbors totally are creepers. We often invite them over to watch.

      And the jousting lane and *new* quintain aren't actually done yet. You're looking at the old quintain. The lane's not up yet - waiting for it to dry out enough to get it done!

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  6. I am mesmerized. He has a very comfy canter.

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  7. Just pure awesomeness... Bet Brego would rock at archery off horseback - does that have a name? probably - he has a great mind. :)

    bonita of A Riding Habit

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    1. Actually yes, mounted archery is a thing! We haven't tried it with him yet but I'm sure he'll be awesome :)

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  8. What an awesome horse Brego is. He's like, hunting - check. Eventing - check. Jousting - check. Your husband must be over the moon. :D

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    1. He's pretty excited, and we are SO lucky to have such an awesome horse like Brego!

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  9. The ultimate compliment - I want him!

    Did you know there's a brand of shoes called Haflinger? I got a catalog in the mail today, and imagine my surprise when I saw them!

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    1. You can't have him, sorry! ;) I literally had someone offer me a blank check at the dressage show we were at, and I turned it down. He's not for sale, ever.

      And yes, I knew about Haflinger shoes. THEY NEED HAFFIES ON THEM!!!

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    1. Hehe... he's definitely got the personality to become one!

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  11. I think I already told you this but that video was sooooo cooool! I think hubby is going to have opponents see the Black Rhino coming at them and be like "nope, you win".

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