Sarah Tenner of Arnold was well prepared for her first jousting competition Saturday. She outfitted her pony, Sunny, in purple ribbons and bows, to match her dress and helmet.
The young equestrienne?s style was matched by her effort on the 80-yard course at St. Margaret?s Church near her home. She hooked four rings during three runs and earned admiration from her parents, grandparents and fellow maids and knights.
The jousting circuit, which began in April but kicks into high gear this month, pays tribute to the state?s tradition of horses and reputation as the birthplace of American jousting.
Even as the thoroughbred tracks bemoan their declining revenues and need for slot money, there is solid grassroots support for the state sport of jousting. (I was reminded recently that lacrosse is the official Maryland team sport, but jousting claimed original honors with a legislative designation in 1962.)
“Maryland and horses go together,” said Jackie Rosenthal, of Cranwood in Baltimore County, a jouster for 10 years. Long ajumper and hunter, she discovered jousting through a friend and found that it demands a compelling blend of athleticism and horsemanship.
“It?s a difficult sport,” she said, watching four-time state champion Buddy Wooters complete a flawless run in the “professional,” the top tier of Saturday?s competition. No one should confuse the professional title with employment, since tournament paydays top out around $50.
Jousting is contested on a straight 80-yard track that includes three metal arcs from which metal rings are hung. Each competitor rides through the arcs, attempting to spear rings with a lance.
Sarah competed in the novice division, which has no time limit and uses rings that are 1 and a half-inch in diameter. More experienced jousters must complete the course under 9 seconds and face smaller rings. Top competitors aim for rings the size of Lifesavers (one-quarter inch diameter) while riding around 35 miles an hour.
“The horse has to do its job and I have to do my job,” said Mark Weesner of Ridgely, a competitor in the professional class, whose son, Josh, 16, and daughter, Crystal, 19, also compete. His wife, Michelle, is their sideline supporter and organizer for the family, which travels to about 25 tournaments a year.
American jousting is focused in the mid-Atlantic region, and participants travel a circuit that includes Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Some of the more historic tournaments include Old St. Joe?s Church Joust, in Cordova, Md., on Aug. 6, which has been heldannually since the 1860s.
The sport is steeped in tradition: A parade of riders kicks off each event; rings are wrapped in white cord and painted; lances are homemade. Celebratory music is played for a perfect, three-ring run, and all competitors are announced by their medieval names: Sarah doubles as the Maid of Foxmoor, Weesner the Knight of Cherry Creek and Rosenthal the Maid of Cranwood.
The sport of knights dates to 10th-century France, where tournaments sometimes erupted into bloody feuds, but in the 13th century it became synonymous with chivalry and fair play, and was immortalized through tales of King Arthur.
Today?s version remains connected to the medieval ancestry and to scattered competitions in the 1700s in America. But contemporary jousting was really started near Baltimore around 1840, according to the National Jousting Association. William Gilmor returned from a visit in Scotland with the interest and means to host upscale jousts.
Today, the sport is embraced by horse lovers of varying means.
The St. Margaret?s Joust was stopped in 1958amid fading interest. But Mack Ridout of Arnold, who jousted as a child, suggested the church renew the tradition. Ridout, 82, no longer competes, but gives lessons to a few riders, including young Sarah Tenner, at his farm near Annapolis.
“It?s an all-ages sport,” Ridout said.
Ridout said it relies on the skill, training and abilities of both rider and mount. “It?s a fun sport if you have the right horse. You can?t be a good jouster if the horse doesn?t want to do it.”
“I like doing the rings,” Sarah said after the competition. “I like dressing up my pony. I like the whole thing.”
