November 2020 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN November 2020 Page 23 Maryland Crowns Champions in the Family Sport of Jousting Don't Miss the December/January issue of East Coast Equestrian! The December/January issue will include a Holiday Gift Guide featuring pre-Christmas sales, holiday specials and Christmas gift ideas for horse owners! Page12 December2016 PENNSYLVANIAEQUESTRIAN Get involvedwith horses thisholiday seasonwithShady HollowAssistedRiding!Shady Hollowprovides a supportive equine environmentwhere indi- vidualswithphysical, cognitive, or emotional challenges can experience therapeutic, social, and educational rewards.This December,ShadyHollowAssist- edRidingwill celebrateHolidays in theBarnwith “Hooves and HotCocoa” and aHolidayHorse Camp. OnSaturday,December10, 1-4 pm, commemorate the season withHooves&HotCocoa. Enjoyhomemade cookies from theDanielBooneKeyClub, area CelebrateHolidays in theBarn! 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Funyet elegant,KellyHerd Jewelry is available atTheBoot &BridleTackShop, located in Clermont,New Jersey.TheBoot &Bridlewill be available at TheDevonHorseShow,Bran- dywineValleyHorseShow, and thePennsylvaniaNationalHorse Show.Theirwebsite iswww. thebootandbridle.com.Contact them by phone at 609-624-3054 or emaildirectly at andreabry@ comcast.net.GiftCertificates are available! (Continuedonpage21) To advertise or for more information, call (717) 509-9800 www.eastcoastequestrian.net The news East Coast horse owners need to know Deadline: November 12 a tie led to a ride-off. Parents led their children on horseback, children holding lances steady, practicing, learning necessary skills. Families sitting together on the sidelines cheered and laughed out loud, enjoying time together. McGill said the best thing about jousting is the comradery. “The jousting community is like a family,” he said. “There’s a competitive spirit here, but it is all friendly. Anyone of these competitors, if they thought they could help you and give you advice to improve your riding, they would do it, even if you beat them because of it. This community is like home to me.” Family Sport Rider, Mason Platzke consid- ers jousting a family sport. “The parents can ride as much and as well as the kids. The kids can compete with their parents, instead of sitting on the sidelines. It’s enjoyable being able to compete against my daughter [Marleigh] and vice/ver- sa. My daughter keeps me here. She really loves it. Everyone is so nice to be with. It is a good day off together.” Crystal Asche has been jousting 22 years, since she was a kid in 4-H. She jousted with her family as a child, and now she does it with her husband. “I love that this is a family sport,” Asche said. “For years, me, my dad and my brother all rode together, sometimes in the same class. Then, my husband got started when we were dating. I brought him along. It is something we now all do together.” Platzke said jousting is also the easiest equestrian sport to learn. “You have such a wide range of ability classes. You have the lead line class, where you can be walked through by Mom and Dad. You have the novice class, where you can go at any speed and you have large rings. You have success at an early age, and you can work your way up. There are four classes, so you don’t have to compete against the best rider out there until you’re ready for it.” Marleigh is an example of someone moving up through the ranks. “My first pony to ride was Tuney, a Chincoteague Pony,” Marleigh said. “I learned how to joust on Tuney and then I moved up to a bigger horse named Dazzle, and out of lead line and into novice. Then my dad bought me a Thoroughbred Quarter Horse cross. But now, I ride Lightning. I did pretty good today. I caught four rings. This is my first year jousting with him.” Above all, McGill said his favorite thing about jousting is that it is not subjective. “There are no judges. You either get the rings or you do not get the rings,” he said. “It’s rings and time and the combi- nation of horse and rider. You are looking for precision and if you fail it is your own fault,” he said. “Too many times, at horse shows, the judging has to do with whether or not the judge has an allegiance to a family or likes a certain horse… so many things. You either catch those rings, or you don’t catch those rings. Nobody’s opinion is involved.” Vogel spoke of how jousting gets in your blood and sticks for life. “I was 12 and fortunate enough to live on a farm in Jessup, MD along with a bunch of youngsters, who at the time – 45 years ago – each had an acre or two, enough to have a pony. Mary Lou Bartram [co-found- er of MJTA] and Alice Bloom lived in this town. She is not only the only woman jouster to win the state tournament three times, but she also won the National Championship. Alice Bloom formed a local club called the Jessup Jousters that I was a member of. She set up a jousting track to practice and I would ride my horse to the track. If you didn’t practice, you couldn’t go to the tournament. We had 12 to 15 riders of all different skillsets. Vogel said, around the age of 16, he stopped jousting, and for 30 years the sport was absent from his life. But his wife knew how he’d loved jousting. Some- where round 1995, she took him to a jousting clinic. Then, they both began to compete. Today, he can’t imagine his life without jousting. Other jousters shared the same sentiment. Patting her horse, Asche talked about what the day meant to her. “I had a baby in June. My husband had surgery in July. With all this and Covid on top of it, it is so nice to be back together today for this, to be back to some sense of normalcy.” As the joust ended, cheers, hugs and handshakes circled the crowd forming another sort of jousting ring. It seemed that’s what this family of jousters is all about. Learn more at Maryland- jousting.com . (Continued from page 8) Professional : Bradley Enfield; Knight of Little Antietam Semi-Professional : Marley Enfield; Maid of Enfield Farm Amateur : Emily Traywick; Maid of Port Republic Novice : MacKenzie Strong; Maid of October Dreams State Champion : Mike Virts; Knight of St. Marks The 2020 Maryland State Jousting Champions Novice : Kristen McDaniel, Maid of Stitch Amateur : Emily Trawick, Maid of Port Republic Semi-Pro : Marley Enfield, Maid of Enfield Farm Professional : Brad Enfield, Knight of Little Antietam The 2020 National Jousting Champions