AM says: games put on by squires and servants to show off and run around just for the fun of it. I mean, look at the people who are in the arena! a few have nice caprisons, but most of us look pretty rag tag

Realistically, it is unlikely that *any* of the female servants of Tony the Hunk are going to be racing around engaging in this activity. "How shocking!" your peers would say. "Can you imagine? And I thought they were *respectable* people!" the pious would sniff. "I'm scandalized! A woman riding astride, with her skirts flying everywhere! And at her age! It's not like she's a child who doesn't know better, she's the Grand Bastard's cuisinier!" the old ladies would simper.

I can't believe you would be engaging in any of these activities in 1467, as Antoine's cuisinier, under any circumstances.

Now Baroness Anne-Marie of Madrona, in her floofie caparison doing this in the SCA, *that* I can see. You're not limited by what happened in history, so I say dispense with the encumerance of history and have fun!

The only other thing I might add is that if you choose to "be Jeanne d'Arc for a day." as Jenn suggests that you don't choose the day she was burned at the stake!

Since we are talking horsie games... can anyone name specific games and historical rules? I am not certain how close modern versions of the game would be.

I'm currently working on a 16th C. German strip barding for a fellow in Texas that is all fringe and tassels and floofyness. I'll take a picture of it on Petrus when it's done and post it.

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Splitting the reeds is Middle Eastern, Kazbuki (throwing a spear through a ring) is Eastern European, as is horse archery.

Western Europeans seem like they are much more serious until the development of the gymkhana games by the British Cavalry--which is much too late.

Brenna

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Anne Marie, you do separate LH and SCA, so go have fun with the horses! By going to an SCA event, you are pretty much suspending a lot of your true LH leanings anyway.

Go all the way, say you're the head groom's daughter and are making fun of what the noblemen's sons are doing by playing the games. (Hey, at least it's not as bad as saying you had a Celtic mother, a Viking father and got kidnapped by Arabic pirates which is why you wear Middle Eastern garb and have a Celtic first name, Viking last name, etc. ) The games are fun, they can be pretty challenging and they make you a better rider and horseperson. Surely that is never a bad thing--at least not in my book.

Brenna who uses any excuse to ride, much to many people's chagrin...

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I'm coming to this post late, but it seemed worth commenting on Seigneur de leon's comment that....

"While a "tourney" consisting of rings, quintain, etc... may be farfetched, it's still good practice for us."

Well, it depends what we're actually recreating. If we're recreating a full-blown tourney, OK, running at the ring isn't going to be on the menu. But we've got plenty of evidence of people practicing this on a regular basis, either by themselves or as a small competitive group.

And if we're just doing "just another random day in the middle ages", then surely it's a lot more likely that we'll be seeing that kind of practice than a full blown tourney.