Our gallant knights and their mounts: Dominic Sewell of Destrier on Petrus (left) and Jeffrey Hedgecock of The Red Company on Bella (right).

Lances couched, a second before impact:

A solid hit on Dom rocks Jeff back in his saddle. This photo was taken fractions of a second before Jeff's lance explodes in a shower of splinters:

A cheesy grin at the end of a long day:

There are 11 photos on a quickie page Jeff put together here: http://www.historicenterprises.com/misc/training.html

I have always been interested in Medeival things, especially those things "Equestrian". My Gothic armour cap a pied should be completed in a few months.

Welcome. What's your name?

Who's making your armour? Is it Italian Export, Flemish or German?

I made the lances shown in the pictures above by glueing up 2 kiln dried pine 2x4's, then ripping them to 3-1/2" square then ripping the corners off so they are octagonal. I then put them in my specially modified lathe and turn them into the proper shape freehand. No templates, just my eye and a pair of calipers. The main portion is 8' long (the length of the lumber), to which is added a machined aluminum ferrule, into which either a solid softwood or scored balsa breaking end is inserted. Both are tapered, the solid end being for quintain practice, or tilting with solid lances. This reduces the cost considerably, without resorting to using closet dowel.

My lances are patterned after those used by the English group Destrier, of which I am the only US member. The turned portion of the lances used by Destrier are sometimes made of hardwood, including poplar and cherry, and are nearly identical to those used at the Royal Armouries Museum in their tiltyard for interpretive programs and their invitational tournaments. I opted for softwood to reduce weight and cost.