Sunday September 26th is Tournament day, and the culmination of Carosella, the Mounted Combat Arts Intensive, and for some of our regular students, an entire year’s worth of training in the arts of riding, horsemanship, and swordplay. For many entrants, this will also be their first ever tournament, on the ground or on horseback! There are fun and friendly competitions for all levels of riders and HEMA practitioners, both on the ground and in the saddle. And even if you are unable to attend the rest of Carosella, you can still come out to play with a one-day pass, or individual tournament entries. Here’s what’s happening …
Grooms’ Competition
9:00 – 9:45am
Crossties and Yard
Our horses need to be groomed and tacked up for their big day ahead, so participants with horsemanship skills can get a head start on the competition and earn some points by turning out the best groomed horse. Teams of two people will groom one horse and present it to our judges. This is a timed event, with 45 minutes allowed from the opening of the gates to the judging, with points available for lining up for judging first. The judging criteria are:
- First finished and reporting to judges
- Groom attire: neatly dressed with appropriate footwear and attire
- Well groomed horse
- Clean and properly adjusted tack
- Overall impression. Bonus points for braids if tidy
Competitors are allowed to bathe and pre-braid horses, and to clean tack on Saturday evening. If you don’t have a partner we will match you with one, and will try to pair less experienced horsemen with experienced grooms to make the playing field as level as possible.
Sparring Tournaments
Round Robin: 9:30am – 1:30pm
Semifinals & Finals: 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Indoor Arena & Round Pen
Spear, Longsword, Sword & Buckler, and Armoured sparring bouts will be held in the indoor arena and round pen. Competitors will fight round robin or pooled matches in the morning, with finals held in the afternoon. See the equipment requirements and ruleset here. Speeds for these tournaments are variable, meaning that the players decide between themselves which sparring speed, from 1 to 5, to use, with the person wanting to go the slowest having the final say. See sparring speed definitions and Academie Duello’s Sparring Guidelines here.
A limited number of pieces of protective gear, including masks, gorgets, sparring jackets etc is available on site for purchase. If you would like to reserve a particular piece, email us and let Jen know.
Mounted Games
Team Games 10am – 11:30am
Individual Games 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Outdoor Arena
Mounted Games are an age-old training device for cavalry of all eras, and this is your chance to show off your riding and weapons skills. Team games run in the morning, and Individual games run after lunch. Teams will be assigned to facilitate horse sharing and match compatible horses. There will be 3 – 5 games in each division, depending on time and number of entrants.
Team Games
- Bending
- Stick Pegging
- Wizard’s Castle
- 5-flag (time permitting)
- Pyramid (time permitting)
Individual Games
- Sword & Rings
- Blocks & quintain
- Spear & bale
- 2-flag (time permitting)
- Litter (time permitting)
Archery
Mounted 11:30am
On Foot 12:00pm
Outdoor Arena
Mounted archery is the best of two timed runs with a single target, two arrows each run. Unmounted is a speed shooting competition.
Green Spur Tournament
3:30pm – 5:00pm
Indoor Arena
Cavaliere Program members and guest holding the rank of Green Spur or higher are invited to participate in this mounted tournament. Find the equipment requirements and ruleset here. In addition to prizes for the winners by points, awards will be given for horsemanship and knightly virtue.
Registration
If you are registered for a full (3-day) or a Sunday-only pass, your entry fee is already covered. If you would like to enter select competitions only, select ‘individual tournament entries’ on the registration form. You’ll be sent an additional form to select your divisions.
Cost
Full (3-day) pass, on horseback: 495
Full pass, unmounted: 265
Sunday only pass, on horseback: 250
Sunday only pass, unmounted: 125
Single tournaments: 55 for the first competition, 45 for additional entries
*all prices subject to 5% GST
Spectators Welcome
Spectators are welcome at any of the competitions. However, you will need a vaccine card (digital or printed) to enter the indoor spaces.
Thanks to our Sponsors
We’d like to thank our sponsors the Gatka Federation of Canada for their generous donation of prizes for the tournament, and Academie Duello for running the ground tournaments. In addition, a free lunch will be provided by the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. This will be an amazing tournament day thanks to these organizations.
