FEBRUARY 2012 THE RIDER /41 Full Metal Jousting Has An Ontario Connection By Kelly Bowers
The HISTORY channel in the USA is bringing back the most danger- ous collision sport in history and trans- forming it into a 21st-century event. But this is no Renaissance fair as some of the toughest riders in North America face off in a bone-crushing competition for big money. It’s a sport with real hits and real danger, as intense as it was 500 years ago, but with a twist: Tradi- tional armour is replaced by modern suits of steel, while the action is cap- tured by high-speed cameras. Despite the risk of injury to the human warriors, the updated competition is designed so that it holds no danger to any of the
Adams was raised on an Ontario farm with arabian horses. He dreamed of being a modern day knight and got his start in theatrical jousting. You may recognize him as Sir Shanton of Falcon’s Hill from his Knights Of Valour produc- tion which travels across North America to entertain and edu- cate school children and adults alike. Adams, though, also wanted something more intense and has championed the movement to bring back full-contact jousting. Since 1997, Shane has competed and earned 17 International Full- Contact Jousting titles and is now head coach of the Full Metal Joust- ing team.
This season will introduce 16 par- ticipants who, being trained by a team of jousting coaches, meet each other in battle. Every joust is a test of courage and strength requiring nerves of steel for the competitors (and I suspect, spec- tators as well). The last man standing will take home $100,000 in cash. The Full Metal Jousting troupe includes seven coaches, including Rip- per Moore, Robbie Hubbard and Jere- my Oneail from the USA, Phillip Leitch and Rod Walker from Australia and two Canadians, Shane Adams and TJ. Duquette, both from Ontario. Full Metal Jousting host, Shane
horses involved in the event.
Ontario also claims another Full Metal Jousting coach. TJ Duquette from Hamilton began train- ing in swordplay and dressage riding several years ago. Under Shane’s coaching and Ripper’s mentorship, TJ has become a prominent member of the crew and is said to have “the skill of a true champion jouster”. Both local men are excited about the series premiere of Full
Metal Jousting and hope their fami- lies and friends will enjoy watching their combative sport on prime time TV. Thanks to the american channel HISTORY, starting Sunday February 12th, jousters will be filmed as they collide at up to 30 mph. American viewers and Canadians with the US format of HISTORY on their satel- lite dish, will have front row seats for the blood sweat and tears. The rest of us will wait impatiently until Full Metal Jousting comes to the rest of Canada.
Left: TJ Duquette from Hamilton, Ontario, Full Metal Jousting Coach Centre: Modern Full Metal Jouster in updated suit of steel instead of tradi- tional armour Top Right: Full Metal Jousters collide at up to 30mph Right: Shane Adams from Acton, Ontario, host of Full Metal Jousting pro- gram
Photo credit: Zach Dilgard System Farrier Distributing Farrier Clinic and Forging Competition Editorial by Nanci Job
January 20th and 21st marked the first (of many to come) farrier clinic and Forging competition for System Farrier Distributing.
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Friday was a great start to the 2 day event as farriers, trainers and cus- tomers enthusiastically filled the Farri- er Shop. Certified Farrier Luke Proulx started the day off with a forging demonstration to interested competi- tors and spectators. With a horse to demonstrate with, Luke had the crowd watch how the horse’s hocks and hooves hit the ground as it walked away from them and toward them. He further explained and demonstrated how corrective trimming and shoeing balanced the horse more evenly. In the afternoon a seminar about Vettec products was presented by their National Sales Manager, Frank Dugan. Vettec is the manufacturer and distrib- utor of the highest level of hoof care products on the market today. The line of products allow your hoof care pro- fessional to glue on shoes, make instant shoes, add foal extensions, complete hoof repairs and make instant pad materials to help protect and sup- port the hoof. Frank used the horse to
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demonstrate how to glue on a shoe as well as making a custom shoe with the products.
1/ Tarah Cressman. 2/ Julie Vidacs 3/ Natalie Starr 4/ Travis buck 5/ Katie Donkers 6/ Novice competitors 7/ Andrew DeVisser 8/ Paul Fischbach 9/ Karin Turnbull and Dwayne Jobs.
10/ Rienus Meyer of the Canadian Horseshoeing School, Embro. with Bob Ward
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Saturday was competition day. The parking lot was jammed packed and no doubt with one of the largest purses in Ontario up for grabs. The competition brought out the best of the best in Ontario. The event was divided into 3 divisions – Novice, Intermediate and Open, with the latter two perform- ing live shoeing. A big Thank You to Judge, Luke Proulx, who had the diffi- cult job of evaluating the correctness of each shoe in all the classes. Special thanks to The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society for providing the competition with quiet and good quali- ty horses.
Up and comers Sara Vanderpol, Katie Donkers and Kyle Stafford were
the top three Novice competitors. Paul Fischbach won the Intermediate divi- sion, with Andrew DeVisser and Tim Koelln right behind him. The Open category saw Doug Buck come out in first with Phil Robinson and Mike Smith rounding out the top three. The awards ceremony proved to be gener- ous to all competitors. Each received a bag full of amazing products donated by both System Farrier and many other industry related sponsors. Prize money was awarded to 6th in each division which left smiles on all the faces. Overall a great time was had by all competitors and all can’t wait to come back again next year. Thank you to all the volunteers, spectators, staff and competitors for making System Farrier’s First Competition a memo- rable one.
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