The Melee

T

his activity is derived from the very early medieval tournaments or “behourds”. These were mock battles between teams of mounted and foot combatants rather than individual contests between knights which evolved later.

We train our horses and riders to engage in close-in melee combat with swords, axes and other medieval hand weapons. These require a great deal of skill as the unpredictable nature of combat means that each combatant must also be aware of where everybody else is at the same time so that a mistimed blow does not strike a horse.

We can also add in foot fighters to the melee to make it even more dramatic and interesting. Not only are the foot fighters trying to capture "knights" for ransom but they are also fighting among themselves.

Because of the very real risk of a horse being accidentally struck by a weapon, foot fighters must be trained by us before we allow them to participate in this activity.