If you are visiting the Canadian Western Agribition, expect to see an equine sport slightly different from the traditional rodeo events. Shane Adams and the Knights of Valour jousting troupe will be joining this year’s event line-up. Featuring jousters from across Canada and the United States, the troupe has prepared a full contact joust with knights competing for the prize of Agribition champion.
Adams, who started the troupe in 1997, describes jousting as one of the world’s most extreme sports.
“You take two men, dressed in 150 pounds of armour, have them mount on top of their 2,000-pound war horses, take a lance in their right hands, turn it out, charge down towards each other at a combined speed of upwards of 60 km/h, all in the attempt to knock the living snot out of the other person and send them flying off the back of his horse to the ground below,” said Adams in a phone interview from Mobile, Ala.
The troupe competes all over world, and Adams has claimed over 20 international jousting championships. Since their History Channel TV show, Full Metal Jousting, the troupe has received world-wide recognition.
“People all over the world know about the Knights of Valour, as we are the world’s best full contact jousters,” Adams said. “It just goes to show, you put a stick in a Canadian’s hand, whether it’s a hockey stick or a lance, we’re going to show the world how to use it.”