Joust the job

"I'M just looking for the other part of his costume, I haven't used it since last summer," says Katie Williams, moving buckets and brushes aside in her tack room.

The "costume" is for Harry, a 15.2hh dark bay gelding. Within seconds Katie emerges carrying what appears to be a scarlet and yellow blanket but is in fact known as a 'comparison'. It goes under his saddle while a neck cover is pulled over his head. His ears poke out and the yellow edging circles his kind brown eyes.

"He doesn't seem to mind the costume, he's very good," says Katie, giving Harry a reassuring pat.

It seems pretty smart as far as costumes for medieval jousting go. For that is what Katie, 28, loves to do. For a living, she runs her own driving school, KT's School of Motoring, in Hartlepool. In her spare time in the summer, she loves to give demonstrations at shows, galloping towards her male opponents on board Harry with a nine foot, rubber tipped lance in her hand. In short, it's the world's original extreme sport. She is known as Lady Katie, although there's not a whiff of the damsel in distress about her.

"I like to do a bit of foot-fighting too," she says, picking up a heavy, leather handled sword. This is my girly sword, which is shorter and lighter than the fellas', but it's still got some weight to it."

It was one of her friends at the stables in Hartlepool, Fred Robinson, who encouraged Katie's interest in jousting. Harry had been a dressage horse, but a degenerative bone condition put paid to any arduous competitive work. As it is, he seems extremely suited to the life of a noble steed. He is agile, well schooled and bomb proof - which means he's not likely to bolt off in the opposite direction during 'combat'.

Fred (known as Frederick the Great) introduced her to the Knights of the Black Phoenix, a non-profit making organisation set up by fellow jouster Alan Beattie, more commonly known on the circuit as Alan of York, who lives at Cowesby, near Thirsk. Members appear at shows and charity events, demonstrating medieval skills at arms such as sword play, spear throwing and the quintaine - a target which has to be hit - as well as jousting.

Katie is a member of the International Jousting Association - which was set up by Alan and other jousters in 1987 - and is at a grade two out of four levels. To qualify, she had to receive two jousting 'hits' and give two 'hits,' and was assessed by Alan, who is at the grade four instructor level.

The closest she has ever come to falling off was last summer during a jousting demonstration. The aim is to go for the top left hand quadrant of the shield, but the hit was hard and Katie almost lost her balance.

"It's a case of trying to stay relaxed and presenting well so they knock the shield, but in that case..." she smiles. "The crowd went silent because they thought I was going to fall off. But it didn't hurt because he got my shield.

"I have to ride against the men because there are no women doing the demonstrations that I know of. They (the men) get stuck in just as much and don't let me off because I'm a woman. To be honest, I have to remind them I'm about a third of their body weight sometimes. The lance is the same as the fellas' but the sword is slightly lighter."

But any knights would underestimate Lady Katie at their peril. Her 5ft 6ins height and slim eight and a half stone figure belie her toughness, and she's ridden horses most of her life. In demonstration, she puts on her own costume, including the wool knitted 'chain mail' and scarlet and yellow robes. Once on board Harry, she charges at three hoops attached to the fence in the schooling ring, lance in hand, eyes all steely. She scoops up the hoops and canters over to me, dismounts and offers me the reins.

I've ridden horses since I was seven but it's a struggle even to hold the lance, which is made out of bamboo and enterprisingly covered in scarlet and yellow tape. When I hop on board the amiable Harry it feels like I'm spinning plates. The lance is in my right hand but the pole is trained along the left side of his neck, bobbing dangerously close to his left eye. The reins are in my left hand and I steer him towards the fence at a marvellous full-on charge - a very fast walk - and make an embarrassing stab at the hoops. Eventually I collect a couple on the end of my wavering lance but my wrist and shoulder start aching with the weight of it and I can't wait to drop it. Normally, Katie carries a wooden shield in her left hand as well as the reins.

When I attempt a spot of spear throwing, the icy wind whips around my ears along with the end of the spear, which manages to collect some tail spin and smack me on the side of the head. I don't know how I've managed it but my ear's bright red and swollen. Harry looks at me as if Lady Katie has allowed her Baldrick-esque servant to ride her beloved black stallion. He is greatly relieved when Lady Katie climbs on board again, re-ties her long brown hair and deftly canters around the ring demonstrating her spear throwing.

"You have to have a good seat for it," she says, meaning that you need to be able to balance well on horseback. "You need to train your horse up to be supple and bomb proof. They need to cope with everything. And you also need to have muscle." Which could explain my pathetic attempts.

But it is easy to see how addictive it can become. Jousting first became popular in the tenth century with the earliest tournaments taking place in mainland Europe. Winning tournaments was a way for a lowborn knight to make a name for himself and gain riches. Gradually the sport became more sophisticated and less a matter of life or death.

Katie had never been involved in any re-enactment groups before. "I used to think 'weirdoes, whatever floats your boat', but once I got into it I realised how much fun it was," she admits. "We like to be historical but it's also fun entertainment."

Although her costume looks the part, the heavy armour that some 'knights' wear is incredibly expensive, costing thousands of pounds for head to toe armour. At the very least Katie would like a "helm" or metal medieval-style helmet and one that will fit so that it protects her neck. For now, she wears her riding hat covered by a woollen chain mail hood and a back protector.

"Ideally, I would like to get the breast plates so I can get rid of the shield, but it's expensive so we could do with a sponsor," she says.

There are some groups who have the equipment who compete in jousting tournaments across the world. Alan is a former jousting champion and it's something Katie would eventually like to try.

"I'd be a little bit nervous but then it would be against other women," she says.

Understandably, as you might expect from a woman who wields a lance on horseback, Katie has attracted a bit of media interest. There's been the odd comment about her single status, how she's looking for a knight in shining armour. Does she mind?

"Well if it finds me a knight in shining armour then maybe not," she laughs.

In the meantime, there's enough adrenaline-inducing action on the sports field. And if anyone has a helm they'd like to sell, Lady Katie would be very interested.

* If you would like more information on jousting or on joining the Knights of the Black Phoenix, contact Alan Beattie on (01845) 537431.