It's been a long, gradual process, putting this beast together. In the early years, we mostly performed at horse shows, as a sort of half-time entertainment. The cowboys didn't really know what to make of us with our armor and lances and stuff. We were a novelty act to them, like an opera singer at a hoedown, but at least they were entertained. In those days, our biggest gig of the year was the Draft Horse Extravaganza in Monroe, Washington. It was a great venue, and they loved us no matter what we did, because what did they have to compare our skills to? They'd never seen anything like us. Now that we've performed a few years in the Gig Harbor Renaissance Fantasy Faire, we're starting to get a better feel for what we can do and what an audience expects. And of course, we've hooked up with some first-class talent, and that helps a lot, too.

It's not easy to build a mounted medieval performance troupe like the Warhorse Guild. It's not like young Micky Rooney saying "Hey everybody, let's put on a show!" The hardest part is finding a group of people who can get along with each other and are committed enough to stick with it, come to practices, and work really, really hard until they've got a presentable and entertaining show.

The riders have got to have suitable horses, advanced riding skills, and the willingness to spend endless hours teaching their horses to deal with armor, lances, clashing swords, lots of bashing and thumping, and negotiating the list. The ground performers have to know swordfighting and other medieval combat skills, as well as the stage-fighting techniques to make it safe and look good in front of an audience. And all the performers need to have basic showmanship skills, acting and timing, and put in the time to develop these skills, then rehearse the specific scenes and bits needed for the shows. And of course everyone needs costumes, armor, weapons, and all the props and equipment needed for re-creating a medieval mounted tourney.

Any sort of theatre requires a lot of work. But combine the theatrical requirements and preparations with those of getting horses ready for a show, and you've got a monumental task. Now factor in the reality that nobody makes enough money doing these sorts of shows to make a living, so nobody can afford to quit their day job. Try putting that together while maintaining some semblance of sanity!

That said, here is our line-up of utterly insane performers:

Bevin Thompson The driving force behind the Warhorse Guild, Bevin is an expert horsewoman with a great love for jousting and medieval re-creation. She's kept the Guild going year after year, even when we couldn't put enough trained riders into saddles to make anything resembling a show. She has performed with other jousting troupes, such as Cavallo Equestrian Arts. By day Bevin is a network administrator, but she is a jouster and mounted performer in the WG.

Gordon Frye A gentleman of letters with a Master's degree in history, Gordon can tell you anything you'd care to know about the middle ages and the renaissance era. Gordon has been a mounted performer and commander/trainer of period cavalry in dozens of movies, including The Patriot, The Alamo and The Postman. Gordon is a jouster and mounted performer in the WG.

Brian Thompson An actor, fencer and stage fighter who's willing to do the dirty work as well as bask in the glory. Brian performed for years with the Heavier Than Air Players in Auburn. He is an illustrator and graphic artist, whose work can be seen on his site, www.Lokarian.com. He builds quintains and other medieval equipment for the WG, as well as this website and all WG graphics. He helps write the scripts for the shows, performs on foot, hauls the horses and scoops the poop.

Nancy Frye Nancy is a light-horse and foot performer with a penchant for historical accuracy. She's the one who keeps the rest of us honest when it comes to period-correctness, and it helps that she's a professional costumer and seamstress for theatre, movies and opera. Nancy makes costumes for the WG, and also performs.

Rob Odekirk He has been doing medieval re-enactment since 1979 with the SCA. With proven knowledge of history and skill at period ground fighting, seven years ago he took up riding, and began doing competitive medieval equestrian games, including jousting and mounted combat. He is a mounted performer with the WG.

Paul Pfarr II Paul spent 3 years with the Seattle Knights. His own troupe, Unicorn Tales, has performed at fairs all over the state, and he himself has performed for several years at the Gig Harbor Renfaire as the unforgettable and hardworking Master of the Joust, the MC for that faire's main event. He is an actor and groundfighter, and sometimes herald, for the WG.