Nowadays, both in real life and in simulators, we think of horses as creatures built for racing. While that is true, it only applies to the contemporary world. Racing was just a new pastime that people thought about for the equines - in the old days, i.e. The Middle Ages, they served a far more formidable and deadlier role.

This role is jousting. Knights during the Middle Ages trained their steeds for serving in combat. One of these training methods is to use the horse for jousting, which builds up their hearts and bodies for that day when they will be ridden for war by their masters.

Jousting, of course, still exists today but more as a form of entertainment and horsemanship among riders, and no longer for its previous role in Middle Ages warfare.

Whether you know it or not, there are actually horse simulators that focus on jousting instead of racing or eventing. You can try Shake Spears!, for instance. This one is a neat game that almost realistically portrays the old medieval sport between knights, and is ideal for both jousting enthusiasts and curious newcomers alike.

Of course, in the middle of it all are the war-horses that are used by the knights. These are not your ordinary racing or eventing horses. These equines are sturdier, more courageous and are undoubtedly more powerful given the nature of their “job” with their warrior riders.

To understand the role horses play in jousting, you’ll have to understand the sport itself. It’s actually very simple. Riders deck themselves out in full medieval armor, complete from helmet down to the leg braces. The horses are also heavily armored as well, like they were during the medieval ages. Each rider carries a long javelin in front of himself, and they keep this pointed at their opponent.

At a signal, both riders charge at each other and try to hit one another with the javelin. The impact is quite strong, as the horses are exhorted to run at full speed. In real-life jousting tournaments using wooden javelins, the weapons are known to break into pieces on impact.

Whoever remains perched on their steed after impact wins.

In other cases, the javelins are used to catch rings placed in front of or slightly above the knight. How many rings the knight catches in turn is used as a score.

You can see then that the horses used in these games must be sturdy and must be of high stamina: it takes a lot of energy to ride with someone on top of you, much more when that said person wears full armor and the horse itself is decked out in even heavier armor. Horses must be bred to have high stamina and energy, and great speed.

In jousting horse simulators, you can easily upgrade your horse’s capabilities by simply training them and upgrading their statistics using in-game cash. This should be your focal point in playing these games, in addition to purchasing sturdier armor for both rider and horse, as well as more durable javelins for the rider.

Jousting is a full-contact sport that’s definitely NOT for everybody, but with these games, at least you can experience it from a safe distance. You could, of course, give the real one a try but it’s definitely more expensive than the simulators.