In Ville Platte, an old local tradition ended out the Cotton Festival.
Sunday afternoon, horseback riders saddled up for the annual Tournoi championship.
Le Tournoi, which means tournament in French, is the ancient sporting event of jousting.
In the event Sunday, participants ride horseback around a semicircular quarter-mile track. Carrying long slender lances, the riders attempt to spear and retain seven small rings that are suspended on posts around the track.
Three heats are run to decide a new champion.
The annual event is held during the cotton festival and symbolizes the protection of cotton which was Ville Platte’s biggest crop.
