Mitch Soileau stands in front of some of the trophies he collected during his two decades of running in the Louisiana Tournoi. Soileau won the annual jousting event a record 10 times (five more than anyone else), and he also finished second three times and came in third place twice. (Gazette photo by Raymond Partsch III)
Mitch Soileau gets ready to lance a ring during a Louisiana Tournoi competiion in the early 1990’s. Soileau last rode in the event in 1995. (Photo courtesy of Mitch Soileau)
Mitch Soileau rides in the 1976 Louisiana Tournoi. That first year Soileau finished in sixth place but did take fastest time honors. Two years later, Soileau would claim his first championship. (Photo courtesy of Mitch Soileau)
By: RAYMOND PARTSCH III
Managing Editor
The most dominant Louisiana Tournoi rider in history never rode his own horse to victory.
From 1976 to 1995, Mitch Soileau would win the annual jousting event a record 10 times (five more than the nearest competitor), finished second three more times and twice came in third place. Soileau was also the first rider to lance enough metal rings to win three straight years, a feat he completed twice.
Yet, during that whole time Soileau never rode a horse that was his own.
“I think I won on eight different horses the ten times I won it,” Mitch said. “Almost every year I would switch horses. Somebody always had one for me to ride, so I never really had to bring my own.”
The Ville Platte native grew up with horses, competed in horse shows as a kid and remembers watching Tournoi when it was still held at Ville Platte High School. Soileau’s family also had a long association with the event. Soileau’s late father, and former Evangeline Parish Sheriff, Floyd Soileau rode in the event a few times, his godfather Elin Pitre won it in 1958, his cousin Dwayne Fontenot won it three times.
“I can remember for tryouts there would be like 28 to 30 people out there,” Mitch said. “Everybody had a horse over there. You had people from all over the state coming to run.”
Soileau’s first non-spectator Tournoi experience though was when he rode for Dwayne in the Grand Parade of Cotton one year as a teenager, but it wouldn’t be long until the Sacred Heart School alumnus rode in the actual event.
In 1976, Soileau borrowed his daddy’s horse Red Return and competed in the Tournoi. Soileau would place sixth that year but did run the fastest time. The following year he finished third and then in 1978 won the first of his 10 championships.
Soileau dominated by utilizing an unorthodox style of riding in the event.
“I rode different than most people because I stood up high in the saddle,” Mitch said. “By standing up a little, I would have a lot of bend so to speak. If the horse kind of came off the track a little bit I could steer it back. I would also hold on to the halter instead of the reigns. It just worked for me.”
Soileau credits his favorite way to kill time as a teenager in helping him become the most decorated Tournoi rider.
“When I was young I played a lot of pool,” Mitch said. “I believe looking down that stick thousands of times helped me with getting rings. My daddy owned a bar called Floyd’s Lounge. I would go clean up in the afternoon for him and afterwards I would shoot pool until they opened up.
“Later I would work at the old Platte Theatre and afterwards I would go next door and shoot pool at the old Smith’s Recreation Center.”
Those thousands of hours Soileau spent shooting pool may have aided his development in Tournoi, but it was just natural ability on a horse that helped more than anything. Due to his profession, Soileau didn’t have a whole lot of time to practice for Tournoi.
“I don’t want to sound like a smart ass but I didn’t practice a whole lot,” Mitch said. “I was a welder and I was on the road a lot. So a lot of times I didn’t even know if I would be home for Tournoi. I just got myself a horse and rode it and once I got on there I wanted to win.”
“Mitch was one of those guys that if you can’t be the best then he wouldn’t do it at all,” current Tournoi President and two-time champion Kent Saucier said. “You got to have a pretty good horse to win but the rider has to have good hand and eye coordination. It is pretty tough to win it and he won it 10 times.”
Solieau’s success at Tournoi gave him the opportunity to fly on a plane for the first time. Back in 1992, Tournoi riders and organizers Keith Guillory, Gerald Fontenot, Saucier and Soileau all went to Belgium for a week-long trip to perform a condensed version of Tournoi.
The experience was one of the most fun and interesting trips Soileau had ever taken, and one moment in particular stands out to this day.
“The rest rooms at the venue over there didn’t have any doors,” Mitch remembered while laughing. “So it was wide open and one day I was in there using the toilet and this woman just walked in and stood in front of me talking to me. It was something else.”
Solieau had decided to hang it up following the 1994 Tournoi but at the last minute decided to take part in the event one final time the next year, where he would win the championship for the 10th and final time.
“The last year I won I wasn’t going to run but I had to pick up somebody else’s horse and bring it to them,” Mitch said. “The guy told me that I might as well go get me a horse too since I was having to go any ways.
“So I borrowed a horse and I told the guy I went to go pick it up for to time me so I could have a feel for the horse. So when I got back I asked what I ran and he told me and I told him that was perfect. And then I told him that they were in trouble.”
Soileau though was inspired to run that final year due to the convincing argument his step-son made, over and over again.
“My 25-year-old son Seth was four at that time and begged him to run it that year,” Mitch’s wife Renne said. “He ran around the house with rings and a hanger and he would catch them.
“He was always like please, please. Mitch would fall asleep in the chair and Seth would tie him to the recliner. And he would wake up trapped in the chair and Seth would just beg him to run.”
For two decades, Soileau would go and compete in Tournoi but he admits now that there were times that his passion for the sport waned.
“There were times that you don’t want to ride but by the time you ride in the parade you start getting emotionally prepared and focused,” Mitch said. “We would go to practice and drink beer and just cut up and it didn’t matter. But on that day, the adrenaline starts pumping.”
Not surprisingly then that the reluctant champion’s most memorable year of competition is a year he didn’t even win.
“The one I remember the most I came out third,” Mitch said. “I missed only one ring and I came out third in 1991. In fact the young guy Eric (Guillory) who has won the past four Tournoi events, it was his daddy Kent (Guillory) that won that year. He caught 21 rings that year.”
The former Tournoi champion now spends his time raising and showing pigs, while spending as much time as possible with his children and grandchildren, including his granddaughter Harper Landreneau who was crowned 2013 Baby Tournoi Queen.
The days of riding horses and putting away cold beers with his friends at the track have been replaced by attending pageants and dance recitals of his granddaughters.
For Soileau, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Every year they still ask me to ride,” Mitch said. “The old timers always talk about getting some horses and we all run again. I tell them that they can run all they want but I ain’t running. My days in Tournoi are behind me.”