Ring Riders

Today we decided to take the bus to Grijpskerke, a nearby village. We had seen this statue of a ring rider in Middelburg near the Roosevelt Center. A colleague of Corwin's told him about the Ring Rider Competition in Grijpskerke. This little town is about 15 minutes away by bus and has about a 1,200 people who live there. When we got off the bus we noticed the molen (windmill) that was right in the town.

 We had no trouble finding the action. We just followed the trail of horse droppings to the center of the town. Along the way we passed under a rope that was hung over the street that had a ring hanging from it. (This picture was taken during the race and you can see the white, blurry stick just about to spear the ring.)

Beautifully decorated horses and buggies were everywhere and lots of people in traditional Dutch dress.

The road around the town square was full of horses, buggies, and people. There was a platform with a banner and a board that gave the current standings.

Since it was midday break. The town square was crowded with people who were discussing how the competition was going and just having a good time.

All of the harnesses had been removed from the horses and they were eating.

The food choices for people were hamburgers, pork sandwiches, hot dogs, and ham or cheese on a bun.

And of course there was beer.

The children were the cutest and there were a lot of them.

The competition had started at 9:30 and the total time listed on the program was 2 1/2 hours in the morning, a lunch break, and then 2 or 3 more hours in the afternoon. Just before 1pm, they began to put the harnesses back on the horses and hook them up to the buggies again.

And then it was time to get the people into the buggies and line them up.

The route was in a U-shape and began at the village square. It then went to the edge of town (about 3 blocks), took a turn for about 2 blocks to the left, and then returned to the center of the town. The men drove the horse and the women carried a brightly painted stick to spear the ring when the buggy passed under it. In this picture you can see the ring above and just to the left of the horse's ear.

We found a program for the event that indicated that last years winner had scored 68 rings. There are 5 rings in each round. All but one of the teams we watched were able to successfully spear the ring. When they did, the woman quickly pointed the stick down toward the street and the ring slid off.  

 

Got it!

There were men at each ring location who picked the ring up and put a new one on the holder in the middle of the street before the next buggy came along.

And of course wherever there are horses, there has to be some way to clean the streets.



We talked to a lady who told us that for the regular competition all five of the rings in the route are the same size. But at the end of the regular number of runs if there is a tie, then they put smaller and smaller rings up until one of the teams wins. In the program we noticed that some years the number of rings scored was 80 or more.