We started outside the paddock, then got to work in the arena. And now we’re working on some moves for our next fundraiser. We had our three helpers on the centre line about eight metres apart. We rode a slalom through them catching and tossing the ribbon to each person as we circled him/her. Our camera lady was on the centerline so our most orchestrated sequence went without photos, sniff! We were able to bounce the ball off the arena floor (while riding) and sometimes it actually got to the other rider. Other times it hit a rut and went off at its own interesting angle. Once it went under Zelador’s feet and got stuck there as we were walking. He deftly kicked the ball with a hind foot, sending it to a helper. The fundraiser is October 28th. Our mantra? Practice, practice, practice!

The three balls, three ribbon sticks and four ribbons are here. Bill and I just spent a good chunk of an hour playing with the equipment outside in front of the house. We were very skilled at putting knots in the ribbons. Bill put all those years studying Physics to good work and analyzed that problem. We found a technique that seems to work.

Basically, we need to slow down and let the ribbon be a ribbon. Tossing the ribbons was hysterical. For quite some time we really depended on a tail wind and Mother Nature cooperated. We sort of figured out that challenge, too. The balls bounce gloriously on the pavement. Next, we’ll try our new tricks in the arena then add the horses. We’ve figured out a way to create a ribbon circle from horseback that a second rider can travel through. Works great standing on the driveway…
We’re considering cutting the second red ribbon and seeing how a ribbon shorter than six metres works. We had a great time tossing and not catching the ribbons. Wondering if the stick and our non-catching ability just might dictate that we throw from the horse to a person on the ground. Don’t need to be hitting the horses with sticks flying perpendicular to them.

As yet another ribbon went up in the air and not very far forward Bill announced, “You know who would be good at tossing ribbons? A fly fisherman!!!” Ann and Bud both fly fish…

Bill’s already put together a ball bouncing sequence. Because we have three balls he envisions all three in the air at one time…yep, works well on pavement!