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In the past Belgian draught horses were used by Zeeland farmers to work at their fields (e.g. to plough). When the work was done some Zeeland farmers practised a sport with use of those horses. This sport is called, in Dutch, 'ringrijden' (tilting at the ring). 'Ringrijden' means that a farmer is sitting on his (relative) huge horse without use of saddle and stirrups. While the horse is galloping at full speed, the farmer has to catch a ring with a lance. The ring is placed in a holder and hangs, by means of a rope between two poles, in the air. The farmer who catches the biggest number of rings in a certain number of rounds is the winner. Nowadays 'ringrijden' is mostly a folklore sport, primary to show the tourists in Zeeland this tradition of the past. At my 'Middelburg 15, De ringrijder' image I've showed you the sculpture of a 'ringrijder'. At this image, however, I show you a real one in action. PS: this sport is not only fun for the farmers and tourists, but for the horses as well. They seem to very glad they can leave their dull stables and are enjoying running (and getting attention of the tourists) very much.
♥PJ