WATCH: Ringsteken event in downtown Ponoka a crowd-pleaser

Competitors must keep up a good pace as they attempt to catch three small rings on their wooden ‘guns’, however, galloping isn’t allowed. (Photos by Emily Jaycox/Ponoka News)

Spectators lines the street on Chipman Avenue for the Alberta Friesian Horse Association’s fourth annual downtown Ponoka Ringsteken (Dutch ring riding) event in Ponoka on July 16.

In the Middle Ages the Friesian became known as a war and plow horse. Ring riding was a battle exercise in which the ring represented the enemies’ left eye.

Originally ring riding was strictly meant for the elite, but gradually the practice turned into a folkloric tradition.

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