4 FOCUS - JULY 2017 PORT PERRY STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING Look for us on Water Street Port Perry at Joe Fowler Park beside the baseball diamonds. 905-244-5366 • Facebook - PortPerrySUP • portperrysup.acuityscheduling.com Classes starting at $35 or bundle them up and SAVE! Early morning lessons and rentals available ... weather permitting. LOVE IT! You’re going to Owner/Manager: Chris MacLeod BOARDS FOR SALE STARTING AT $999 One of Caitlin’s specialties is the Balloon Race. “A balloon’s suspended from a pole, placed in the middle of an open field,” she explains. “It’s placed low to the ground, so there’s some of that ‘bending over’ that Leam was talking about where riding a smaller horse is important. You have to pop the balloon. “Six teams ride at once, each to a different pole. Just like you’ve seen in a running relay, the first rider hands off to the next, and so forth. Points are accumulated based on timing. As you’d expect, this requires multiple heats, and those are spaced out be- cause the horses and riders need rest in between.” Leam enjoys the Agility Race. “It’s a test,” he says, “of coordination be- tween horse and rider.” “There are six buckets in the mid- dle of the field, placed in a straight line, close enough that an average per- son can step among them. You have to get off the horse, still holding onto the reins, of course, and run along the top of the buckets while your horse keeps pace. When you’ve covered all six, you get back onto the horse and meet the next member of your team in or- der to hand off the baton. All the time, you’re working against the clock.” Logic would suggest that such a partnership between rider and mount would evolve over time, and that practice with the same horse would produce the best results. Ordinarily, the two competitors say, this would Teens Ride Proud (continued from page 3) Leam riding Ronnie. Caitlin on Canadian Maple placing the ball on the pylon. ...................... Please turn to page 6