Ringmasters Duties

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31195, 20 October 1966, Page 25

Ringmasters Duties

The main ring will be a focal point of the show .

during the Saturday. Besides the usual horse competitions, several other special attractions will be featured during the day, some specially arranged for the centennial show. These attractions will include: The finals of the sheep dog trials A parade of draught horses. A parade by a bullock team and waggon. A vintage machinery parade. A parade around the ring by a huntsman with hounds.

Then the climax of the show—the grand par-

ade. The finals of the F.E.I. jumping events will follow. The worries of coping with the exacting duties of keeping the programme to schedule falls on the shoulders of the ringmaster, Mr Alec. Mclntosh, of Flaxton, a former president of the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association and fat lamb buyer in private life. Mr Mclntosh is well qualified to supervise the activities of the ring, for he has been ringmaster since the' position was

Introduced a few years ago. to co-ordinate and keep the programme up to time. A former chairman of the Association’s light horse committee, Air Mclntosh has a background that enables him to appreciate the difficulties likely to be encountered In the ring. “While not as complex as the Christchurch show with events spread Over several days, the Rangiora show gets through a very large programme at its usual one-day show, coping with as much as some North Island shows handle in two days,” said Mr Mclntosh.

“It is a big job,” with a lot of worries, but Mr Mclntosh lias shown he can meet the demands and handling the programme for the two-day show this year will probably be no more difficult than in other years. “It is a work of art keeping them up to schedule so that everything is ready for the grand parade to proceed on time,” said Mr Mclntosh. There is only one person to blame if the show lags, because the ringmaster has complete control. He is answerable only to the president (Mr J. S. T. McGiffert). “It is my job to ensure that the marshalls get everyone moving from tlie stalls and pavilions in time to stream orderly on to the arena for the grand parade at 2 p.m. The marshalls know their jobs, so I don’t expect trouble there.” A breeder and exhibitor of hacks, Mr Mclntosh was prominent In forming the Rangiora branch of the Christchurch Pony Club and was its chairman and instructor for a period. He is a member of the Brackenfield hunt. Air Alclntosh will be assisted this year by a “clerk of the course,” Air Reg. Youngman, who will play an important part in getting the individual competitors in the horse events in to the various competition rings on time.