Formation Riding Performance

[Kiralynn]

The riding team is ready for its first performance. We will be appearing at Ales and Tales at the Horsefields on October 8th! It is time to decide what events we should have. Please respond with your availability and ideas.

I would like to see the event include fireworks, a horse show, a short horse parade, and our riding demonstration. We could use a lot of volunteers for paying music and launching fireworks.

I can come up with some prizes for the horse show, but donations are suggestions are always welcome.

So, what do you think? How can we make the formation riding event a success?


On a side note, we are always hoping for new recruits. We'd love to add more riders so that we can perform with two full units. It looks a lot more impressive and it's even more fun!

Head over to http://windyacres.mymiddleearth.com/?page_id=1806 for more info.

[High Life]

Like Kira, weeknights would be best for me, with plenty of advanced notice. Mid-day on a weekend would be the worst. Also, my work schedule is about to pick up dramatically, starting in early October. The later in the year it gets, the harder it will be for me to get time off, even weekends.

I'd been wondering if it wouldn't be easiest to incorporate a performance into Ales and Tales? Though that would involve changing the location at the last minute, so maybe not.

[Byrcha]

I think Wednesdays are currently the best time slot. We've been practicing on Wednesdays, so it (should) be easy for team members to remember. Also, some of the recent horse races have been on Wednesdays, so another horse-themed event on a Wednesday should not confuse fans either. Note that CSTM has an advertised event for Weds. Oct. 3 though.

I can arrange a horse/riding-themed OW set for the occasion with a little lead-time. We could also do some open-mic music beforehand, as folks gather.

By "horse show" do you mean an audience vote for best outfit? Should we pick some kind of theme or guideline?

Or...

Alternatively, as High Life suggests, we could have A&T at the Horse Fields some week, and have the performance riding team be one of the scheduled acts. The rest of the event could be the usual A&T format: open-mic, OW opening set, scheduled acts, announcements, more acts, OW closing set. That way, the riding team wouldn't have to 'carry' the entire event or hold the audience. We could ask folks to show up on their favorite steed (though that might cut into the dancing). However, this would mean having the performance on a Monday evening (between 9:30-11:00) -- is that do-able for riding team members?

[Kiralynn]

veteranlurker wrote:

Note that CSTM has an advertised event for Weds. Oct. 3 though. I can arrange a horse/riding-themed OW set for the occasion with a little lead-time. We could also do some open-mic music beforehand, as folks gather. By "horse show" do you mean an audience vote for best outfit? Should we pick some kind of theme or guideline?

Good to know about the CSTM event, thanks!

A horse show... a mounted fashion contest. I think that a theme would be a great idea, as long as it's not Halloween costumes or ring wraiths/evil guys. What do you think the theme should be?

I'd also like to see a horse parade of some of the rare breeds... just the rare ones to keep it short... with matching outfits.

I'd love to have equestrian-themed music, that would be wonderful.

I think it's a great idea to try to have an A&T at the horsefields, if the organizers are willing.
Or... we could map out our routine for Overhill or an area by the Last Bridge?
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Ales_and_tales

[Andeon]

well Kiralynn, it may be a tad late - I live in CA so we hear about these "seasons", but rarely see them ourselves - but if you're looking for a theme that is seasonal but not necessarily halloween-ish/spooky, you might go with autumn/turning of the leaves theme - there are (so I hear) some really spectacular colors and scenes that go along with the turning of the leaves, and IIRC, there are some locations in middle earth in perpetual autumn as well...

anyway, it's an idea...

**EDIT** just a quick note - something occured to me - the existence of similar autumn-ish themed festivals from other countries as well - not sure how well some would mesh with the LOTRO theme, but it's possible you could find an intriguingly different british or otherwise european fall festival, with unexpected color and outfit themes, or, if you're willing, even far more exotic countries - a quick google of "autumn in other countries" turned up some intriguing possibilities, although again, they may/may not mesh well with the generally british demeanor of middle earth

[High Life]

Along Andeon's theme - Oktoberfest!!!

I could make either Monday or Wednesday nights; the sooner the better for me though. I think we need to ask the team tonight what they'd think about shifting locations, if A&T is a real possibility.

[Kiralynn]

Shall we aim for Monday, October 8th at Ales and Tales, if Lennidhren is willing to move the location to the Horsefields?

We'll need everyone on the team there. Not only will we need four riders (plus backups in case of emergency), we'll also need several people with lutes who can play the music, and other folks with fireworks.

I like the idea of an Octoberfest theme. Would we like to make it just a Harvest theme, or do we want everyone concentrating on beer? :)

[Anthemisi]

As part of a&t, there is music for sure... The point I wonder is, how many minutes would be whole formation riding show?
People would love watch this seperately, and before and after the horse show they may perform. Or instead of taking acts of individuals, OW may supply music. All depends the length of riding show...
That's unusual demonstration for people of A&T. To lessen mistakes we should rehearse whole event, may be, including acts.
I'm sure there will be enough fireworks to scare horses!

[Kiralynn]

The routine is 5 minutes and 20 seconds long. It will take the team about 2 minutes to set up and begin. It takes another minute to walk off the field with the shooting of a few fireworks.

The team has been rehearsing for many weeks, so they can be called up and perform fairly quickly. I don't think we'd need to rehearse the whole A&T, just know the basic order of events.

If the A&T has an equestrian theme, we can also do a short horse parade to show off some of the more interesting and rare breeds. That would take about 10 minutes.

We could also do a quick horse show (mounted fashion contest) and let the A&T audience vote for the winners. That usually takes 30-45 minutes. The show could have a theme, such as Harvest or Octoberfest.

[Byrcha]

We should enlist the OW musicians to play the performance riding musical selection, since they're already in a raid. Riders can be in the same raid, to keep everyone informed. Hopefully we can add the song to the LMB playlist so that everyone can easily get it beforehand.

In terms of order of events, perhaps we could do the horse-'acts' following the usual mid-show announcement of upcoming events (Lennidhren usually does this). Then she or Kiralynn could segue and announce the riding acts. This would allow the riders to get organized during the announcements.

Perhaps we could have the horse parade (LMBers showing off rare horses) first, followed by the performance riding piece, then the horse show (audience vote). OW could play background music during either section, but maybe that is a distraction.

I like the idea of timing it out such that the horse parade, performance riding and horse show end the A&T event. So, that means ending at 11:00. It seems wisest to just cut out the usual OW end-of-show "dance set" for this one. Probably fewer acts in general, maybe a shorter OW set to open the show also? Just depends on how long the overall horsey portion of the show projects to be.

Since the performance riders want to do a practice run prior to the show, the usual Nibbles and Nobs pre-show should be held away from the Horsefields; presumably at the Bree Festival Grounds. Then someone can wrangle folks into a riding procession down to the Horsefields for the show (i.e., the first part: OW and arranged acts). We may still have trouble with people showing up at the Horsefields for N&N during practice (it is on the way to the festival grounds from Bree), but this probably can't be avoided.

[Anthemisi]

Short horse parade sounds great! And timing allows to take some acts... For horse themed A&T, as Byrcha said, closing with horse parade would be wisest. And I'm volunteer to be stage menager, if no one else wants the job, whenever we make this real, week doesn't mind for me generally.

[Andeon]

heh...when someone mentioned oktoberfest, first thing that came to my mind was carefully coordinated "drunken" horse formations...I'm not sure how you'd go about managing it, but it would still have to be carefully coordinated, but APPEAR as if the entire formation as a group was drunkenly weaving across the field...

*snicker*...it may never happen, but just the idea will keep me chuckling for the next hour

[Kiralynn]

Team members, please update your list of horses by posting changes here -
http://windyacres.mymiddleearth.com/?page_id=1894
Thank you!


I recommend that we use these horses for the parade:
Cremello + Perlino (PAX fun!)
Inn League + Harvest-brew (Oktoberfest theme)
Cave-claw + Steed of Night (Halloween theme)
Winged Herald + Noble Grey (Exclusives)

It would be nice to have a matching outfit for each steed as we parade it. That would mean having 5 total cosmetic slots in use.

Between fireworks, playing music and parading horses, the team members who don't get to perform the routine will still have a lot to do!

[Apis]

I likely won't be able to practice with the team in the foreseeable future, because I have choir rehearsals every Wednesday night now. But if you are going to play at an A&T on a Monday night, I would be happy to assist with the music. I still have the Evendim pony and the uniform stored in a cosmetic slot, if you want someone who matches the team.

I'm not sure I completely understand how the horse parade fits in, but Apis does also have the Perlino and Winged Herald ponies, if those are needed.

I like the idea of including it with Ales & Tales. There will be an audience already, so you don't have to convince people to show up for a separate event, since this is a new activity that's not so established yet in the community. Also I think it's nice to have something different going on, to break up the evening - like at the recent anniversary A&T, when we went inside for the middle and then came back out to a slightly different location. It's good for variety.

So anyhow I'll make sure to attend that evening - Oct 8 or whatever other date works out. I can't wait to see you all perform. =D

[Kiralynn]

Lennidhren has confirmed that A&T will be moved to the Horsefields for October 8th! We'll be performing!

So... perhaps we can help the stage manager come up with a specific list and order of events?