 DSC03314, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. "This picture brings up an interesting debate among elephant men. Being lazy, I always loaded headed the other direction and walked counter clockwise, placing me on the inside and walking the shorter distance. I have been told by several parties that the above arrangement is best since it allows you to see if all the riders are loaded and secure however this attendant is behind the elephant. I see that the camels are headed clockwise as well, a beast with which I am unfamiliar." Buckles |
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Cirque Des Fetes #11
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11 comments:
Bill Morris walks Cora in this direction, as he figures, in a seasons time, he might loose an extra 3 lbs. himself. Wishful thinking!
I agree with bUCKLES as I never felt comfortable on the off side of the elephant, nor was the elephant comfortable with me being there.and if you walk clockwise on the left or inside you have to duck arounfd the platform each time. I guess it is easier to load when they face clockwise. Try to figure this crap out.
being lazy myself I would rather walk to the inside but I found out its easrier for the elephant (shorter for her) and i can keep the public off the ring curb
Hey,when i first saw some one else going counter clockwise,i said to my dad why do they go the other way.He said i never new how others did it, cause he was not around or any elephant people or cirus people.So he said if you get on a horse from the right side you must get on all animals from the right side!!So be it dads always right,we still go clockwise but after we leave the ramps we go around to the other side to get away from the BIG QUESTIONS ,you know whats her name,its minnie,did you say vinnie,thats right vinnie.I do like to watch the people get on and off, you can get trained to leave the ramps by the clicking of the snap on the safety chain,as well as the elephant.
Tim Commerford
Me and my crew of goofs walked counter clockwise at CW. We also loaded the big people towards the front on George because of his round back. Almost made the howdaw fall off afew times someone big leaned too far back on the bars if they rode in the back.
Mr. Commeford, Buckles, Col Herriott, or any of you other animal guru's out there can you please clarify something for me, an aerialists and acrobat who somehow ended up doing a lot of animal work in my less than stellar career? I tried to figure out here at home how I would ever get on a horse from the right side. It just did not work. I never did a fork jump or jump up to a bareback horse from the right side. I never led an elephant from thr right side. However if I was doing a forward twisting sommersault I used my right arm to lead and thus twisted to the left. In backwards twisting stuff I still led with my right arm but this results in twisting to the left - or so it seems.
I've never seen a bareback horse run clockwise, every elephant act I recall enter the ring going counter clockwise, and except for some patterns in liberty type acts, I don't recall a clockwise movement. Am I missing something in trying to figure out this clockwise elephant ride? I'm not sure it really makes a difference but the photo did seem strange once the topic was brought up.
I'm hesitant to say this is going to bother me as it just seems as if counter clockwise is the way it is done for whatever reason and I haven't a clue as to why. I never thought about it before and now I wonder.
It is obvious I have far too much time on my hands to ponder such deep thoughts.
Gary, you and Jewel used to let me ride George between shows at Circus World up behind the ears ahead of the howda (howdee per Rex) or whatever you callthe thing and I guess you, Jewel, and Buckles started my fascination with exotic animals. Thanks for what you taught me and later helped me make a living.
Warren, tie-down calf ropers after they catch the calf, dismount from the right side and remount on the right side of the horse. Keeps them from having to run under or over the rope once they catch.
Might add that Jewell had nothing to do with the elephants at CW. He did work for Hugo in winter quarters for a while. Buckles put me in charge of the ride to keep his crew from having to do it, and terrorizing the girls that loaded the elephants.
Gary, I just have some vague memory of one of those days when there were more employees in the park at Circus World than visitors and Jewell standing at the ride and being bored to tears, him leading the elephant so I could ride. Maybe not. As for the clockwise/counter clockwise/left/right thing, I never thought about rodeo but now that you point it out, it does make sense for a roper to use the right side. Since I was never a calf roper, even back when I was a kid on my dad's ranch, I never thought about it in the context of this discussion.
Moving back to the circus, is there some reason other than tradition that elephants are typically walked with the handler on the left, bareback and cossack horses run counterclockwise, and if I remeber, most liberty acts work primarily counter clockwise with only some patterns involving clockwise movement. I also seems that waltzes, my mind is blank and I can't remember the term for the "waltz in twos" seem to always be to the left, resulting in a counter clockwise turn.
It is probably not even important why this is but this topic really struck a nerve with me because of its detail that you never think about.
Having loaded and led--throwing riders up is easiest when rider's right leg goes up, the average joe has ridden a bike or a horse so have muscle memory for it
greyears
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