A Guides' Horseshoe Ceremony

Traditionally Guide units open and/or close their meetings with a "Horseshoe." There are many ways of assembling into a horseshoe formation ; this is simply one way of doing it.

First of all, line the girls up in two lines of equal length (or nearly, if you have an odd number of guides) at one end of the room, facing towards the centre.

Call them to "Attention!" then give the order "Company into Horseshoe - Quick march!"

The two girls at the front of the line (numbers 1) stay where they are and "mark time" (march on the spot) the next in line (numbers 2) walk round behind them and take their place alongside them and continue to mark time, the next two (numbers 3) walk round behind THEM and so on, with the lines gradually curving to form a horseshoe with the last ones nearest the Guiders who are standing at the "open" end of the horseshoe.

				1	1
			2			2
		3					3
	4							4
	5							5
	6							6
	7							7
	8							8
	9							9
Guiders, YLs etc.

When the horseshoe is complete, and the girls are all still marking time, give the order "Company - Halt" and with any luck (and lots of practice) they will all stop more or less together and your horseshoe will be ready for whatever you want to do next.

For an alternative way of getting into a horseshoe, click here