The Steeple Chase is certainly not a quiet circle game.

The first thing that you will need to do is get everyone to practice slapping their hands on their thighs to impersonate a galloping horse sound.

Once this has been mastered you can introduce “the name of your school Gold Cup”. You can elaborate that this is the most important horse race of the year.

The instructor / teacher will start the gallop with everyone copying and getting into the same rhythm. When a jump is reached the instructor / teacher will raise their hands high with a pause from the galloping to signify a leap through the air. If a double jump is reached it would be gallop / high hands / gallop / high hands gallop etc. The leader can introduce a whole host of jumps such as a “splash” water jump.

During The Steeple Chase the leader can signify going round a corner by leaning to the right or left. The whole group must copy everything that happens. They can even swerve to avoid fallen riders!

An excellent addition to this activity is commentary. This is a great way to get students public speaking and brings a whole new dimension to the game.

For example: And they are off,  charging down the first furlong and heading towards the first jump….and we already have a fallen rider they looked a bit wobbly from the start etc etc.