Dec 6, 2009 - Parade was Awesome!

Friday night went great! Besides being in the 20 degree range, it was a lot of fun for everyone. Lily did wonderful and I think the waiting to get going was hardest for her. It’s pretty awesome watching horses get set into parade mode. I probably could’ve gone through the parade without holding the reigns once we were moving. I was pretty impressed with her, especially considering that for a good 3 blocks, we had a guy with these giant strobing light stick for sale and he was walking exactly our speed, right at Lily’s head area. I kept waiting for her to jump away from them, but she never did.

I had 2 times where she spooked on me before the parade started. We were standing, just waiting to get going. On my right side was a chain link fence with lots of city cars and equipment in it. Lily kept eyeing it very cautiously. We were sitting there, and I didn’t notice that some people came walking past us on the right. The minute they got in view she jumped to the left. She kept trying to go and she nearly become the hook ornament for a small truck. I calmed her, and then backed her back up to where we were. After that I kept a vigilant watch on people walking near us to give her a warning about it. But even then, one other time, for no reason, she just jumped to the left. This one was not near as extreme as the first, and I just backed her up and back in place again. I think there was something about that city storage area that she just did not like. Other than that, things were easy as can be.

My friend Roger came down, he brought his mare Jessie, who is 17.2 hands, and his big boy Jack, who is around 19 hands. Luckily I got to be in the lead, so all the kids were amazed at my big horse. J And I didn’t hear anyone call her a Clydesdale (which was a first). It was a great time, and there were around 8-10 wagons. I saw the spotted Mules Kim talked about, and they look like Dalmatian dogs. Very pretty!

Since I was controlling the wagon, I didn’t get any pictures, but friends did. As soon as I get some, I’ll pass them along.

One of the great things about being in parades is getting exposure to the community. As a result of the parade, this Saturday night I’m giving hay rides for a private event in Greenville on Park Street. Should be lots of fun for me!

I should also note that there was a woman there who rode her shire in the parade. I went up and saw the horse. Soooo gorgeous! It was an awesome horse!! I really like the look of the shire!