Saturday, October 29, 2011

Rock star parade horse

I rode Dixie in the Nevada Day parade in Carson City this morning. I hitched the trailer last night so I only had to get up at 5:30. It was 22 degrees and pitch dark and I really doubted my sanity. I had to wake my horse up to load her!

She was awesome. Totally amazing. We got to the parking area at the finish at 7:30 and I mounted up at 8. At 8:30 half of my group slowly made our way to the start line then chilled out til the 10 am start. It took about an hour before she decided to stand still and doze off, and she did skitter sideways once when a float shaped like a giant cannon went by us, but in general she was pretty chilled out about all the stuff we saw and heard today. There was a mass hot air balloon race/flight/ascension thing at about 8. Then two WWII jeeps got unloaded from a trailer, and one pull-started the other in the parking lot. The cannons went off at 10, and shortly after that the fighter jets did a flyby. We had to thread our way past a couple of marching bands to get to our starting spot. The Nevada Democrats had a crazy looking animatronic / inflatable donkey on their float, and Dixie gave it a long hard look. Two small kids, momentarily unattended, ran directly behind her throwing rocks at each other and she just swiveled an ear back to track them. Vendors pulling handcarts full of toys, spraying bubbles from bubble machines, were working their way against the direction of the parade, and she didn't even blink. One of the other horses in our group was having a Very Bad Day and kept backing into other horses, spinning and crashing into other horses, and generally being on the brink of a meltdown. Dixie just moved out of his way when I asked and didn't pick up any of his nervousness. I even let kids come pet her at the trailer after the ride. She was so calm about the whole adventure that she never even broke a sweat!

At first I didn't want to take pictures because I wanted both hands in case I needed to control her. Then when the parade started I was too busy waving at kids to bother with pics. I know, in internet terms that means today did not happen, but I was entirely too busy having fun!

I have no idea why Nevada makes such a big deal about the day they entered the US, when none of the other states I've lived in have even noted it. But I think it's incredibly endearing :) Everybody loves a parade and a day off work.

11 comments:

  1. Okay. I would have flipped out at a lot of that stuff. ME GO NUTSO. Running kids. Robot balloon donkeys. All of it. Sounds like you have a GREAT pony.

    Though, you know, it never happened.

    Bill

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  2. I am VERY impressed with all the sights and sounds Dixie experienced at the parade! I also think it is endearing that Nevada celebrates their official "day."

    I am jealous, I've always wanted to ride in a parade. :)

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  3. Heh. One of the people I was riding with said "Oh did you know there's a despooking clinic next month?" and I thought "why on earth would I need a despooking clinic after today??"

    It was super fun! I love parades - when I was a little kid that was the only time I got to see horses. Always big slobbery prancing TWHs. I get such a kick out of riding my big pretty TWH in parades and waving at shy little kids now. :)

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  4. That is so cool! Dixie is now officially a rock solid horse. Congratulations to you both.

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  5. What a good girl Dixie was! I think Lilly would have passed out from sheer terror. Other than the weather, it sounds like a blast! :)

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  6. Parades are both terrifying and exhilerating. The people watching the parade have NO IDEA what is being asked of the horses who are riding in the parade.

    I'm glad Dixie nailed it like a rock star.

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  7. Parade=training opportunity! :-)
    Glad she was a trooper. And I agree with you....wasn't the parade a full on despooking clinic?!?

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  8. Your girl has come a long long way. That has got to make you feel proud!
    ~E.G.

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  9. Sounds like Dixie did fantastic!

    I didn't realize any state bothered to celebrate when they became a state, every year. In SD the counties/towns usually celebrate their bi-centennial and centennial, but that's about it.

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  10. I rode a Forest Service horse in a parade once. I was afraid he was going to freak out... well he did but he kept it all inside. it was fun. Glad it was fun and Dixie was good!
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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  11. I'm only catching up now and the internet ate this reply once already. Here we go again!

    What a fabulous job you two did! I'm so impressed and thrilled for you. What a journey! We're told that Gene makes a good parade horse, but the only thing is that he doesn't like elephants. We haven't tested that yet nor plan to.

    Nevada Day is a hoot! I live in the number one, first, no one before us state, and no one cares outside of putting it on the license plates. There really isn't much else to put on there, I guess.

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