I am receiving instructions before the parade.

The first three Saturdays of December is parade season around here.  On the first Saturday, Navasota hosted its annual Christmas Parade.  It is different than the other parades because it occurs at night.  A parade in the dark is pretty with Christmas lights on floats, but on horseback it is not the most fun.  Horses have much different vision than humans do.   Shadows can easily spook a horse.  Combine shadows, darkness, lights, crowds, sirens on police cars and fire trucks, a parade at night can potentially lead to disaster.  An uneventful parade with these circumstances relies on horse/rider trust.  If you don’t have your horse’s trust, then you will struggle to complete the ride.

All three parades occur on paved roads.  Horses’ hooves were designed to ride on grass, through pastures, and other natural places.  Their hooves, even shoed, can easily slip on pavement.  Last year one of the horses in our group slipped while turning onto a different road.  The horse fell on the pavement.  It unfortunately crashed down on its rider’s leg.  In true cowgirl form, she did not cry.  She walked it off for a moment and then mounted her horse again to finish the ride.  Luckily nothing was broken.

She is an experienced rider and her horse slipped and fell.  It can happen to the best of us.  You have to be careful when riding your horse on pavement.  You can have your horse shoed with non-slip shoes, but they are very expensive.  If you can afford this type of shoe, then you can ride with confidence on the street.  Horses can even lope on the roadways.

The Posse in the Plantersville Parade.

Our second parade was in Plantersville.  It rained the entire time.  This presented another problem: wet pavements.  The street was even more slippery.  Luckily, the parade happened in the morning so we could see where we were going and on what we were stepping.  Nobody in the whole parade had a problem with his/her horse.

This Saturday we will be in a parade in Bedias.  I have never participated in this parade so I do not know what to expect.  If you happen to be near Bedias Saturday morning, you can come see me ride Ladd in the parade.  I will be riding with the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sheriff Mounted Posse.  See you there!