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Horses and Parades
Hi, My daughter has had her TB Gelding for about a month now, he is a 3 year old. My daughter wants to put him into a parade with two other horses he does not know, (We her parents feel uncomfortable about a parade situation due to his age and newness to my daughter) She just can't seem to see how dangerous this might be for her, the horse or the public. The horse seems calm for his age, but I think more training and time doing shows would be the way to go.
My question is to you; What do you think about the parade idea, the age of the horse (the whole general idea of a parade) etc.? How do you train a horse for a parade, is it a trial and error, take a chance type thing for the horse to learn? I don't know.
Thanks, Cathy
Hi Cathy,
What a wonderful question although, I do not blame you for being concerned. It is true the noise and commotion that goes on during a parade can be very frightening to a horse of any age. How old is your daughter and at what level is her horsemanship? What kind of relationship does your daughter have with him as to how good is their bond and connection? Does your daughter have any experience in schooling or training horses? These things make a difference.
Even a young horse can be brought fairly safely into a parade situation and do well if a few things are in place. A very experienced and accomplished rider who knows how to calm a nervous horse is paramount. If your daughter's horse is going along with horses he knows from the same barn, that helps a lot. If he is kind of on his own and there with no familiar 'faces' near him, Êthat will make him more nervous. A three year old horse is very 'green' no mater what. Even a seemingly calm horse in familiar surroundings can be very different in new and noisy surroundings. To acclimate a horse to something new such as a parade, the horse should go with his horse 'buddies' (preferably horses already used to parades) and be ridden by a very accomplished rider. The horse should be exposed to as many 'parade like' sights and sounds as possible before the day of the parade. The horse should be comfortable riding on roadways with cars and trucks going by. Riding on streets means traffic and trucks and slippery footing. Horses do it all the time, but there are inherent risks. Do as much preparation as possible before the event. Expose the horse to a few things and see how it does. If new things make it really nervous, don't do it. If it seems to handle new and noisy things OK, well then perhaps it's a good shot.
Would there be experienced and competent supervision going along with your daughter's group in the parade? That would make a big difference also.
I guess it's a tough call for you. It is very risky for a novice rider on their own. I took my 5 year old step daughter in a parade one year on a calm old mare a baby could ride through a car wash, and that is about the way it was. If there is really good and knowledgeable mounted supervision and she was going with a group of horses and humans that knew each other and she is a pretty decent young rider, then it probably would be OK. Good luck and let me know how it all goes. Where is the parade? Is it a Memorial Day parade?
Aloha, Franklin