THE PARADE THAT REALLY WASN’T
Our little community of Clarkes Beach was having it’s parade last Saturday. We took Skipper and Thunder in it last year and they were such a hit that the Rec Committee called me and asked if we would bring them again this year. Of course – we’re always up for some fun! I also asked my friend Katrina if she’d want to bring her mini (Yankee) out to join in the fun. He hadn’t done a parade yet so this was a perfect sized one for him to get trained in on.
Friday night I spent 4 hours decorating the carts, brushing and braiding ponies, and even trimming up bridle paths. Will miracles never cease?! Saturday morning Katrina pulled in around 8:30 and we decorated both her cart and her mini. Fronie was in charge of the hair department so you can imagine the jingles and bling on little Yankee – not to mention Katrina! Our plan was to trailer Yankee and Thunder up to the parking lot near the starting point, and me to go up in Skipper’s cart and meet them. Just as Skipper and I were pulling out the skies opened up and it POURED. But we kept going. The farther we went the dirtier Skipper looked because the dirt in his coat was being washed down his sides by the rain. Unbeknownst to me, his winkers were riding lower than normal due to the fact that his forelock was braided and he had a freshly trimmed bridle path. Who knew it would make such a difference? We were doing just fine until we got onto the main road that goes along Clarkes Beach. Then he decided that the turn arrows on the road were actually killer arrows waiting to gobble up a pony! He jumped so quickly to the side the first time that he nearly fell, and the jingle bells around his one ankle flew off. Nothing worse than blowing your bells before the parade! By this time we were in the area that had nothing BUT turn arrows so instead of getting wrapped around a telephone pole or becoming a hood ornament for the oncoming van, I got out and walked him the rest of the way to the meeting point. Funny how the transport trucks going by don’t faze him, but being able to see the arrows sent him into a tizzy! He’s usually fine with everything. Mind you, he doesn’t normally have a haircut or a nice bridle path. I guess those winkers really ARE there for a good reason!
We met up with the others in the parking lot and finished getting the other two ponies hitched. The parade was scheduled to step off at 10:30. Everyone was asked to line up at 10, but we don’t line up that early because with fresh ponies and all the commotion, the potential for disaster is quite large. So we were busily getting ready on our own when we heard the fire engines, ambulance, horns, etc. I looked at my watch and we still had about 10 minutes – I figured they were just warming up and getting the kids all riled up. Finally we were ready so we headed to the town hall, only to arrive to an empty parking lot! No worries – I knew the parade route so figured we could just catch up. When we started down the first road we couldn’t even SEE any of the other floats. Then the realization hit … WE WERE HAVING OUR OWN PARADE! I think our laughing was probably much louder than the actual parade. Thunder kept “fluffing” (as usual) but each time he did, Kayla would lean over to me and say, “I bet you it’s really Fronie!” We took a short cut and decided to “head them off at the pass” on the main road. While we waited for them some of the people that were there to watch the parade came over to see the ponies. The elderly folk really enjoyed it!
Finally it was our minute of fame. One of the floats stopped and we quickly took up our spot to go the last 100 yards of the parade. Just then, Skipper saw another arrow. I quickly jumped out of the cart and then ran beside him for the rest of the way. Word of advice – don’t sprint when you are wearing your barn boots. Talk about shin splints this week!
The ponies were a huge hit in the parking lot. The Sparkes all came over and had turns sitting in the carts and petting the soaking wet ponies. Afterwards we headed back to our start point, loaded up the little ones and then Skipper and I headed home too. We took the long way where there weren’t any pony-eating arrows.
After putting the ponies away we humans went into the house to have some lunch and quite a few laughs about our adventure. Katrina had to head home so we all went out to load Yankee. How many people does it take to load one mini? Only one – but it takes 3 more to watch. Rosie came out with us too. She had one of her bones that she had stolen from Fronie’s dog outside the barn door and when Yankee came out he put his head down to see what it was. Rosie gave a huge bark to warn him to stay away from her bone. I really think she thought he was a dog!
The unfortunate part of all this is that the weather was so wet and our hands were so busy that we didn’t have a chance to take pictures. I got a few snaps of Fronie getting Yankee ready in the barn. And I THOUGHT I’d taken a few snaps at the start point with my new phone, only to realize that I was pushing the wrong button. VERY SAD !!!!
So that’s our little adventure. We’re going to give it another try next year and see how we make out!
Tue Dec 21, 2010 2:40 pm
