Donkeys (and mule) on parade

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

We were invited to walk with some friends as a "mini" entry in the Parada del Sol, which is from what I am told the oldest and largest "horse-only" (no motorized vehicles) parade in the United States (however there were some dog groups walking too LOL)

There were 6 minis pulling carts and 1 walking... and us - we took 7 mini horses, 2 donkeys and Eve the baby mule... and our friend Pam came with her jennet Pepper so there were 18 of us altogether. None of the three donkeys (or Eve of course being only 2 months old) had ever done a parade and they handled it like champs. I was very proud of my baby girls... i took Becky Lynn (2 1/2 year old spotted jennet) and Mary Ellen (1 1/2 year old gray-dun jennet). Thought I would share our pics:

Me with Becky Lynn and Mary Ellen (Eve and her mama Bella behind us)

the donkeys stuck close together during all the commotion during the long wait in the staging area...

and finally we were walking

Eve and Bella both had red bandanas and black strings with red and white beads in their manes courtesy of my mom (in the red shirt, black pants and white bandana - this woman color coordinates EVERYTHING!)

we were all tired at the end of the morning but we had fun!

 

[Marnie]

It looks like it must have been a great time, I've never been to such a parade. I absolutely love your little white sweetheart!

:

 

[iluvwalkers]

:aktion033: [SIZE=14pt]looks like fun! thanks for posting all the great pictures! Nikki[/SIZE]

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

WOW--what fun for everyone involved! Thanks for all the pictures. Corinne

 

[luvmycritters]

[SIZE=10pt]What wonderful fun!! :aktion033: How nice to have such trusting long ears!

: [/SIZE]

Lori

 

[babygoose]

Cute! Looks like a lot of fun.

I am curious if they decided to make children on horseback wear helmets? I heard they were going to in light of the accident at the Tucson rodeo parade last week.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

Cute! Looks like a lot of fun.
I am curious if they decided to make children on horseback wear helmets? I heard they were going to in light of the accident at the Tucson rodeo parade last week.

yes they did put out an e-mail at 3pm on friday, less than 24 hours notice, that any child under 12 mounted on a horse would be required to wear a helmet. our group organizer called them to ask about children in carts pulled by minis... and they said oh no, it's not necessary for minis. which made no sense to me at all... if a large team and wagon rammed into the back of a cart pulled by a mini, it would be just as bad if not worse than what happened in tucson, in my opinion. but hey, what do i know? thankfully there were no accidents in the Parada del Sol, although i did hear that a horse being loaded or unloaded or hitched earlier had an accident and impaled itself and had to be put down. i never heard any more than that so i am not sure what happened, it was well before we arrived i guess. we were thankful to make it through with no problems!! we did have one family of our group opt to pull out as of friday, they were afraid to participate with the tucson incident so fresh in their minds...

 

[RJRMINIS]

:aktion033: FUN FUN!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[JumpinJackFarm]

Looks like it was a warm beautiful warm day

:

Great pics!

 

[lilfoot]

[SIZE=14pt]

: I see several candidates

: for the photo contest here

[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14pt]I have never, ever seen a donkey in any parade we have ever [/SIZE]

participated in & would love to take my girls sometime

:

Wish they would load easily

:

Looks like a ton of fun!!!!!!!!!!

Gorgeous animals & I love the colour coordination thing too!

Sandy C.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

[SIZE=14pt]

: I see several candidates

: for the photo contest here

[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14pt]I have never, ever seen a donkey in any parade we have ever [/SIZE]

participated in & would love to take my girls sometime

:

Wish they would load easily

:

Looks like a ton of fun!!!!!!!!!!

Gorgeous animals & I love the colour coordination thing too!

Sandy C.

oh Sandy my girls don't load all that easily either... the horses yes, but not the donks! something to work on... as for Eve she is still small enough that my daughter just picked her up for loading and unloading LOL. and you are right, although i have to admit i didn't see everything, my two and Pam's were the only donkeys i saw in this parade... last month in wickenburg there was a little team pulling a wagon, so cute! we are trying to get into more parades and spread the donkey love

: . after walking this parade however, my legs are STILL killing me... but i am excited, i have a gal coming starting next week to teach me to drive, we are going to start with my pony so i have an excuse NOT to sell her (my husband says she is "useless" because although my kids broke her to ride, she is too small for me... but she is my blue-eyed pocket pony and i just love her to pieces, she is so friendly and no trouble and i told my husband to quit saying that, that she is one of those "special" ones that a person is so lucky to connect with out of all the animals that pass through our lives... and since my other "special" one died, he feels bad for me so i think i have this licked, but i do need her to have a "job" LOL - and i hope i have not given the wrong impression of my husband, he really is a GOOD guy

: just more sensible and realistic than i like to be sometimes...) - anyway after the pony i also hope to break at least the 3 jacks to drive, i heard that a breeding stud needs another job too so he doesn't go bonkers or stir crazy... the jennets will hopefully be too busy having foals to bother with driving!

i will tell my mom you like her color coordinating... having grown up with it, it drives me nuts

: ! although if you look closely you can see that all MY minis have matching halters and leads... in our RANCH COLORS. if it had been US that paid the entry fee, we would have worn our matching ranch shirts as well, but my friend requested western shirts and ours are polos.

so, i want to see pictures of you and yours in parades too!!! it's fun and the spectators are very appreciative... i heard a constant chorus of "aawwwww" the whole way down the street, and several people even hee-hawed at us! you will love it!!