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Post by Jenni on Dec 4, 2014 13:08:06 GMT -5
The kids and I are joining some other friends to ride in a christmas parade this Saturday. One of my friends lives just on the outskirts of the town it is in so we are parking at her place to get ready and riding to the start of the parade. It's an evening parade so I ordered battery operated lights to attach to our horses and ponies. Not sure yet how we're going to do that but they were just delivered to my house so I can try it out tonight. Any ideas would be appreciated.
I have some jingle bells to attach to my horse but I have to buy a couple new Santa hats so we can each have one and some tinsel or garland to complete the ensemble. It'll be pretty cold - high is predicted to be 30 during the day and low that night 19 so we'll have to be bundled up - I have some small red lap blankets that I plan to add some velcro to in order to wrap around us on the saddle. I don't think the parade route is that long and if it's too bad we can take a side street detour back to my friend's house.
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Post by ride4fun on Dec 4, 2014 13:32:53 GMT -5
Helmets would be a good spot for lights. Or breastcollar will shine the light foward, not sure if you want light on the street or to make your horses more visible. Sounds like fun, you are giving your kids such great experiences with horses  |
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Post by Idaho Linda on Dec 4, 2014 14:51:01 GMT -5
Wally World or Harbor Freight will have assorted bags of red and black assorted plastic clamps that you can use for all sorts of things. In that assortment will be some tiny ones whose only possible use in life would be to hold lights on horse tack. With a little luck, you might be able to get a bag of just the small ones somewhere. These are really good clamps. I use a lot of them. If you put these little chemical handwarmers in the front pockets of pants, they will help keep blood warm in the femoral arteries. Warmer blood going down the legs transulates into warm feet. You wouldn't think it would make a difference, but it does. I actually use the charcoal sticks in the red, solid fuel handwarmers. One goes in each fromt pocket (with a rubber band around it ) Kids might be better off with chem chemical, not-so-warm ones, I would imagine. But, I would trust you with firesticks in your pockets. |
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Post by kerryc on Dec 4, 2014 15:59:10 GMT -5
Sounds like a LOT of fun!!! Hope you get some good pics! If you put these little chemical handwarmers in the front pockets of pants, they will help keep blood warm in the femoral arteries. Warmer blood going down the legs transulates into warm feet. These things are GREAT! I used them when I do a dance competition. I've made little ankle wraps where I put the hand packets in them. They keep my ankles warm and supple between dance heets. They stay hot/active for the better part of the day! |
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Post by Jenni on Dec 5, 2014 9:17:43 GMT -5
The lights were there when I got home from work last night. They are not quite what I expected. The wires are super thin with just little LED bubbles for lights. Should be easy to attach but I don't know how they will hold up. The pink is awesome but the purple doesn't look a bit purple - more white with a bluish cast. They are only about 6 1/2 feet long. Should work pretty well on the breast collars or attached to the back of the saddle and then rubber banded onto the tail.
Thanks for the reminder on handwarmers Linda. My hubby just bought a whole case and I totally would have forgotten about them. I've never tried them in my pants pockets but that makes sense. I have mittens that have thin gloves inside of them and the end opens and folds over. When I'm going for a long ride in the cold I put hand small warmers into the mitten ends..
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Post by MJ on Dec 10, 2014 9:16:41 GMT -5
So how did the parade go? Pictures, we need pictures.
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Post by Idaho Linda on Dec 10, 2014 15:45:47 GMT -5
Yes!
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Post by Jenni on Dec 11, 2014 9:34:31 GMT -5
Didn't get any pictures of us riding in the parade. Hubby was supposed to snap some but his camera didn't work right so he got one 3 second video of me and nothing else. Kelsey says that we have to redecorate the horses so we can take pictures. Maybe this weekend. Overall it went good. I ended up duct taping the battery packs to the kids saddles and just running the lights down their tails. I rode my trusty Chance and she was good except at the beginning of the parade she was a really nervous about santa in the ATV pulled sleigh ringing a bell right behind us. Also it was a little haphazard. Years ago when I rode in parades weekly in a club we always stayed 2x2 down the road, this was just a big mess of horses going down the road. Sofia was on a mission (walking fast) to get to the front of the parade so she ended up a few horses in front of me. She's like that at the beginning of trail rides with horses we don't know too. Caiden was whiney at first but then he got into waiving and saying merry christmas to all the people watching the parade. I had his dad stationed at the end of the parade to pick him up and take him back to my friend's house so he didn't have to ride all the way back. Kelsey rode back but she was pretty cold by the end. Then we had hot chocolate and delivered pizza, talked for awhile, loaded up and went home.  |
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Post by Frostym on Dec 11, 2014 10:52:35 GMT -5
Wow! good job with decorating the ponies. I would have been a nervous wreck if one of my kid's ponies had just set off on her own, but it all worked out. Very very neat. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by Jenni on Dec 11, 2014 11:37:46 GMT -5
Yeah I would have preferred to have her next to me but I knew Sofia wasn't truly going anywhere and Kelsey was still in control. If I went any faster Caiden's pony started trotting and he didn't want him to trot. She was still in the middle of the pack of horses and I had some friends at the front who would've stopped her if she got that far, lol. I think Sofia prefers to be in small groups, as do I, and there ended up being about 20 horses in the parade. After dumping Caiden with hubby we ended up with just 3 of us (plus Caiden's pony) riding back to my friend's place and Sofia puttered along behind.
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Post by MJ on Dec 11, 2014 12:54:48 GMT -5
Were these the battery powered lights? I picked some up a few years ago at Michaels after Christmas really cheap.
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Post by Jenni on Dec 11, 2014 12:57:24 GMT -5
Yep - 3 AA batteries. They were about $5-6 a strand from Amazon. I saw they had them at Walmart too but only in multi colored or white.
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Post by Idaho Linda on Dec 11, 2014 13:12:59 GMT -5
Wow! Nice job! I agree, decorate the horses again and take pictures. Maybe with snow on the ground. I see a Christmas card in your future----and great memories forever!
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Post by Jenni on Dec 11, 2014 14:38:54 GMT -5
I always take "christmas" pics with the horses, santa hats, and etc. I also have to take pics of spider for his registration papers. Was hoping to get some shots this weekend but I fear all our snow is going to be gone. 45 on Saturday and 47 and rain Monday and Tuesday:( On a good note we might get a little riding in!
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Post by Idaho Linda on Dec 11, 2014 15:53:08 GMT -5
How are Spider's teeth doing? Are you noticing a difference?
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