This is my first time putting my horse in the parade. Does he need rubber horse shoes for slipping??

Question

Were just walking in the street so does he need something on his horse shoes for a better grip? or will he be ok. Also, how can i keep him calm.

Answer 1

no. My parade and public event horses never have rubber boots or shoes. Slipping is rarely an issue on the road.

Keep him calm by you remaining calm. It is wise to bring hims to shows and parade without actually going in them. My horses are indifferent, only constant desenstation of parade noise, comotion, etc. will result in a calm parade horse. His 1st will most likely not be his best, but it should be ok as long as he has gone through the proper training and has been exposed to the outside world. Also, his personality does come into consideration. Is he generaly calm and rarely spooks. Or is he full of energy and is unsure about most things as well as a little flighty? If he is the second choice, I would do more work before testing him like this. It is also my experience that the horses are often put near the school bands or fire trucks, bad for the horses but no horse sensed planners are ever on staff for planning these things, so the horses are often stuck in a the back for 'cleaniness'. Understandable but slightly more dangerous considering firetrucks or other siren cars follow the back end of the parade. But if your horse is use to this there should be no problems what so ever.

hope all goes well!

Answer 2

You shouldn't need to put on special shoes for your horse to be in a parade. Shoes aren't the best for walking on cement, but as long as you're not on extremely steep hills or moving fast, you should be perfectly fine. If you ride your horse on roads already, then you know how he should feel during the parade.

As for keeping him calm, how skittish is he? You want to get him used to loud noises, lots of people, balloons, and other things like that. I've never really had to de-sensitize a horse for a parade, but here is a site that I would think should be helpful.

http://www.raraequus.com/articles/train_...