Rose Parade coverage for horse people

KTLA feed showing on that LA local station, Hallmark Channel ( commercial free), repeats at 1pm EST. Also hosts mentioned a commentary free FB stream on tne KTLA FB site. They are showing and identifying EVERY UNIT. Imagine you track down that KTLA feed in various places online and it will be running all day.

The hosts were OK last year, their first after Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards stepped down. But this year they are outstanding, obviously did their homework on how to pronounce the flower and plant materials, tne breeds of horses and names of smaller cities and schools sending their bands out, even identifying the fighters escorting the B2 flyover and why they were there. Good job. Really. We were worried when Bob stepped down but…they met the challenge this year. No doubt motivated by social media prompting…but it’s all good.

So far, my favs are the Mini group including rescues and therapy minis…in angel wings. Terminally cute. Wells Fargo sent out two coaches with jaw droppingly stunning, perfectly matched high chrome chestnuts. And Carson K, of course, on that stunning pinto ASB. Also appreciated the tidbit one of the Cavalry units included Draft Mules that were very popular at that time for their willingness.

And, it’s not a horse but Dixie Wixie stole the pre Parade show. It’s a mini chihuahua that lives in the pocket of a big, mean looking actor doing a lot of commercials lately who is actually advocating for being better stewards for the creatures we coaxed out of the woods eons ago. Nice touch.

So tune it in and enjoy…Happy New Year

HGTV also does a great job. Commercial free, identifies every group, and the hosts (the Scott brothers and some woman) know when to shut up and let you watch the parade. In fact, the Scott brothers love all the horses in the parade and make intelligent comments. They only showed the hosts on screen once during the parade that I saw and that was when one of the floats broke down and the parade came to a halt until the tow truck got there.

And yes, the minis in angel wings were adorable.

Great article about one of the Wells Fargo teams.
http://onlineathens.com/sports/dogbytes/2017-12-31/georgia-team-horses-will-pull-wells-fargo-stagecoach-129th-rose-parade

List of all the equestrians in the parade:
https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2017/12/21/a-look-at-this-years-rose-parade-equestrian-units/

My favorites, the saddlebreds:
https://www.facebook.com/scrippsmiramarsaddlebreds

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Yes, the Saddlebreds were amazing! We shared some of their Facebook Live feeds on the StreamHorseTV Facebook and Twitter pages. They started at about 2:30am local time and had some interesting behind-the-scenes photos and videos. I wonder how heavy some of those silver-decked parade saddles were?

I’m not sure which channel it was on or who the hosts were, but one of them remarked about the “purebred Mustangs” that were in the parade. They mentioned that the breed had been pure for the past MILLION years. You learn something new every day :confused:

Yeah…,well…I heard the hosts on at least two different telecasts, KTLA and RFD read that script. Some writer screwed that one up. Along with the Flintridge Hunt Club Fresians which I’m pretty sure weren’t the mount of choice back in the 1920s and did not appear in the RP until recently. Otherwise the rest of the admittedly oversimplified commentary was pretty good.

I watched the Will Farrell / Molly Shannon (as Cord & Tish) streaming on Amazon. It was hilarious. IMHO the Norco cowgirls displayed the best horsemanship with quiet, obedient horses who were used to lots of stimulus. It was fun to see the steampunk minis!

We saw a stunning old silver mounted parade saddle at a museum in Scottsdale, were told that it had been used in the Rose Bowl parade and that the saddle, breastplate and bridle weighed 300 lbs.

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As best as I can tell, there is a Flintridge Riding Club and the Valley Hunt Club (but no Flintridge Hunt Club).

The Valley Hunt Club started the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1890. Couldn’t get to enough of their web page to find out when they first started using Friesians.