The USC Band, led by the team mascot The Trojan riding Traveler
I have to give HGTV credit — they ran the parade with very limited commercial interruption. And, thank you too, Jenny Craig. I’m happy to give you a freebie shoutout for your New Year’s gift to us horse lovers.
On HGTV, we saw all but one of the equestrian units in the parade. All received a “lower third super” identifying the group.
Apparently, those who watched other networks weren’t so lucky, according to some commenters on the Horse Channel website article about the parade.
But, not to fear, The Horsey Set Net has your back. With the help of various sources, we’ll have our own virtual Rose Parade.
I know I was griping a few days ago about TV cutting away from the horses, but not to belabor the point, HGTV delivered.
Nevertheless, here’s a backup plan.
First, the Los Angeles Times ran a feature called “The Virtual Rose Parade.” You’ll find sketches of floats, logos from bands — and, best of all for us, photos of the equestrian units. Yay!!
Even better, as you click through the 88 photos in the slide show, you’ll see units we missed while watching TV.
The 2009 Equestrian Units – with their links, when available
- The one group I missed was the U.S. Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard. BTW, way to use those Bureau of Land Management mustangs, marines. Hoo-YAH! (Perhaps they stepped off while the TV “pool feed” was shooting the production number with the dancers at the beginning. Or they could have been that group following up at the end that we missed.)
- But the first equestrian unit that I saw was The Sons and Daughters of the Reel West, the descendants of old-time cowboy stars.
- All American Cowgirl Chicks stood tall in the saddle. They’re trick riders.
- Valley Hunt Club Hitch and Riders has a long history with the Rose Parade
- Dunkin Acres Miniature Donkeys pulled a little wagon. (I couldn’t find a link about them, except a mention that this is their first appearance in the Rose Parade)
- The University of Southern California Trojan – and his horse Traveler
- Medieval Times were represented by both a float and Andalusians
- The Benny Martinez Family of trick ropers
- Hollywood Paso Finos
- Grand Marshall Cloris Leachman’s carriage was pulled by a team of Friesians
- Long Beach Mounted Police and their palominos with fancy silver tack
- The Victorian Roses Ladies Riding Society
- The Wells Fargo Stagecoaches
- Cowgirls Historical Foundation had more fancy silver saddles
- The Broken Horn Ropers showcased trick ropers of all ages, both mounted and on foot.
- The New Buffalo Soldiers
- Clydesdales pulled the City of St. Louis float
- California State Firefighters Association (let me know if you find anything about the horse-drawn fire wagons on this site. I couldn’t find them.)
- Scripps Miramar Saddlebreds showed off some more fancy tack.
- The Shire Riders showed off a lot of feathering.
Some extras
RFD-TV aired live coverage of EquestFest, the horse demo program that on Dec. 28. Apparently, this is the second year for the coverage.
Since I live in the suburbs, I don’t get RFD-TV. 
A search of the site hasn’t turned up a function where I can search for a particular show — so that I can tell you when the re-runs air — but I see that they run a lot of horse programming.
I think it’s time to call my cable company again.
Also, my websearching turned up Hooves and Roses, a documentary shot behind-the-scenes with the equestrian units in 2006, the year it rained on the parade.
Tags: equestrian units, HGTV, Jenny Craig, RFD-TV, Rose Parade, USC Trojan
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