|
Mary Holland
Back in the Olden Days of Our Youth everything seemed to be Good or Evil, True or False. It was a time when morals were in black and white just like our TVs. There were god guys and bad guys. In real life I think I have been somewhere between those extremes, though leaning to the good side.
I didn't get to shake Roy Rodgers' hand but in 1965 I rode in the Rodeo Parade. To do that, the day before the parade I rode my horse from his pasture in Spring Branch all the way to the campground in Memorial Park. There weren't any police blocking traffic as they did for the trail rides that came in and there was a bridge over the freeway that I had to cross. My mom drove slowly alongside as I led Travis (my horse) across it. I peered down at those eight lanes of whzzing cars and almost felt that I was in a Sci-fi movie.
When I finally reached the campground I tied my little horse to a tree. There must have been at least a thousand other horses tied to trees! Travis was so nervous that I hated to leave him but I had to go home. He probably hadn't seen more than a dozen horses before in all twelve years of his life! I went to bed early that night, got up early, put on my fancy western clothes and got to the campground at about 5:30 the next morning. I gave Travis a little feed and some hay. I had some water for him but he spilled most of it. I brushed him and petted him then saddled up.
Mrs. Baird's Bread had a truck there making and giving away Texas Toast. Remember that thick bread? After awhile they started using their loud speaker to ask if anyone had lost a palomino horse because they'd found one and had it tied to their truck! So many people had partied the night before and were not hearing that announcement which repeated and repeated. I thought that if it got to be time to ride I probably could have led that palomino in the parade and back to my pasture. Of course I wouldn't have done it but I wondered if someone else might have done just that. Probably its owner was asleep in one of the wagons.
We got the call to mount up and get into the street, four riders abreast and head to tail. I was still just sitting on my horse and waiting to move, as were all the people in front of me that were in range of my vision, when a rider with a walkie-talkie cantered by shouting, "The first riders just entered the parade route downtown!" I looked behind me and there were horses and riders as far as I could see behind me, too! I guess I was about 3/4 of the way back in that cavalcade. We finally moved out and got to downtown. Wow, was the wind ever swirling between the tall buildings and it was Cold!!
Meanwhile my mom, after she'd dropped me off that morning, had driven straight downtown so she could find someplace to park. She waited to see me ride by in the parade and then went back to get her car and to search for a hamburger place to buy me food for after the ride. When the parade ended most people were getting their horses into trailers but I started the long ride back to my little pasture in Spring Branch. An old man came and rode beside me and we talked about our horses and stuff. There weren't any police stopping traffic for us, the way they had for the parade; we were on our own. Suddenly he said, "There's a man's wedding ring in the gutter!" I told him that if he'd hold my horse I'd get off and pick it up for him, and I did. Finally I met my Mom at the park, had my burger&coke for lunch, then rode all the rest of the way back to my pasture. My poor little horse and I both were exhausted. I don't know what he did but when I got home I went into the entry hall of our house, turned to the opening to the living room and just let go. I fell like a tree and slept for about five hours! And riding in the parade was worth every bit of the hardship!
|
