OGDEN ? A horse and hitch parade in downtown Ogden on Monday night felt like a beach party, not only to one group that dressed up in Hawaiian gear but to everyone who was in the parade last year.
Following a monsoon rainstorm a year ago, the riders of hundreds of horses in the parade were celebrating the good weather in style.
?This year, we are happy to be having fun in the sun,? said Jennica Stanger, of Hooper, who is the director of District 7 of the Utah State Western Riding Clubs Association, whose members dressed in Hawaiian outfits. ?It feels like a party, because it?s not raining.?
The group included members Jeff Sandberg and Braden Hancock, both of West Haven, who ?skied? along behind horses as they were being pulled on skateboards by ropes.
The annual Ogden Pioneer Days Horse and Hitch Parade is a popular attraction for horse owners as well as spectators.
This year, there were 45 entries in the parade, including riding groups, rodeo queens and various horse-drawn buggies, that went along Washington Boulevard and 24th Street and circled back to the Ogden Pioneer Stadium before packed crowds.
Mark Wayment, of Hooper, is among many who have ridden in the parade every year since in started sometime in the 1990s.
?I like the heritage part of it,? Wayment said.
A former member of the Ogden Pioneer Days Committee, Wayment said he has relatives who also have assisted with the rodeo.
?It?s kind of fun to carry on that tradition,? he said.
Wayment and others said they are always surprised to see how packed the parade route is.
?There is so much support in the Ogden community for this stuff,? said Dan Calder, of Hooper.
?Even last year, it was surprising how many people stuck it out,? Wayment said, recalling how the black from the felt hats of the members of the Weber County Sheriff?s Posse he rides with ran down their faces and through the fabric of their shirts.
?I had to wash that shirt about three times to get it all out,? he said.
A similar monsoon rainstorm hit Monday night. Only this one waited until about an hour after the parade was over.
An animal rescue group, Pack ?N Pounce, which runs a thrift store on 2nd Street to pay for their operation, took the opportunity to advertise animals they had for adoption in the parade.
Brenda Gordon pulled along Caffeine, a 1,500-pound ox that is saddle-broke which she plans to start offering for people to ride.
?We want people to know you can do more than just use them for eating,? she said of the bull. ?But they have to have the right personality or they won?t work.
?They have to be super-friendly,? she said of Caffeine, who nibbled at a straw cowboy hat belonging to a woman who was talking to her.
Gordon described Caffeine as the organization?s ?spoke ox.?
Alongside the ox was Gordon?s sister, riding Molly, a 22-year-old horse that was headed for slaughter until the rescue operation got hold of her.
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