Equestrian fans hoping to meet the many horses of the 135th Rose Parade don’t need to jockey for position or stampede to the front of the stands on New Year’s Day.
On Friday, Dec. 29, the Tournament of Roses’ annual Equestfest event, presented by Santa Anita Park, will celebrate the 18 equestrian units who will trot down Colorado Boulevard during the 2024 Rose Parade.
The event, hosted at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, honors the important role horses play in the flowered float focused parade, giving its equine units a chance to strut their stuff in the spotlight.
Spectators can saddle up for a show featuring a variety of gorgeous horse breeds and their talented riders performing precision drills, thrilling trick riding stunts, dazzling dance routines, and remarkable roping skills.
The equestrian showcase runs from noon to 2 p.m., but that’s just part of the excitement. Doors open at 10 a.m., allowing attendees to stroll through stables to meet the horses and riders. The family friendly event also includes musical performances, the vendor court with food and drinks, and informational displays until doors close at 3 p.m.
While the Rose Parade’s brightly colored floats and booming, grooving marching bands typically take center stage for most spectators, the equestrian units — perhaps the only entrants plodding down the parade route with a long face — are saddled with being its true workhorses.
In 1890, the Tournament of Roses’ first Grand Marshal Francis Rowland mounted his horse and took the reins of the inaugural Rose Parade, leading a procession mostly made up of horse-drawn carriages from Pasadena’s Valley Hunt Club down a trailblazing route.
Since then, horses have remained an integral part of the New Year tradition.
But for nearly a century, the equine units were the parade’s unsung heroes. That trend was eventually bucked after an impromptu show for spectators following the 1988 Rose Parade spurred the…
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