American Quarter Horses Well-Represented on International Scale During New Year’s Day Parade
All photos courtesy of Sally Foreman/AQHA UK
By: Brittany Bevis
On New Year’s Day 2015, a worldwide audience of nearly 300 million was treated to the incredible spectacle that is the London New Year’s Day Parade. More than 8,500 performers representing 20 countries participated in a processional that passed by iconic landmarks like The Ritz, Picadilly, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Parliament Square, and Big Ben.
Joining the marching bands, dancers, clowns, and acrobats was a group of approximately 70 horses from all over the UK representing various disciplines. Equines of all shapes and sizes, from ex-racehorses and children’s ponies to Spanish and Portuguese bred stock in traditional tack and costume, banded together to make up the group known as All The Queen’s Horses.
For the first time ever, a contingent of 12 American Quarter Horses and their riders were invited to participate in the group. The members of AQHA UK from Great Britain included Team Leader Lindsay Doel with LJ Classic Luke, Samuel Magdaleno and Southearn Comfort, Mary Larcom and Iced Tee, Lucy Adams and CS Texas Cat, Karen Coleman and A Bit Of A Dark Horse, Rebecca Holt and Jack Te Higgins, Fiona Powley and Zippin N Chippin, Henrietta Campbell and Bat Aviv, Jolie Cooper and Vanilla Fudge, Annabelle Russell and Matts Golden Star, Mike Austin and Sandis Interest, and Linda Courtney riding Fabulous Mr Fox.
In our EC preview of the event, posted on December 26th, team member Henrietta Campbell had this to say about the incredible opportunity to represent the American Quarter Horse breed on an international scale. “During 10 years of living in central London, where I spent several years working very close to the Royal Mews and Horse Guards’ Parade, I wondered what it must be like to ride a horse through all that hubbub. What an exciting challenge and opportunity to find out what my Israeli-bred Quarter Horse thinks of the heart of our capital city!”
Thankfully, photographer Sally Foreman tagged along with the AQHA UK group to give an inside look at what it feels like to ride horseback through the streets of London, just feet away from a crowd of approximately two-thirds of a million. Scroll below to view a selection of her beautiful images, provided by AQHA UK. Click here to watch a video of behind-the-scenes coverage of the event.
The AQHA UK Quarter Horse group is very grateful to Caroline Marsh and crew at All The Queen’s Horses and the London New Year’s Day Parade for allowing them the opportunity to share American Quarter Horses with the world.
