N E W Y E A R’ S DAY PA R A D E 2 0 2 3

by JoMonck

After a break of two years due to the Covid Pandemic the London New Year’s Day Parade is back, and back with a vengeance.

As I turn into Piccadilly from Hyde Park corner early on New Year’s Day, all is quiet and reminiscent of how London must have been during the many lockdowns For a couple of minutes I share the road to the Ritz with barely anyone else, and I have Piccadilly all to myself In the distance I see a glimpse of a riot of colour and activity outside The Ritz Hotel, just before I make a U-turn into the little ‘horse village’ that becomes home to ‘All The

Queens Horses’ for a short while on New Year’s Day It is once again set up on the closed road just outside Green Park, opposite the Hard Rock Café It seems like yesterday, and at the same time an age since I was here last in 2020; who knew then what that New Year would bring The New Year’s Day Parade was started in1987, and wasthenknownasthe Lord MayorofWestminster’sBig Parade;it was renamedin1994.LNYDPhas over10,000 participantswho comefromtheUSA,UK, Europeandbeyond,with astreetaudienceof over500,000and aTVaudiencewhich reaches anaudienceofmorethan500,000,000. Includinghorsesinthe Parade wasthe inspired ideaoforganiser CarolineMarsh,whothenset about getting the equine section of this huge event together in only six short weeks in 2012 It was a huge success and this section of the Parade has gone from strength to strength, and this year was the 10th Anniversary

The little horse village is a hive of activity on New Year’s Day morning Horses are transformed from the ordinary to the extraordinary, as they stand calmly munching on hay nets in the middle of a London street as if they do this every day The temporary cafe is up and running, and serves much needed bacon and sausage sandwiches, aftersome very early startsand longjourneys to get toLondon.The camaraderieandsupport betweentheriderstakingpartis very evident.

Irememberduringthe early years,Stratton Street,oppositetheRitz, wasthe horsebase forthe Paradeandhorseboxesparkedallthe wayalongit.TheMayfairHotel verykindly letridersusetheloo,not complainingonce aboutthetrailofhayleftovertheimmaculate floor! The Doorman, in his pristine uniform, happily posed outside the hotel with a horse whilst we all willed said horse not to dribble all over him! Anyway, I digress!

As riders start to mount up once again the standard of the costumes was, as always, truly outstanding Each horse and rider looking like the stuff dreams are made of, hooves are glittered, even the grey pavements of Westminster are now faintly glittered and sparkle in the morning sunshine Horses’ coats are shining and colour is everywhere; everyone is readytogooutand wowthecrowds.

The Parade routestartsatTheRitzHotel,the crowdisabout fourdeepandunionjackflags areoutin force.Itseemsthat everyoneis keen to getback to normalityafterthe extraordinary timeswehavealllivedthrough.In fact,Ithink thecrowds were evenbiggerthaninprevious years.Ittrulyis asight forsoreeyes,seeing thehorsescomingintoviewandmakingtheir way to the off, as if they had never been away Caroline Marsh leads the teams as they proceed past the Ritz It is the most surreal hack any rider is ever likely to experience, as they pass iconic places like Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, and under the watchful eye of Lord Nelson The atmosphere is just incredible The horses stop for the crowd and you see a hand tentatively touch a velvet muzzle for possibly the first time ever In fact, it is sometimes the first time some people have ever been that close to a horse before; you can be certain it issomethingthattheywillneverforget. The routethen takestheridersdownPallMall to ParliamentSquare, pastBigBenandthen to HorseGuards Parade.The final partoftheday isgoingupTheMall to Buckingham Palace. Itisanextraordinaryday, andOxfordshire based ownerofHarrytheminiaturepony, Emma Hinds tellsofher experienceinthe Parade “Abigail Wilkinsonandherdaughter Faith,and Iattendedthis year’sparade.Thisisthesecond time we have beeninvited to take partinthe LNYDPonbehalfof ‘AllTheQueensHorses’. Thelasttime wasin2020. Faith,nowaged6, ridesthe miniatureponynamedHarry.Harryis atherapy ponyand regularlyvisitscarehomes andhospices.Thisyeartherewasnotheme;just bright, colourfulandcreative. Faithaskedifshe couldbeher favouriteDisneycharacter, Mirabel fromEncanto. We believe Faith wasthe youngest participant,andHarry wasthe smallest equine atjust36inches. Faithhadthemostamazing day. We leftMinsterLovellat6.30am, to make surewegottherewithplentyoftime to spare. Faith wassoexcited,fromthemoment we got thereuntilthemoment we left.Shegotsomany cheersandgigglesasshe wentalongtheparade, smilingthewholetimeandwishing everyone alongthe waya HappyNew Year.Outside Buckingham Palacetheycreatedquiteastorm, with aqueueofpeople wanting to take their picture. Thewhole experienceisunexplainable. Theatmosphereiselectric,and we didn’t wantthedaytoend.The ATQH team were so friendlyand couldn’tdoenough to makeyou feel welcome.Wecan’twait to doitallagain!”

WalkingacrossGreen Parkback to thelittlehorsevillage,itallseems to have gone by so fast,andas always youthink ‘didthat reallyhappen?’

Backatbase,horsesare beingloadedup to gohome,andprettysoonthespacethat heldallthese wonderfulhorsesand riders willbeemptyandbecome abusyLondon Streetonceagain.As Igotogetbackinto my carIsee aloneglitteryhoofprintinthe road, areminderthat ‘yes,itdidhappen’and we willallbebackagainnextNewYear www.allthequeenshorses.co.uk

1Tellus abitabout yourself

Irun Danesmoor Eventing,producingand competing younghorsestoadvanced. I’malsoan Accredited coach

Howdid youfirstget involvedwithhorses?

Mymotherhad ahorsethatshe hunted,so Iwasluckytogrowup withhorsesinthegarden. Pony Clubcultivated my interestineventingand competing.

Who wasyourfirstpony?

Minnie,an11.3hhleopardspotted Appaloosa. Ispent alotoftime rolling downherneckwhenshetried to eat!

Howdid eventingbecome yourdiscipline?

Iworkedandgroomed forPC ChiefInstructor, ValGingell (wasBanks). Iwasalsoluckyenough to have Burghleyonmydoorstep.

5Tellusaboutthehorses youhaveonyour yard. Thereisarealrangeonthe yard atthe moment. Iactuallypurchased my top horse 2years ago.I’d spent alotoftimeproducing the youngsters and wantedsomething to jump somebiggertracksonagain. Fortunatelybeing asassy chestnutmare, she wasaffordable!I’ve got areallynicecropof4yearolds comingup to complimentthenovice/intermediatehorses.

Whathasbeen yourmost recentsuccess?

We

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Forany ofthe readers wanting to getintoeventing, what wouldbe youradvice forgetting started?

Getasmuch experienceondifferent yardsas possible,seizeopportunities, younever stop learning -evenifit’slearninghowyoudon’twant to dosomething!Also,a good competitionrider isn’tnecessarilygoodatbusiness,soI would advise to getsomesortoftraininginbusiness studies,whetherat Alevelor eveningschool.

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Do youhaveany otherpets?

Yes, Ihavea Lurcher. She’saWhippet xBedlington,so veryscruffy.

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Whatis atypicaldayfor you? Notquiteas‘allday’atthe yardas itused to be.Nowadays,itoften revolves around my daughter’s schoolrun.So,get her to school,rideandI will teachsetafternoonsandone evening.

Howdoyou relax away fromhorses?

Balancingsome familytime, althoughnotsurea7-yearoldis relaxing... Idomanage to getthe odd eveningwithhubbythough.The familyholidaywouldbe aweekskiing.

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Whatdoesthis year looklikefor you?

Busy. We’vegot agood stringof horsestoproduceand compete, withsomebigpartiespencilledin too. I’malso BE youth coach forEastern region,so Ihave to balancecoaching commitmentsanddown time (orpossiblybeing aponyclubmum!).