The Hardin-Simmons University Six White Horses Team had the opportunity to not only be in the parade in Ruidoso, N.M., but to lead it.
According to Debby Jones, the director of the Six White Horses program, they were initially not told that a parade was going on in Ruidoso because parade organizers thought that the group would be leaving before the parade started. Once organizers heard that the Six White Horses would be staying the night, they were asked to participate in the parade the next morning.
This group was originally traveling to Ruidoso for a show on Friday at the “All American Cowboy Fest.” This festival was a celebration of country music, western culture and rodeo, held at the Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
Ami Davis, the Accounts Payable Coordinator at HSU, is the one who told this group about the event. Davis usually goes to work at this event every year, but she decided to not work it this year. “I thought it would be a good experience for them and that it would be something fun for them to do,” Davis said. After Davis told them about this Fest, Jones began to plan the trip and the group enjoyed every minute of it.
“Many of the girls had never been to New Mexico, so they were really interested in the mountains and the wildlife,” Jones said. Jones also noted that they even saw people who knew about Hardin-Simmons. This was a successful trip for this group and they were invited to come back next year, although the dates have yet to be determined.
The same day that the parade was held in New Mexico, another parade was planned in Weinert where the Six White Horses were scheduled to perform. The parades were both at 10:00 a.m., one of them in New Mexico time (MST) and one of them in Texas time (CDT). “I pulled it off by having two different teams,” Jones said. There’s not many opportunities where we would need to have two teams,” Jones said.
This trip was a great opportunity for the Six White Horses team and they plan to return next year.
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