Looky What I Found!
I’ve been doing a bit of browsing through ancient files copied off from a long-gone PC, and discovered this image. It was taken during one of the times that Beth and I participated in the Circus World Museum/Ringling Brothers Great Circus Parade.
That outfit is really… pink. And really… purple… And really… poofy… and really circus, to its core.
I absolutely hated the costume, but I wasn’t the one picking out outfits. It was custom designed and sewn as a sidesaddle costume for me as part of the “Field of Cloth of Gold” troupe, by the wardrobe mistress of Ringling Brothers circus. I’m not a pink and purple and frills sort of gal, and never was. This was the frothiest, pinkest and purplest glittery concoction imaginable, with lots of fake jewels and my very own crown. I’m sure it’s what most little girls who ever fell in love with a Disney Princess imagine themselves wearing. Even if it wasn’t my cup of tea, these kinds of costumes are intended to please, and from the crowd reactions they did.
Six of us rode sidesaddle on our matching red-bay Morgan horses, representing queens of England and France. Our costumes were a palette of matching shiny satin pastels–pink, pale purple, soft green, and pale blue, each color outlined with panels of gold cloth and the whole coated with lots and lots of glittery circus jewels. The horses were draped with trappings of gold and “jewels,” and even their bridles and saddlecloths were covered with sparkly gold cloth and circus jewels. The entire troupe included dozens of costumed riders, each as spectacularly costumed as the last. We looked like the ultimate in medieval bling.
My mare Beth (also known as The Greatest Horse Ever) was quite a trooper, as she had to present herself as the perfect ladies mount for spectators whilst literally surrounded by any horse’s worst nightmares–lions, tigers and bears (oh my!), elephants, snakes, the odd pygmy hippo and baby giraffe, and a score of other unusual critters, dozens of marching bands, over fifty antique circus wagons pulled by teams of thundering draft horses, and unimaginable crowds of spectators (at just one of these parades alone we had over 1.5 million spectators!). Oh, yes, and there also were television crews from the major networks and PBS that would run up right in front of us or from either side with extra lights to shine in Beth’s eyes, with crew sporting all sorts of spooky equipment. That was always fun… almost as much fun as the balloons popping and clowns shooting off blanks from their pistols as they raced about.
Nary a snort. That’s my girl.
She never put a foot wrong throughout, my Beth, even though she was anything but a dull or placid horse.
I’ll have to rummage around and see if I have some better photos of her in her hey day. I may even have some photos around of her with her last foal, Knight, a rascal if there ever was one, who grew up to become part of a U.S. Forest Service’s Search and Rescue Team.
Hm, I wonder where those are…
Guess I’ll have to take a road trip through my old CDs!
Tags: Beth, circus, costume, Great Circus Parade, Morgan horse, Ringling Brothers, sidesaddle
Critters, Village Life | JAS | 
December 30, 2009 3:20 pm
6 Comments
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Subscribe
By Ned, December 31, 2009 @ 9:05 am
Hi Beth we were in charge of the Riding horse line for the Great Circus Parade and when we had the unit The Field of Gold it was a real challenge to get it all lined up but it was a spectacular one once it was out on the street
What great memories and how many people can really say they were part of it
By JAS, December 31, 2009 @ 2:18 pm
Hi Ned, it really was a unique event to be part of, and spectacular as both a participant and a spectator. My hat was always off to anyone who volunteered or worked on any part of it, like you, because it was always so well done. Our troupe supplied eight riders (six sidesaddle, two astride) every year, and the farm we were with also supplied two hitches of Belgians with drivers and outriders for wagons, so we helped with those, too. Can’t say enough about what a terrific experience it was! Lots of stories about those years… and good memories.
By Elyse, December 31, 2009 @ 5:38 pm
Wow, that’s a very colorful outfit!
By Dan, January 6, 2010 @ 3:44 pm
Wow! Very nice.
By Kris, in New England, January 11, 2010 @ 6:45 pm
Wow – poofy is right. And quite lovely given what it was for. Gorgeous lady on a gorgeous horse.
By Sarah (Formally Balancing Act), January 27, 2010 @ 4:52 pm
What a great photo. Stopping by to say hello and let you know I have changed my website. due to changes in my life I thought it appropriate to change the name of the site. In short – I no longer have to balance work and family. Hope you check it out.
http://www.snipsandsnailsandharrigantales.com
Sarah