Thursday, June 18, 2009

I love a parade

The Macy's parade has its towering balloons, the Tournament of Roses parade has its flowers, but the Carrizozo Cowboy Days parade?  It has New Mexico blue skies and cowboys...




...riding longhorn steers!  


Don't you be lettin' go of that lead rope, sir. You wouldn't want that beast to stomp on me now, would you?



These friendly cowboys love their longhorns and went out of their way to walk right over to me as I was flat on my back in the street taking pictures.  This steer even posed for one of my signature shots: 


The longhorn contingent was most definitely the crowd favorite.  No disrespect intended, Wells Fargo wagon.   And it would be hard to find a nicer bunch of people.


This steer pulled a wagon in the parade and did a mighty fine job.  His mom made it a point to tell him so when it was all over.


The big guy caught a break under a shade tree at the end of the parade route, and he made a point to thank me for taking his picture.


Then the most amazing thing happened.  The big guy's handler, Clay Bailey of Edgewood, NM, says to his wife, "Why don't you take that camera and take a picture of her with the big guy?"  I gladly handed it over and sidled up next to the big guy, all smiley faced.  

Then Clay says, "Get on up there." 



I never felt so honored in my entire life.  


To see what color the skies are in other parts of the world this week, check out the links on the Skywatch home page.

46 comments:

  1. Now you truly are the Queen of the Cowgirls.

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  2. Looking over your pictures, that sure was an AMAZING day, and WOW, there you are on top of that beautiful, big guy! What a thrill!

    I love the picture of mom talking to her Longhorn! HA!!

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  3. Hey Carson: I love a parade too and that one was a beauty. Everybody looks so proud of their animals and rightly so. They are well taken care of and dressed to the nines just like their owners.
    You look so cute sitting atop of this great muscular animal with your little errings dangling. Great souvenirs and wonderful memories.
    I didn't see too many people along the parade route. Was is a small showing or that you were taking pictures in a quiet area? I hope they had lots that turned out since it's a lot of work to get everybody ready for a parade.
    Thanks again. I always enjoy a visit to your place.
    Best always, Sandra

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  4. I love those longhorns. I've never seen them ridden before.

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  5. I'm not one for floats and huge balloons but I'll watch cowboys and the horses,or steer, they ride in on, all day long!!! Dang those cows are imressive!!! And look at you way up there!!!

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  6. Wow! What a lot of great images!

    Those longhorns are so HUGE! That adult man sitting on that black one..... !!! Thinking of Babe the Blue Ox, for sure! Also -- the left-most shadow in that pic.... Now I understand the Picasso bull sculpture that never really made sense to me before.

    LOVE the one of the Big Boy with his mom.

    And How Cool that you got to climb aboard for a minute!

    A very cool day!

    Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  7. Great shots of this special parade. I love the way you have used the horns to frame the people in many of the shots.

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  8. I bet you've recieved a number of honors in your life, Linda, but it's obvious from that smile on your face that sitting atop that beautiful Longhorn is the best of all !

    Every photo is my favorite, but I wish someone had snapped you on your back in the road taking these photos !!!

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  9. Great shots and a great experience to add to your repertoire. Those are some mighty big horns, glad they are well behaved long horns.

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  10. Wow, lookit those horns! Those are beautiful.

    I'm so jealous! Not only did it look like tons of fun, but it looked like a gorgeous day on top of it. Lucky you!

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  11. Oh wow, what an experience, thanks for sharing that.
    My husband would love a long horn, but with only 5 acres space is a premium, he's gonna love when I show him this though

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  12. Great pictures - especially the 'Mom talking to her son' shot!!!

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  13. This is one of your best posts ever! Pardon me while I go pack my stuff and load up the critters. I'm SO coming to live there. And I need a longhorn, right this minute.
    You don't even know it, but by putting this up, you've started something. Seriously, I need to go there.
    LOVE you on that longhorn. Frame that one!!!

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  14. TOTALLY AWESOME PIC! That is so cool. I'm with Mikey, headin' your way....
    Now that you pointed them out to me, I do see you are wearing a lovely pair of Heart of a Cowgirl earrings. ;O
    Your Cowgirl Flops will be on their way today. Thanks!

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  15. This is SO cool! Love all of your shots, love the longhorns and congrats, indeed! What fun! and all against gorgeous blue skies! Perfect! Happy SSS!

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  16. You have captured more than an image for Sky Watch. What a wonderful day you had and the warmth and pleasure shows in you post. Thank you.

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  17. Lucky you, living among all that ...plus the great weather! Always dreamt of being a cowgirl but here I am stuck in weather changeable Scotland.
    Brilliant photos--never seen those longhorns ridden before!

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  18. Congrats, these photos are absolutely fantastic.

    Have a great weekend
    Guy
    Regina In Pictures

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  19. I love the longhorns! I didn't know they could be ridden, though! And how cool is that? You got to get on one!
    Love, love, love the pictures!!

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  20. omg...look at all those beautiful longhorns all gussied up...fab shots.

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  21. Great shots, and you were brave shooting from under those big guys.

    I do love those blue skies!

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  22. I Guess it was an perfect day!!!, nice pictures, great serie for Skywatch Friday!!

    Greetings from NL

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  23. What a gorgeous place. So sunny and bright and warm and full of life.

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  24. Holy crap Linda.....now you are really making me miss the blue skies, awesome folk and everything NM! Damn you (not really, neighbor).

    And to say I kinda know a gal who has ridden a Longhorn, well, that is the ultimate, ya know. Geesh, is there anything left on your "to do" list?

    And then I get thinking..do they just use a nice snaffle on those lovely beasts or do they really want more of a collected ride....I know, I'm weird.

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  25. Hi Linda,
    Who knew there is a bighorn parade? Only in NM, I guess. That sky sure is blue and those steers are BIG!

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  26. Okay...I have been away for far too long!!! I love that picture of you up there on that steer. Way to go Linda!!! :)

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  27. They're REAL? That woman is in the face of a REAL steer? WoW!

    Those are some AWESOME photos & skies, too!

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  28. Those horns are humongous !!!!

    The smile on your face says it all !!

    Very cool photos ... I love them all, so much excitement in them..

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  29. Awesome shots....every one !

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  30. Great photos! Great post! But can't help noticing those big tongues licking up at the muzzles that must have hurt so much to have a "bit" in them. Sorry....

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  31. Beautiful sky & beautiful parade!!

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  32. Wow you are very brave! I am not sure I would do that!
    Great pictures!

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  33. The horns look even bigger when a person is sitting on those things! Love the photo of the lady snuggling her steer.

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  34. What fun! The longhorn you're sitting on was my favourite, with the spotty belly.

    It's too bad they have to pierce their noses though...ouch, that must hurt.

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  35. What a great parade of photos! The little guty in the first one is so cute and I love the one of the lady thanking steer for doing a good job.

    Bonus points to you for bravery - lying on the ground while those big guys are walking around and climbing up on one!

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  36. What an awesome and fun collection of SWF photos! These animals are huge - I never even knew people rode on them like this in parades - looks fun :)

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  37. Great pictures. Very colorful. I love the colors of the building and the wall in the 5th photo.

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  38. What great photos, I just love those longhorns. They must be very biddable if they can be ridden. Those must be the biggest horns I've ever seen!

    Lovely blue sky too!

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  39. So, are you thinking about getting yourself a longhorn now?

    Very interesting parades they have down in Carizozo.

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  40. What fun!!! I like the big guy's tongue sticking out.

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  41. That is SO COOL. You look quite at home up there!

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  42. I just saw a riding steer on Dreamhorse.com and blogged about it. Someone wrote that you had one on your blog too! Kickass! I would not have believed there were that many riding steers in the USA! Or any where else for that matter!

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