Photo: Debbie Jones dresses Titan in feather headdress and tutu; Jones and 3rd year rider, Tisha Bristow of Hawley, senior psychology major, work on a ribbon for Powder's tail
You may not believe your eyes later today if you happen to catch a glimpse of Hardin-Simmons University’s Six White Horses. Why? Because they will be transformed into pink Cinderella horses to lead tonight’s Pink Parade, complete with pink glitter and pink bows.
The theme for the October Art Walk is “Pink,” for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The famous HSU Six White Horses team, not to miss such an opportunity, will be duded up with the bows and glitter to help bring awareness to the cause.
The parade starts at 6 p.m. at Everman Park at the corner of North 1st and Cypress streets in downtown Abilene. Participants will go down Cypress to North 4th, turn to the left, and lead back down Cypress to North 1st, says Burgess “Bird” Thomas, Art Walk director from The Center for Contemporary Arts. “It will be a double-back hairpin configuration,” she explains.
Director of the Six White Horses Program, Debbie Jones, says riders will gather at the horse complex on Grape Street around 3:45 this afternoon to decorate the horses in what Jones called, “Cinderella-style.” “The horses’ manes and tails will be garnished with the ribbons, their feet will be pink using a spray similar to what people put in their hair at Halloween,” she says. “We want them to look rich and elegant, like Cinderella, so we have to be delicate with the pink.”
The women on the riding team will also be decked out in pink shirts and pink scarves, says Jones, adding that they have made a pink tutu for Titan to wear. Titan, a miniature horse, who is known as a show-stealer, will march alongside the larger horses to reap praises from his many adoring fans during the parade.
Jones says, because of the proximity of tonight’s parade to this weekend’s Homecoming activities, "We might just have to leave the horses pink for their Homecoming appearances." Jones says the riders may have to do a little touching up, however, on the horses' pink hooves.
Tip:
Watch for an unusual site at the Homecoming football game. Jones says this is the first year she has ever had 10 riders, so instead of Six White Horses standing at attention for the national anthem, there will be ten. HSU has 15 horses in all.