New Year’s Day Parade T
he London New Year’s Day Parade has become a big part of my year and something that I really look forward to photographing and being a part of. 2019 was my sixth year photographing this amazing event. It is known as the greatest street spectacular in the world and takes part in the heart of London.
Last year myself and Durante, my Iberian horse, were meant to be taking part which meant that I was going to be carried effortlessly down the route on horseback sporting nothing photographically heavier than a Gopro. Despite numerous horse box trips around and about to different events Durante’s reluctance to return home on each occasion decided me that another year or so of education was needed. The thought of hacking back down the M40 wasn’t in itself massively appealing, himself is useless at hitching and with the lack of stabling at The Ritz we are now aiming for next year when I am hoping that his loading will be rock solid and knocking at the door of Buckingham Palace won’t be necessary.
The January 1st 2019 weather was beyond clement in that there was no rain, the forecast had been borderline all week and I had searched out the emergency ponchos that I had bought to hand out the previous year and that had thankfully stayed in the box and blissfully none were needed this year either, the first year that I photographed it the heavens opened and I spent the whole time wiping my lens whilst myself and my camera received a good soaking, I have to say that it didn’t deter the crowds, in true British spirit they still turned up to line the route whilst I slopped along in my soggy socks having not worn my waterproof boots.
We arrived fairly early, we being myself and Claire Owen who is another veteran photographer of the New Year’s Day Parade and has also ridden in it several times. There were just a few horse boxes parked up starting the set up of the temporary horse village which this year was between the Hard Rock Cafe and Green Park, a little haven from the noise and thunder of the Parade. A mobile kitchen had been put together under an awning and the smell of bacon butties drifted across our noses reminding us that it had been some time since breakfast, this is just one of the ways that shows just how much of a family this horse event has become even providing breakfast. The amount of help and support participants give to each other is just wonderful to see.
Each year this little spot of London becomes a hive of activity totally removed from its usual daily routine. The roads are closed off and horses are unloaded and tied to the horseboxes or the railings outside Green Park and the transformation from ordinary horse and rider to become
performers for the day and do an extraordinary thing starts to take place. The air is full of anticipation and steady excitement, but also there is an air of calm which horses always produce. Equines are groomed and hooves are glittered, stencils applied to quarters, and the horse that left it’s stable looking like your average four legged best friend becomes the stuff of fairy tales. This never fails to amaze me as I work my way down the horse lines each year.
This year the costumes were completely outstanding, the colours alone lit up a grey London morning. The theme was ‘The World’ and everyone’s imagination had run riot, fantastic costumes began to appear as the teams mounted. The amount of effort that goes into each horse and rider’s costume is phenomenal. Now, I have to say that last year I had bought mine and Durante’s costume and just because he had declined to wear his I decided that I was certainly going to wear mine, when else was I going to wear it I thought, hacking out… mucking out?? So last year I too, for the first time, dressed up in layers of net, harlequin leggings and a bright red jacket, feeling curiously at home in this ensemble I sat, sipping cappuccino in Pret a Manger looking vaguely like some sort of military fairy. I strapped the Gopro to my Top Hat and switched it on, I wasn’t risking the disaster of last year when I oh so stupidly attached it to my camera arm and everyone who watched the video ended up looking like a contortionist or suffering from seasickness. Not making that mistake again…… As always the Parade started out from the Ritz, the crowd were three deep waving Union Jacks and in general, a scene that most riders would avoid like the plague, but not All The Queens Horses, this is a day in which ordinary horses and riders become extraordinary. The level of trust between the two is quite amazing to watch in what is essentially a police horse situation.
The London New Years day Parade was started in 1987 and was originally called the Lord Mayor of Westminster’s Big Parade, it was renamed in 1994. All The Queens Horses have become a very popular section of this street extravaganza, originally the brainchild of Caroline Marsh who works tirelessly all year with her team to make this equine section happen, it has become a big hit with the 650,000 or so people who come to cheer it on. The Parade comprises, apart from the 60 VIP horses taking part, of marching bands from America and ornate floats from every part of London, producing noise, sights and sounds that your average horse would probably never come across in a life time. The event is televised across the world to millions of people and riders are interviewed on camera
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MARCH/APRIL 2019
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