JOSE AND SUE

[ErinC]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I can not even believe how awesome today was. it was the most exciting thing I ever did, and I did not even ride.

next year for sure.

Jose and Sue , you guys are the best. Please tell the others I said thank you from the bottom of my heart!

THANK YOU!!!!!

[swaite]

We are so glad you guys had a great time! The fun makes the LONG day worth it. I planned ahead and took a vacation day today because I knew I would still feel tired, plus it takes me a day to clean up the mess
from packing and unpacking.

[baileyholc]

I was not their and I enjoy the tells you all have in the pictures. Thanks.

[ErinC]

Great guy!

http://i5.tinypic.com/1441b21.jpg

[Barbwire]

Please forgive my stupidity for not thanking you sooner, I am still on my parade high, and not thinking clearly.


Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Jose Rubero]

I thank you all for trusting and taking the risk without really knowing, just trusting my descriptions of your possible experiences.

It was a lot of work preparing, traveling, lack of sleep, more traveling....

I'm sorry about the police officer who rushed us in gearing the horses and parking the trailers. That whole section (44th St) was reserved for us and Disney. Sometimes power can get to people's heads clouding their judgement. SHe had the "your in my city" attitude. I did get her name and today contacted NYPD and the Parade Committee. The Parade Committee will address the issue with Police Parking personnel during their 2007 meetings.

Today on regional Latino radio stations their was an backlash to Rosie Perez' (actor) comments "The PR Parade is based on advertisements and promotions, nothing else". Their are, of course, lots of points of views. I called up agreeing with Rosie...."The Parade has veered from beautiful, smaller, actual cultural contingencies/groups to larger companies advertising on floats". I didn't say who I was, just an opinion. I then listened.

Some opinions:
1) Caller:Well, I agree with her but she seems to be anti puertorican.
DJ: Did you like anything in The Parade?
Caller: We just went to see the Paso Finos. We took lots of pictures of them .
2) Caller: I liked the way The Parade used to be with traditional dancers, mountain folk music... they even used to have Puerto Rican high school bands playing salsa.
DJ: What did you like the most?
Caller: Los Caballos Del Paso Fino. There was one that was real hot. There were even some gringas riding!

This went on and on until the DJ called my cell. I then detailed, as I've been doing all along, who came and from where. I also detailed some of our personal experiences from waking up at 2 or 3am to arriving home 7-9pm, Martinez' deer accident, etc. The DJ, after hearing all the work involved and our/your commitment to the breed and its origin asked me to thank all especially "los gringos".... "tell them we the PRs have great respect and appreciation for what they did" (pause....)
Note: Pauses are NOT good on the air, not the norm.
After the DK paused he said (emotion detected in his voice) "Tell them... I know you will tell them that I thenk them for loving our horse".

That call was approximately 20 minutes... live at no cost... where I highlighted americanpasofinos.com. So there are probably many PRs visiting us here, most likely without posting

[dana]

What a great job you two did for this parade! Soooo, much work! but i get the feeling this little show of the pasos is only going to get bigger every year from here on out! Alot of decication from the both of you and a big thank you for keeping everyone Safe during all the excitement!

dana

[Barbwire]

I can't wait for next year, when I ride Amante. Lori is already thinking of bringing two horses and Pasomom next year....What do you think Ma, wanna ride with us?

[Edurne]

Thank you Jose for inviting us.... it was a lot of fun..... if I can find a driver who can back up into Lexington Ave, around street cleaners and traffic (good job Barb, even though you nearly flattened the garbage truck) and a companion who wants to share my trailer, I too would probably like to join in.

[ErinC]

Jose you made me cry!

I know I was excited about the culture part, because my aunt married a PR man and my Uncle was so awesome, so are all my cousins.

the energy coming from the people was more then words could EVER ever describe I still get the chills and a tear in my eye!

I will ride next year and my daughter wants to also!

thanks again!

[Barbwire]

Thank you Jose for inviting us.... it was a lot of fun..... if I can find a driver who can back up into Lexington Ave, around street cleaners and traffic (good job Barb, even though you nearly flattened the garbage truck)


Ahem!!! It was Jose driving my rig at that time, not me. I didn't run over hardly nuthin'. :lol:

[Jose Rubero]

If there is going to be a larger number of riders we would need to approach the committee very early... maybe requiring a personal visit to one of their meetings so as to request a larger staging area.

Today, prompted by Rosie Perez' comments, I've spoken with a few local cultural groups in the hopes of approaching the committee with their added participation in The Parade. Due to the Parades' current "business/advertising/big company" image they would be very happy with new groups to enhance their image. I plan in my meet with them to offer more Pasos and other new versatile/different cultural groups:
1) Trobadores-sing/play old PR folk music. I call it "PR blues", really cool "bring home" type of music, usually sung by older men/women and most recently children.
2) Plena Dancers-where congas & bongos players actually beat their drums according to the dancers movements, very difficult to do, but beautiful to see and hear.

If I can arrange this my plan is to have both these groups line up with us. An option of having the drummers play to the variations of a Paso walk, corto and largo is something I'd like to coordinate. Something not seen even in PR.

In addition to that I would like to have an actual "Andadura" (english-hard walk) Paso or Largo as they're called here. Saturday I met a 15 yr old PR farrier (sp?), here just one week (he was in the Martinez' trailer/didn't make the Parade/deer accident) who described the popularity in PR of Andadura vs Corto or even Fino. "We shoe the andadura horses with the horseshoe backwards so they won't slip on pavement during the races". Level paved roads are blocked off, racing gates are used, races are for 1/4 mile. These andadura Pasos are extremely fast, that's all they do.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

[Edurne]

are you suggesting that the shoes should be put on backwards?...... I have to admit that not only did my feet hurt after walking the 50 blocks, but so did my shins. concrete is unforgiving and I've wondered how the horses do on it.

[SandyMM]

Ahhhh - the PPR Paso... I would love to ride next year - there are anumber of PPRS here in the U.S. - maybe we could round up a few more for next year...? :D

[ErinC]

I like them barefoot, less slip. better contact. a good solid barefoot hoof.
but thats getting into a whole nother discussion so we will save that for a rainy day!

[ErinC]

ya there is a PPR farm in PA, not that far from NY. and Another in NH or ME, cant remember.

is it the largo ( speed , without a canter ) we are talking about?

[swaite]

I think that shoe backwards is just a strange thing that kid mentioned to us. Jose is going to ask if he ever heard of BORIUM like we use on the police horses. I personally keep my Comanche barefoot also - I use EZ boots sometimes. It sure is cheaper!

[swaite]

Oh yes, we do have one woman with a PPR who has been wanting to come since last year. Her parade mare was off getting bred so she hopes to make it next year!

[Edurne]

We use borium in the winter when the ground freezes, but not in the summer. Are there shoes that would help, because Primero is shod on the front, no matter what.

[swaite]

Jose's horse had plain shoes only on the front and he had no slipping problems - he zipped around plenty.

[Edurne]

da vero

[ErinC]

yes, he did great, I think it depends alot on the horse too , with balance and conditioning and all that.

see the boots I bet take some of the shock like wearing a sneaker

[Barbwire]

I don't recall seeing any horses, shod, booted or barefoot, slipping. Lori, did Amante slip much?

[ErinC]

I saw a few, 2 horses that did a few times. a few of times scared the crap out of me.

[Edurne]

I noticed that the it was hard on Lori riding - I could see the shock coming up through her body. she can probably tell us what it felt like riding on such hard ground.

[Pasomom]

Barb, You bet I am up for next years parade. I do figure that Lori will want me to trailer and she is going to want to fly! I'll have to hunt for a traveling companion! LOL

[ErinC]

O I am sure now that you said that , people will be knocking at the door.

[Pasogirlz]

Jose and Sue....
http://bestsmileys.com/thankyou/1.gif
Not only for the plug on the radio, but for cluing us all into the fun you were having so that this could be possible. I knew when I read your post last year, that I wanted to do the parade. I'm so glad I did, and I plan to do it again. Hopefully....more of you out there will join us. 8-)

[Edurne]

[quote=Edurne]good job Barb, even though you nearly flattened the garbage truck)


I guess you didn't see Lori desperately calling you
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/Edurne_2006/stop.jpg

[Pasogirlz]

Barb, You bet I am up for next years parade. I do figure that Lori will want me to trailer and she is going to want to fly! I'll have to hunt for a traveling companion! LOL

Geez Mom, you know me too well. :oops: My only other option is to talk Orlando into wanting to go to the parade, which in that case...he will make Perla do the trailering. :twisted:


Barb- yes Amante did slip a few times, but mainly on the turns, so I just slowed them down. Also there were sections of the street that had like a square metal covering that I noticed was slippery for the horses. :-?

Endurne- I did notice a bit of shock coming thru. There were times when Amante was doing a little more picking em' up and puttin em' down performance style that I noticed it. If I kept him at a nice quiet corto, it was not noticable.

[Mellifluous]

Gee, the parade looks like so much fun! - Can I bring Phoebe and join you guys next year? She has a little PR in her.

[Heidi]

Gee, the parade looks like so much fun! - Can I bring Phoebe and join you guys next year? She has a little PR in her.
Heck, I wanna go with Q, too! (she's 7/8s Puerto Rican)

[Barbwire]

The horse's don't have to be PR, just Paso Finos, ya sillies. ;-)

[Jose Rubero]

If there is going to be a larger number of riders we would need to approach the committee very early... maybe requiring a personal visit to one of their meetings so as to request a larger staging area.

I do have current max of 20 ok'd by the committee. We can ask for more. We had a total this year of 7 horses, with 2 having to return due to a highway deer accident.

[ErinC]

O wow this is gonna get big!!!!!!!

Jose you must be excited!

If it gets to be a large number and you still need walkers I would walk!

( walkers help hold and run around )

and you could tell we needed them, thats for sure.

it was a blast.

[Edurne]

well if Jose won't let me ride in my padded outfits.... I could cover them in PR colors..... I will take photos again and help with the horses, and I will bring my camera, and maybe my Emmy award winning videographer friend. She would love to be in New York with us amigas. I think that Ethel's ears may still be ringing. WEPA

I was thinking, that Gun-Toting Paso Mom has a delux trailer, maybe for more than the two horses she is carrying, and perhaps she would like to pick me up. We are only three hours from NY and it could be a good layover. I would have to ask Mr. Finney, but it seems like it could be a good setup for you guys. You could paddock your horses for the night without having them in with our guys.

[Edurne]

and you still need walkers I would walk!

( walkers help hold and run around AND PULL LITTLE RED CARTS UP FIFTH AVE)

[ErinC]

LOL, yup! ;-)

[Pasogirlz]

I was thinking, that Gun-Toting Paso Mom has a delux trailer, maybe for more than the two horses she is carrying, and perhaps she would like to pick me up. We are only three hours from NY and it could be a good layover. I would have to ask Mr. Finney, but it seems like it could be a good setup for you guys. You could paddock your horses for the night without having them in with our guys.

That sounds like a good idea if you have the room for the horses.

[lisa l aka marci]

Thank you Jose for inviting us.... it was a lot of fun..... if I can find a driver who can back up into Lexington Ave, around street cleaners and traffic (good job Barb, even though you nearly flattened the garbage truck) and a companion who wants to share my trailer, I too would probably like to join in.

Psssttt.........I've driven 26' long trailers in NYC (and backed them around corners, into TIGHT parking spaces), out the Long Island Expressway, all across NYS!......

[Mellifluous]

Gee, the parade looks like so much fun! - Can I bring Phoebe and join you guys next year? She has a little PR in her.
Heck, I wanna go with Q, too! (she's 7/8s Puerto Rican)

We can horsepool!

Maybe we need ot have a lottery of who gets to go since there is a cap? Or in the end, would all of us that want to actually be able to make the trip?

[Edurne]

I'm happy to support - I don't usually do anything in public with Primero.

[ErinC]

ditto,

[TrueStepPaso]

Jose & Sue......THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Sue....you are so sweet, and your calm demeanor helped everyone stay sane.

Jose....you are a true gentleman, and kept everyone "in the moment". Thank you for everything!

[TrueStepPaso]

Oh yeah........COUNT ME IN FOR NEXT YEAR!!!!!!

[Pasogirlz]

I think between Jose and I....we can weasel more horses into the parade. 8-) Don't underestimate us and our abilities. :twisted: er, uh, I mean :D

[TrueStepPaso]

YES! We need MORE Pasos!!!! It would truly be an awe inspiring sight!

[swaite]

Oh yes, we'll have more. The horse pooling sounds like a great idea! In a few years our town will have a Spa complex, complete with stalls for 200 horses and a 5 star hotel - great spot to stay over for those coming from the north! Next year will be great with more horses - hopefully Jose and I will have new trailer !!!!!!!

[Jose Rubero]

Maybe we need ot have a lottery of who gets to go since there is a cap? Or in the end, would all of us that want to actually be able to make the trip?

There is a cap now. They gave us 8 trailers and 3 bus parking permits, 21 security wristbands. Online they listed 20 Pasos. Not everyone gets to follow through with their commitments for many understandable reasons... so the number of riders will change. We ended up with 7.

The number of Pasos is not as important to me as getting committed riders there and back safely.

My ace card in getting a much larger number of riders accepted by the Parade Committee?.....
1) All or NONE!
2) And since Johny, one of the Coordinators, has been involved for over 30 years (now part time, a little older), he'll make sure we're ALL in. We are his treat. We make his p/t Coordinator position just as important as the general coordinator, the president, the secretary etc..... he will never let go of "his" contributuion to The Parade.
When he decides to stop volunteering I expect phone calls from committee members trying to be the contact person with the Paso Finos. Johny and I have spoken.... it will be Elizabeth, the secretary. I don't want the big fish who always get the credit .... I want the little fish that do all the work-Elizabeth.

Four years ago it was just Martinez and I with 2 littls girls as the banner carriers.... and we still stole the show.

More pictures: I haven't had a chance to check pictures posted by 5th ave photographers that have their own blogs (boricua.com? etc). Also their is a website for The Parade where they post general photos, directions, other activities (we've usually made it there also). You can view previous years'. Just google National Puerto Rican Parade, Boricua, Jose Rubero. Good luck.

[ErinC]

http://www.nationalpuertoricandayparade.org/

not on that yet!!!!

http://hispanicsurf.com/

[GeorgeGuns]

Well I'm only about 45 minutes from Edurne, have trailer, but if we can squeeze my wee Cascabel on with Primero, that would be nice. I can get me and Cas over to Edurne's easily enough. I dont' know how confident I would be driving a trailer around NY, its bad enough in DC area!

Definately count me in though, and if needed and possible (per the ride) I can bring a second horse along.

[ErinC]

the ride around the city is what scared me, that is why I was a walker this year so I could SEE how it was done.

I can do it!

you can do it!

[Edurne]

I don't have a problem driving to or in the city with a vehicle, and have done it many times. I'm just no backing expert with a trailer ..... as of yet.

[TrueStepPaso]

Neither am I!!! But I managed to back up on 70% of 44th St without killing anyone...go figure.

[swaite]

I saw that - you did a great job. It took me a long time to get just OK with backing - I still don't like it, I am always looking for that turn around area!

[tinomino]

This has nothing to do with anything but Sue I'll be up next wed to see that new baby your Rosita gave you :D I can't wait. I'll call you and let you know what time.

[Minouri]

I want to go too! It looks so fun! Who is going from up here in New England?

[ErinC]

going next year,
all of us,
me and my daughter.
terri, abby, kelly, jose and sue, jay and his wife, a few other friends of jose, barb, I know Tracy Shaw wants too, Laura from ME.
o god the list is pretty long.

[TrueStepPaso]

Thanks Sue! I don't totally suck at backing up, but I'm not pretty to watch...yikes!

Kim and Joane want to go next year, too!