''Dixie & the Piper''
I owned a glorious black Percheron mare named Lullaby Dixie a few years ago. I bought her at the Great Circus Parade held in Milwaukee, WI. She was "short" so far as Percheron mares went at 17.1 hands tall, but her personality made up for it. She was a SHOW MARE for certain. It took us a while to get together on what was expected in a show ring, but eventually, Dixie discovered how to relax. It was good. She & I took home so many blue ribbons ( first place) at shows and we had such a great time competing!
When I lived in Maryland, my husband and I had been offering our Vis-a-Vis carriage for weddings. Oh, it was a beauty, even if it was used when we bought it. Below is Lynn, but the same carriage.
So, when I moved here to central Pa, it just made sense to offer the carriage and a horse for all kinds of fun things. We did weddings, Fall Festivals, proposals, town tours, parades and a ton more. I loved it.
There was one wedding though I wished I'd never booked... It was for one of the Dupont family of Delaware and was held in Maryland. I chose to use Dixie because she Loved being in what she thought was a parade. She'd prance along, thinking she was top dawg. This time, we had an escort of two police cars ( thus- the 'parade') to help keep us from being hit by idiots in cars or trucks. It worked well, and we ALL could enjoy the day. I drove and Dixie danced all of the way to where we were to pick up the Bride. We were to pick her up, along with her mother, I believe, and drive them to their wedding. Wait, and then drop the Bride & Groom off to their wedding reception. Easy enough for me and it was more money towards the winter hay fund.
All three of us- the now "ex", Dixie and myself- waited patiently and quietly for the Bride to get finished dressing, etc. There was a screeching sound behind us, which scared the bee-jeesus out of all of us! Dixie's head shot up, ears pointing backward, I turned around on the box seat, and the Ex looked up too.
What in the heck was being killed !?!?!
Then I saw what it was. It was a fellow in kilts holding a bagpipe. Oh wow, what a noise it was when it was being tuned up! Well, let me tell you- neither Dixie nor myself expected that. I had no clue if Dixie had ever been exposed to bagpipes but I know she hadn't during our time together. The Piper came walking down the grass over some rocks and continued playing. My mare was about to explode in being calm. I think her head was up in the air a good 12', trying to figure out that noise. After getting her under control, we asked the Piper to walk in front of her so she could see and hear what it was. He was very nice and did so. Nope- that made matters worse. Dixie wanted to just leave the whole area with or without that Bride. Luckily, no one inside the little cabin noticed what was happening outside that little cabin. The Piper stopped playing and Dixie calmed down, and it wasn't long before we were on our way- FAR away from the horrid screeching man carrying funny looking sticks.
We danced our way down the lane to where the wedding was, dropped off the Bride and her mom, waited for the ceremony to be over, and picked up the newlyweds. We then drove along the bottom of a Huge field, sans Piper. It was a wonderful wedding drive. Plenty of time to relax and prepare for their reception.
Upon arrival at the house, there was most assuredly a lot of noise. It seems the Brides' mom had hired a Mariachi band to welcome the newlyweds to the reception. So much noise- I thought for sure after that dreaded Piper, that Dixie was going to lose it. She did not. My amazing black mare bounced her way down the circular drive to the big house, stopped and stood quietly. Ha- that band marched around us as the couple got out, and I, for one,
was glad we never did see that bagpiper again.
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