How many distractions does it take to spook a horse?
That's a question that Tucson Rodeo officials are hoping to avoid ahead of Thursday's parade. So they've tightened up the qualifying process for parade-marshal horses, which got a full dose of honks, hisses and screeches Saturday morning.
The idea, they said, is to subject the four-legged workers to a concoction of scary sounds, hoping that when the animals are trotting down the parade route, they won't freak out if an emergency vehicle happens to blare its siren.
"If they can handle it here, there's a good chance they can handle it on the parade route," said Herb Wagner, an operations official with the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee.
Scrutiny for the parade has been ramped up this year, after 5-year-old Brielle Boisvert was killed while riding a horse in last year's parade. She was knocked off her mount by horses that were spooked and careened into her from behind. She fell and was crushed by a wagon's wheels.
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Just north of the rodeo grounds Saturday, near Irvington Road and South Sixth Avenue, dozens of horses were corralled near some less-familiar vehicles: a firetruck, a Sun Tran bus and a street sweeper.
As the marshals and their horses trotted up to the front of the firetruck, firefighters let 'er rip with a few siren noises. Ideally, the horse should stay calm; if it gets unsettled, the horse and rider may get marked down on a checklist.
And although the parade has done similar tests in the past, officials this year are being more meticulous in their documentation of the more than 50 marshals who will travel down the parade route next week, said Steve Boyce, marshal chairman.
While officials say they can't simulate everything, they do hope a checklist of more than a dozen points — from exposure to city vehicles to a miniature marching band — can make the Old Pueblo tradition safer. The checklist includes such points as "Can ride in front of wagon" or "street sweepers (in motion)."
The tighter inspections, one marshal said, are for the better.
"It's such a big tradition for Tucson," said Bruce Modrak, 61, who is riding again this year with his horse Boo. "You want to make it nice for them."
Some new rules at the parade
• No one will be able to cross the parade route. (Those who do will face misdemeanor criminal charges.)
• No one can stand in the roadway.
• Spectators can't sit on the curb.
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