Tragedy kindles debate on rodeo parade's future

La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Rodeo Parade — in its 82nd year — now draws spectators from exploding suburbs in an urban county that recently reached 1 million people, and horses make their way along thoroughfares thick with noisy crowds.

Old-timers and other supporters say the parade is one of the last vestiges of our cowboy days, a crucial link to our past and part of our collective identity. Others wonder whether it's just too much of a risk.

At press time Thursday, nearly three-quarters of respondents in an unscientific Arizona Daily Star poll of more than 1,300 people said the parade, which this year had nearly 200 entries, should continue despite the death of 5-year-old Brielle Boisvert, who was thrown off the horse she was riding and run over by a horse-drawn wagon. But many are calling for a closer look at the parade's future.

"I don't really like it a whole lot — it's superdangerous. The horses are big, the crowds are big. … It's a dangerous situation," said Erik Powell, pastor of the Sonoita Bible Church, which the Boisvert family attended for many years.

"I think there needs to be some more precautions," said Dorothy H. Finley, chairwoman of Finley Distributing Co., who was born and raised on a Southern Arizona ranch and is in her 80s. "I've always loved the rodeo parade, but we just can't have it with these people getting hurt."

Laura Orabone, a 36-year-old Tucson artist and mother, says though she supports the idea of the parade, she believes even the most conscientious wagon driver cannot control horses that are spooked by the parade's chaos and noise. Orabone took her 6-year-old son to last year's parade.

"With small children, and heavy, heavy animals and wagons, I think it's just maybe getting to be too much," she said. "We can't ignore that a child has died, and I firmly believe it could happen again."

The parade's future is up to the City Council and city manager, Tucson Police Chief Richard Miranda said Thursday.

"This event, this tragedy today, is going to cause some dialogue," he said.

Mayor Bob Walkup said he and the City Council expect to receive more information about the incident, and the council will weigh the impact of the tragedy on the parade's future. He left a press conference before reporters could ask questions, and neither he nor his representatives returned phone calls.

Last year, Beth Walkup, the mayor's wife, was injured when runaway horses rammed into the horse-drawn carriage in which she was riding. Three months later, Walkup, 63, told the Star she was still being treated for severe neck pain. She was taking pain medication and was under the care of a neurosurgeon, she said.

In a second incident last year, a wagon carrying Attorney General Terry Goddard ran into a fence on the rodeo grounds near the end of the parade route, after a horse pulling it also broke into high speeds. Goddard and his son, Kevin, were not hurt.

Finley, who grew up riding horses and is a longtime supporter of the rodeo parade, noted that when animals are out of their element they often get spooked.

Horses are timid, fearful animals, and when they become frightened, their first instinct is to flee, concurred Carol Grubb, a Tucsonan who works with the local Equine Voices Rescue & Sanctuary.

"It's just such a very, very tragic experience for the community and the tradition that Tucson has in the parade," she said.

The event — which organizers say is the world's longest nonmotorized parade — moved to its South Side location in 1991. Dick Swanson, then chairman of the Rodeo Parade Committee, told the Star the "sole motive for moving from Downtown was our concern for safety and liability issues."

Downtown streets were not wide enough to enable crowds to move out of the way of spooked animals, Swanson said at the time. He also mentioned sharp turns along the Downtown parade route as a concern, along with noise and light bouncing off tall buildings.

Moving the parade was an improvement that allowed for a wider route, said carriage driver Caroline Cowan, a local systems operator who has lived in Tucson since 1966 and has attended many rodeo parades and driven horses in at least 10 of them.

Cowan said the all-volunteer rodeo committee works all year to ensure the event is safe and efficient. Many of the drivers are members of the Desert Harness Drivers and train year-round to ensure safety. She recalled once having trouble when she brought her own horse to the parade, when the animal became spooked by the cymbals and drums of the marching band behind him. But Cowan was able to calm him down.

"The rodeo parade is the first sunburn of the season. It's one of the few free, fun things you can still take your kids to," she said.

But to others, the parade is a relic that needs to be revisited.

"It's almost like we've been doing this for 82 years, so it's like we can't stop. But as a community we are in a more progressive mode. We have to re-evaluate our traditions to see if they are worth continuing," said Gary Vella, 56, a Tucson warehouse manager and spokesman for SPEAK — Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom, which plans a protest Sunday of the way rodeo animals are treated.

"The parade is a subtle form of animal exploitation. ... Horses should be on trails and in other scenarios — not on city streets."

Vella also objects to the closure of local schools every year for "Rodeo Days" — parade day and the day after. The Tucson Unified School District includes a link to rodeo events on its Web site.

Yet for many, the rodeo parade is an integral part of local culture.

"It's a tie to the Old West that we're known for," said Tina Jácome, the granddaughter of Carlos Jácome, founder of the now-defunct Jácome's Department Store. Jácome's was once the place to shop in Downtown Tucson, and sat along the old rodeo parade route. "The parade and rodeo is our link between current times and old times. And it brings such joy to people."

Tina Jácome's cousin, Henry Jácome, called Thursday's accident a tragedy, but not one that should prevent future parades.

"All these winter visitors still want to see the parade. I used to take my grandkids. It's always exciting," said Jácome, who used to watch the parade from the roof of his uncle's store. He said that when Western movies and TV shows were popular, their stars were stars of the Tucson rodeo parade, too. Gene Autry rode in 1948. Jácome recalled seeing William Boyd, who played Hopalong Cassidy in movies and on TV.

"There are wonderful costumes — it's quite a production," Jácome said. "There's not a year that there hasn't been some breakaway where a horse gets spooked, but it's usually a minor deal. I think what happened is a freak accident. I think it's in Tucson's best interest to keep the parade going."