Impressive turnout for Hordle Christmas horse parade

A CHRISTMAS horse parade around Hordle this year was extra special for organiser Kelly Adam.

Her mother Bernice died at the age of 57 of Alzheimer’s in March and, to honour her, Kelly took her mum’s pony Ruby on the ride.

She said: “It was terrible to lose mum this year but to have Ruby there was lovely. My daughter Emily led her round while a little girl sat on her."

Kelly said she was “overwhelmed” this year to receive lots of messages from people asking if the parade could pass their home or go down their street.

She said: “The response was fantastic. At the end of each road there were groups of really excited children everywhere – some had even brought their own hobby horses with them.

"It was lovely to see elderly people waving from their windows as we went by.”

She added: “We spent well over an hour going all round the village and went much further than we normally do. Other yards had asked if they could join in, so we had a big turnout.

"Our horses are very special to us, and the ride was just a nice way of giving something back to people after such an awful year.”