MNSSHP - headless horseman and horse took a tumble

[leelee9878]

Years ago, the horse galloped along the parade route and it was stunning! It is my understanding that a nasty fall caused Disney to change the speed of the horse.

Does anybody else remember that?

I remember when the horse used to go faster and sparks would fly up from the hooves, it was magnificent and my favorite part of the night. I do not know why they slowed the horse down, I assumed for safety reasons but not sure if anything specific happened.

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

Here is a video of the actual tumble.

 

[Tikihula]

From the above video it looks like the horse was rounding a corner and his hooves slipped out from underneath him and the horse did indeed fall on his right side. Since the horse is so well trained, he would probably not bolt through the crowd like a "green" horse might, but he continued on down the parade route, with the thick crowds on both sides of the street acting as barriers to keep him on course.
So glad neither horse nor rider were injured. The pavement definitely looks damp and they should not have let the Headless Horseman lead that parade.

 

[themilesfamily]

My heart goes out to the horseman and horse! I hope both are okay today.

I, too, love the ride of the Headless Horseman in the MNSSHP parade. It's marvelous.

While I'm thinking of it, I want to put in a plug for the Disney movie "Ichabod and Mr. Toad" which is On Demand on the Disney Family Movies channel right now. Such a great version of the Headless Horseman on film.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

Wow, that fall did look very scary.

Yes, I remember several years at watching the horse & horseman fly by at a very fast pace. Most people could not even get a picture, cause it was a blurr.

About 3 yrs ago we where out in front of city hall and he did the circle heading toward the end of the parade route when a hoof miss stepped on one of the steel / street car rails and he almost fell that night right in front of us. We thought it was dangerous having him run over those things then. I know I twist my foot at least once a trip on them.

But the headless horseman remains the entire best thing out of mnsshp!

 

[disneydad78]

My mouth dropped. I usually play things off as no big deal. That was SCARY. What a well trained horse to not bolt and run.

 

[h518may]

Me and DD were standing just before the curve. We had just watched the horse go by, I looked down at DD and heard a noise. Look up to see the horse coming up from the fall. And watched the horseman helped up by the closes CMs.

We actually didn't think the horse would run that night, and the CM I talked to said they didn't think the horse would run that night. We were glad to here the horse and rider were ok.

 

[khakismum]

One of the folks I follow on tumblr posted this video just 2 days ago.

I hope the rider and horse are fine.

**edit** sorry didn't see the earlier post of the same video.

 

[CathrynRose]

After watching the vids, I find it a shame of the mocking laughter and sarcasm of the people in the crowd.

Agreed.

I was thinking the same thing. What is wrong with people?

No kidding.

I remember when the horse used to go faster and sparks would fly up from the hooves, it was magnificent and my favorite part of the night. I do not know why they slowed the horse down, I assumed for safety reasons but not sure if anything specific happened.

Yes, I remember this as well. Never could get a picture - he flew by.

Here is a video of the actual tumble.

OMGosh.

 

[KigerKat]

We were there on 9/30 (I think, if I'm wrong about the date, then it was a Sunday), and we had a but of rain right before the first parade. There was no HH, which we were so looking forward to seeing. We asked an "important looking" CM, and they told us it was because the street was wet and they didn't want to risk the horse slipping. When we asked if he would be out for the second parade, she said that they still wouldn't let him ride.

 

[goofy Jr. 88]

Granted in the first set of videos on this thread, there is some laughing but that is farther into the route and I imagine these people were not aware of the fall. And after watching the video on page 5 where the actual spill takes place, I heard no one laughing.

 

[fairestoneofall]

that video is scary. i'm so thankful neither of them were hurt.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We were there that night, 10/8, right? and were watching the second parade, we wondered why the horseman didn't ride. They must have caught the horse (his name is Kahn, btw, beautiful horse, we had visited him earlier in the stables) because he never ran by us with or without a rider. We were watching near the Golden Horseshoe.

edit: oh nm ,of course we wouldn't have seen him run by without his rider because we were watching the second parade.

I did think it was weird he didn't ride for the second parade, the ground was completely dry by that time. I do remember it raining a bit around 5 pm that night.

 

[niffer5150]

We were there that night, 10/8, right? and were watching the second parade, we wondered why the horseman didn't ride. They must have caught the horse (his name is Kahn, btw, beautiful horse, we had visited him earlier in the stables) because he never ran by us with or without a rider. We were watching near the Golden Horseshoe.

edit: oh nm ,of course we wouldn't have seen him run by without his rider because we were watching the second parade.

I did think it was weird he didn't ride for the second parade, the ground was completely dry by that time. I do remember it raining a bit around 5 pm that night.

the rider may have been hurt or the horse may have been sent back to the stable for a vet check. i've had a horse fall like that when i was riding on dirt and seeing that guy hit pavement like that actually makes me want to barf a little. horses are really good at hiding injuries sometimes and won't start limping till soreness sets in later.

 

[benniecooper]

We were there that night, 10/8, right? and were watching the second parade, we wondered why the horseman didn't ride. They must have caught the horse (his name is Kahn, btw, beautiful horse, we had visited him earlier in the stables) because he never ran by us with or without a rider. We were watching near the Golden Horseshoe.

edit: oh nm ,of course we wouldn't have seen him run by without his rider because we were watching the second parade.

I did think it was weird he didn't ride for the second parade, the ground was completely dry by that time. I do remember it raining a bit around 5 pm that night.

How did you get to visit him? That would be incredible!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

How did you get to visit him? That would be incredible!

We went to the stables at Fort Wilderness, not the trail riding ones but the ones next to the pony rides. They had him out getting him ready for his ride. We were actually told that there are 3 (rarely 4) horses that are used for the rides, Kahn is the one that you will usually see. The others are backups.

 

[benniecooper]

We went to the stables at Fort Wilderness, not the trail riding ones but the ones next to the pony rides. They had him out getting him ready for his ride. We were actually told that there are 3 (rarely 4) horses that are used for the rides, Kahn is the one that you will usually see. The others are backups.

Thanks for your reply. I started looking and found a thread that you had created about visiting the stables. Fortunately, we fly out to WDW in the morning so I will be visiting the stables this weekend. You have no idea how excited I am! I'm looking more forward to this than anything.

 

[maiapapaya]

We went to the stables at Fort Wilderness, not the trail riding ones but the ones next to the pony rides. They had him out getting him ready for his ride. We were actually told that there are 3 (rarely 4) horses that are used for the rides, Kahn is the one that you will usually see. The others are backups.

Did you go for a stable tour or did you just wander around the area? What time were they getting Kahn ready for his ride? My sister is interested in trying to see him.

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

We went to the stables at Fort Wilderness, not the trail riding ones but the ones next to the pony rides. They had him out getting him ready for his ride. We were actually told that there are 3 (rarely 4) horses that are used for the rides, Kahn is the one that you will usually see. The others are backups.

I'm pretty sure Kahn is the name of the horse in Mulan too!

 

[khakismum]

I can confirm, the Headless Horseman rides again. He just rode past me!