Several horses were spooked by loud marching bands at Fort Worth's Parade of Lights on Sunday and nearly trampled people in the crowd, members of a horse-riding club said.
"I know I was in the crowd, because I saw people starting to run," said Kelsi Hatcher, a member of the Rough Riders Saddle Club.
She said her horse became agitated and fell to the ground when riders were forced to pass by a high school band on Weatherford Street.
"I think they [parade organizers] made a mistake," she said. "I think they need to fix it. And hopefully this never happens, and someone doesn't get seriously injured or dies."
Her father, Todd Hatcher, also was riding.
"My first thought was somebody is fixing to get trampled," he said. "Everybody in the crowd scattered, and they realized they were in trouble."
Another rider, 11-year-old Felicity Martin, was guiding her horse with one hand while carrying an American flag in the other.
"He just started freaking out," Martin said. "I was trying to keep all four of his feet on the ground."
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Felicity's father, Darrell Martin, said the club is experienced around large crowds and has ridden in the Parade of Lights before.
He blames a change in the parade route this year.
"Most parades, they take one path. You don't see them crossing on the same road," he said. "For whatever reason, they decided that was a good idea this year. It wasn't."
Parade organizer Jay Downie with Downtown Fort Worth Inc. said he moved the staging area this year closer to downtown to improve the traffic flow but never foresaw this problem.
"You think you have everything all just completely set, right? But there's always something," Downie said. "But we learn from it and we try to make it better next year."
Downie promised to work with horse riders to make sure next year's parade goes off without a hitch.
One solution is to make sure the bands don't play in the few spots along the route where they are close to the horses, he said.
The riders said they would like to see the staging area moved back to its previous location or the route expanded to accommodate all the participants and spectators.
"We just want it to be safe and fun," Darrell Martin said.
