Quarter Horses Used in Magical Celebration in Texas
Photos courtesy of Sherry Reynolds.
By: Tatum Richey
Horses aren’t just for showing, racing, competing, performance, and fun. They’re also used in magical celebrations like one that took place recently in Vernon, Texas. The 133rd edition of the annual Doan’s May Picnic was held on the lawn of the historic Doan’s Adobe where hundreds of guests and participants celebrated the historic event.
The adobe house is the oldest structure still standing in Wilbarger County. It is located about 12 miles north of Vernon on FM 2916 near the area on the Red River where cattle drives crossed as they headed north to railheads in Kansas and Nebraska in the late 1800’s.
A gorgeous group of Palomino Quarter Horses escorted in and guarded the Doan’s 2015 King John Andrew Oliver and Queen Kathryn Paige Patterson. Members of their Royal Court presided over the coronation ceremony. The Doan’s King Brayden Owen Hernandez and Blakely Rose Schur were crowned the 2016 Doan’s King and Queen.
Brayden, a fifth grade student at Shive Elementary, has a legacy that goes back several generations and family members say his heritage includes links to Jesse James and Davy Crockett. Blakely, 11, has a family can be traced across the state of Texas, as far back as the mid 1800s and in Wilbarger County back to the early 1900s.
The picnic is the oldest continuously celebrated event in the state.
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Photos courtesy of Sherry Reynolds.
