PENDLETON – The sound of hooves and rumble of wagon wheels filled downtown Pendleton Friday morning as the annual Westward Ho! Parade wound through town.

Thousands lined the streets to watch as horses of every breed and size made their way through the parade route. This year’s parade included horses, oxen and other non-motorized vehicles as well as several marching bands and the well-known Round-Up Mounted Band from the Happy Canyon Night Show. This year the parade also included a special guest from Washington, D.C.

Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman joined U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., in the parade. Veneman wore a dark blue suit with an American flag emblazoned on the jacket as she rode a horse beside Smith, who was dressed in full cowboy regalia, complete with Angora chaps and “Tom Mix” western hat.

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., also was in the parade, riding in a wagon pulled by matching Friesian horses. Also close at hand was the Oregon Mounted Governor’s Guard.

The parade also had a more unique kind of celebrity taking part.

Snoopy, a 12-year old sorrel quarter horse gelding, made his way through the parade, as he has for several years. Snoopy has been in several parades and was chosen to carry the grand marshal of the Westward Ho! Parade in 1998. But he is best known in Pendleton for another distinction.

Snoopy has been ridden in the grand entry of the Pendleton Round-Up more than any other local equine.

“He’s made 12 grand entries,” owner Jim Bealer said.

“Both of our daughters used him entirely during their court careers,” said Jerri Bealer.

The Bealers bought the horse as a 7-year-old from Paul Cimmiyotti when Bealer’s daughter, Jamie, was named to the Pendleton Round-Up Court. He carried Jamie and her sister, Juliann, through every one of their entrances and has served as a backup for several other court members.

Why is he so popular?

“He’s kind of flashy with his flaxen mane and tail,” Jim Bealer said. “And he is a very smooth jumper with a lot of speed.”

Snoopy comes by the speed honestly, having started his training career as a barrel racing horse. Because of his speed he shows on his entrance, the Bealer family is careful to loan him to only a really capable rider but has made him available to some members of the court in the past, Jerri Bealer said.

And what does he do on his off time?

“He pleasure rides,” Jerri Bealer said. “But he’s really the family puppy dog.”