JACKSON – To celebrate her 32nd wedding anniversary today, Rita Hardy will drive on Interstate 20 from her Utica home to the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson.

Her husband, Virgil, will take a different route to the celebration. And he’s not driving.

Virgil Hardy is one of more than 200 people riding in a wagon train from Wesson to the rodeo at the Mississippi Coliseum. The train, called the Rebel Riders from Wesson, is one of nine starting in different areas of the state that will converge at the rodeo today and Friday.

Hardy, who was a carpenter for Waterways Experiment Station and lived in Redwood in Warren County until he retired, has participated in the wagon train for three years.

The reason he enjoys it is obvious, he said.

“It’s peaceful,” Hardy said.

His wife usually trail-rides with him, but she had to sit out this trip because she still works at Watkins Nursery & Landscaping, Hardy said.

However, they’ve had their anniversary date at the rodeo for 10 years.

“It just happened that way. After we got into horses, we started going to rodeos,” Hardy said.

The rodeo and livestock show, which started Jan. 28 and will end Feb. 20. Country star Gary Allan will perform tonight at 7:30. The western festival begins Friday at 9 a.m. and will continue through the weekend.

The wagon train averages about eight miles a day and has been on the road since Saturday, said wagon master Randy Hudson of Wesson. It’s a 65-mile trip from Wesson to the coliseum, using mostly back roads. The group usually camps on farms, though on Tuesday night they were parked at a horse-trailer dealership Lewis Sundowner on Interstate 55 in Terry. The number of horses and wagons fluctuates, but the group started with 18 wagons and 151 horse riders, Hudson said.

“Some ride a day. Some ride all week,” Hudson said.

Redwood native Johnny Phillips is one of the people who ride all week. This year was his second to ride with his friend, Hardy. They ride Phillips’ two Tennessee walking horses, Judge and Stormy.

Horses have been a lifelong hobby for Phillips, a retired firefighter for the Vicksburg Fire Department.

“I cut my teeth on a saddle horn,” said Phillips, a former president of the Vicksburg Riding Club.

Phillips has been trail riding for 15 years, but the wagon train is a special event.

“You meet someone new every year,” Phillips said.

Asked what was the most difficult part of the ride, Hardy replied, “Nothing, if you enjoy it.” Then, noting the persistent drizzle, he said, “Getting wet, I guess you’d say.”

“It could’ve been worse,” Phillips said about the weather. He pointed out that during last year’s ride, temperatures hovered in the 30s.

The horses can take the weather easily, though.

“You just put a blanket on them. The body heat will take care of them,” Phillips said.

The event has grown during the 18 years Hudson has participated. He thinks its novelty accounts for its growing popularity.

“People love horses. (But) I think it’s enthusiasm for the wagons, really,” Hudson said.