As an equestrian, most, if not all of your Christmas presents this year will either be for your horse to wear, for you to wear while visiting the yard or have a distinct horsey theme. But what if you don’t feel like your horse is really a part of the festive season? What can you do to get him more involved? Well worry no more, I have 5 easy ways to give your horse a fantastic Christmas!
- Treats!
We all know that Christmas is the time for good food! So you can’t let your horse miss out on all this Christmas Joy can you? So stock up on your horses favourite treats or get truly into the Christmas spirit and buy some special Christmas treats! Lincoln do a nice range of Christmas flavoured treats in some pretty festive packaging, which I love!
Another really cool idea I saw while at University was Christmas Tree treats/enrichment! A Swiss girl on my yard at the time would hang a small Christmas tree in her ponies stable for him to nibble and scratch on. Now I don’t know if it has to be a certain species of tree, so maybe check before getting one, but isn’t this a brilliant idea? - Stockings and Presents
Give your horse a Christmas present in a stocking! You could either put one together yourself and fill it with all his favourite things, or you can be a bit lazy like me and buy a readymade one! I’m starting to realise that Lincoln are pretty on this Christmas for your horse thing as they have a lovely stocking of treats available which Scottie has had in the past! But I’m sure there are other brands out there too! Also, if you are putting your own together, Likit do a nice selection box for horses you can include! - Decorations and Dress Up
Okay, so this one is really more for your enjoyment than your horses, but some might enjoy it! Christmas decorations are the perfect excuse to do some spook busting with your horse. You could get together with your yard and have a mini show with a fancy dress competition and possibly a Christmas themed handy pony where you have to navigate round all the spooky Christmas decorations in the quickest time with the least mistakes.
You could also decorate the yard and even your stable if you are feeling brave! A nice potted Christmas tree in the yard with a few hardy decorations, some tinsel along the beams etc. But do be careful and make sure that anything which might harm the horse, especially if they decide to give it a bit of a nibble, is out of reach of the horses! - Christmas Ride
Get together with your yard and organise a Christmas ride as a group. You could dress up and even make plans to stop at a pub for a drink and a quick snack!
A yard I was at growing up always had Christmas rides with a couple of the ponies being driven so more people could come along in the carriage! The dress up was usually limited to maybe a few pairs of antlers, but it was always a fun ride and is great if you have children at the yard.
So hopefully now you have a few ideas of fun Christmassy things to do with your horse this year! I know that Scottie and I would love to see any photos of your Christmas Dress Up and Decorations, so please share them to us on Social Media.
If we don’t have another post for you before Christmas, have a very merry Christmas from me and Scottie and a Happy New Year!
Last Updated on 22/12/2021
