Holiday Horse Traditions
Bring the magic of the season to life
Including horses in your holiday traditions is the perfect way to capture the magic of the season. Its also a great way to make sure you don’t miss out on your barn time when things get busy with travel, parties, friends, family, and gifts. After all, horses are our family so it just seems right to have a few traditions that include them.
I hope you enjoy making new favorite memories with your horse this holiday season!
Ten Magical Holiday Horse Traditions
1. Help horses in need
Donate treats, feed, halters, and wish list supplies to a local horse rescue. If you can spare the time it’s also very rewarding to spend a day pitching on whatever tasks they need help with.
2. Riding on Christmas morning.
I know you might be thinking there is always way too much going on already to fit in a ride. But just picture getting up early and saddling up for a sunrise ride on Christmas morning before coming in to warm up with hot chocolate and opening presents. It doesn’t get any better than that.
3. Make apple wreaths
Making apple wreaths to hang on your horse’s stalls is super easy. They look cute, horses love to eat them, and they’re not pricey to make. You can check out the DIY how-to right here.
4. Pick out a new riding journal
Buy yourself a new riding journal where you can jot down all your goals for the upcoming year. Later on, you can also keep it on hand at the barn to write down post ride thoughts and keep checking in on your progress throughout the year. If you’re like me and feel like a standard notebook just doesn’t fit the energy of your goals these journals might feel a bit more fitting.
5. Create Horsey Holiday Greetings
Take pictures of your horses and use them for Holiday cards. I figured most of the people I send cards out to would expect them to have horses on them anyway so I might as well make it my own. The custom card printing options online have become so easy to use that you really don’t have to be a pro photographer to upload your pics and create a beautiful unique card. And if you watch for sales you can get them pretty reasonable.
6. Make cutout cookies for all the horses.
This recipe doesn’t have any added sugar and can be made in the oven or the food dehydrator. Plus they make cute gifts to give to your riding buddies.
7. Decorate the stalls with bells
It’s easy to hang bells on all the stall doors. They look adorable plus every time you open your horse’s stall you will get a little boost of Holiday cheer. I found these rustic bells that are perfect for stalls and for adding finishing touches to horsey gifts.
8. Horse book exchange with friends
Have a horse themed book exchange with your riding friends. Each of you buys your favorite horse book or a book that you’ve been wanting to read then draw names out of a hat to see who you swap with. If you’re at a loss for what book to get there are some amazing adult horse coloring books that would work well as a universal gift.
9. Twelve days of horse gratitude
Write one note each day for the 12 days of Christmas about the things you love about your horse and the feelings that come up when you think about being with horses. Or write one thing each day that you are grateful for from the past year with your horse.
10. Unwind with horse time
Spend an hour or two just hanging out with your horse (no tasking or goals allowed). Its a lot of fun to go to all the parties and spend time with family and friends but it can also be a bit exhausting. Taking some time with your horse to just listen to them munch on hay while you braid their hair can be the perfect way to unwind and get grounded.
