PANTOMIME horses, the traditional St Stephen’s Day racing and hunt meets, horse-drawn sleigh scenes on Christmas cards and those iconic Budweiser Clydesdale television adverts – all these combine for horses to take centre stage at Christmas time.

And while Santa Claus broke ranks to hire reindeer for his sleigh, his predecessor St Nicholas chose a white horse as his mode of transport for doing his rounds.

Although before either four-legged creature was cast in their roles, the donkey is the first equine to feature in the Christmas story, often appearing in the background cast of every nativity scene.

Or was there? There is no actual reference to a donkey in the Bible. Instead it’s assumed that it was indeed a donkey used for Joseph and Mary’s 70-mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They had travelled to Joseph’s home town after Caesar Augustus decreed that a census would take place.

The Bible does tell us that the baby Jesus was born in a stable with a manger improvised as a crib, a description which has since evolved into the classic nativity scene.

Moving to the fourth century, when Saint Nicholas was renowned for his charitable work in what is now modern-day Turkey. Dressed in a red robe and mounted on a white horse, the bishop of Myra and his helper distributed gifts to children and the poor around the city.

In time, this led to the feast day of St Nicholas being celebrated from the Middle Ages in Western Europe. Typical German efficiency, Christmas starts early there when on the night of December 5th, children place their shoes, boots, some hay and a carrot for St Nicholas’s horse outside the front door to find their footwear filled with chocolates and fruit the next morning.

This led to the Christmas gifts – Weihnachtsgeschenke – tradition on Nikolaustag. Several other Yuletide traditions, such as advent calendars and decorating Christmas trees, also began in Germany. Belgium and France celebrate St Nicholas Day too on December 6th, while in The Netherlands, Sinterklaas, takes place the previous day.

Just as many Halloween traditions were brought to North America by Irish immigrants, mid-16th century Dutch settlers brought this Sinterklaas custom to New York and over the centuries, became known as ‘Sinty Claus.’

Since then, Christmas has grown into the holiday season as we now know it. Let’s take a look at some of the historic and whimsical facts, legends and traditions involving horses at Christmastime.

DID YOU KNOW

  • The distinctive cross marking on a donkey’s back is said to date back to the crucifixion scene when the shadow of the cross fell across a loyal donkey that had remained standing nearby after the crowd dispersed.
  • Another legend involves the robin, said to have been splashed by a drop of blood as it perched on Jesus’s shoulder to comfort him. Robins have appeared on Christmas cards since Victorian times when postmen were nicknamed ‘robins’ as they wore bright red uniforms. And so the robin started to appear on Christmas cards representing the postman who delivered these cards.
  • Robins are also synonymous with the legendary stallion master Philip Heenan as they would land to take feed from his outstretched hand. The late Tynagh horsewoman Chantal Deon even offered to bring Philip a turkey dinner with her one year when her mare was due to be covered by Clover Hill on Christmas Day.
  • Naughty or nice? According to German folklore, St Nicholas had a servant named Knecht Ruprecht, who left bundles of twigs in the shoes of naughty children who were listed in his ‘black book’. This could also have been based on the pagan god Odin, said to capture naughty children.
  • Odin was also the name of a Bord na gCapall stallion. A winner of two races in his native France, Odin is listed in its 1980 book as standing with Pierce Dreelan in Graiguenamanagh.
  • Nearby Thomastown is said to be the burial place of Saint Nicholas after two Holy Land crusaders brought his remains back to be buried in the medieval village of Newtown Jerpoint.
  • Amerigo and Schimmel are the most common names given in Dutch folklore for the white horse of Sinterklaas.
  • Pantomime horses date back to the late 19th century and are modelled on centaur and donkey costumes used in ancient Greek and Roman shows. One of the most famous four-legged stars of this traditional family outing over the Christmas holidays was Blondin Donkey. The star of the Griffith Brothers act at the Royal Holborn Theatre, the prop was named after the daredevil tightrope walker Charles Blondin, who crossed the Niagara Falls.
  • ‘Hobbies’ were the ancient horse of Celtic Ireland and the name is also lent to hobby horses, based on an Irish tradition of boys racing each other on stick horses on St Stephen’s Day.
  • Real racehorses have since replaced the toy version for the customary St Stephen’s Day horse racing fest. Named after the patron saint of horses – St Stephen – race meetings are set to take place this year at Down Royal, Leopardstown and Limerick.
  • The traditional St Stephen’s Day hunt meet is also held on December 26th, his feast day. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith, is known as the patron saint of horses as he once prayed for a cure for his sick horse. The horse miraculously recovered.
  • St Stephen’s Day was widely marked around Europe. Bakers traditionally baked bread in the shape of horseshoes that was later fed to horses after it was blessed by the local priest. Oats, hay and holy water (saved for use on sick horses) were also blessed and horses, often stabled throughout harsh winters, were taken out on this day to be decorated, paraded, taken into churches for blessings and raced around churchyards.
  • The St Stephen’s Day mummers, a custom still carried out around several parts of Ireland, has a Welsh equivalent in the Mari Lwyd (or Grey Mare). The tradition dates back to pagan times and is celebrated in Wales during December and January. The main prop is a horse’s skull, decorated with colourful reins, ribbons and bells and is carried around local villages by a group of singers.
  • Going from house to house singing Christmas carols is traditionally known as to “go a-wassailing.” Last weekend saw the annual Wassail Parade take place in the picturesque Vermont town of Woodstock. Horse-drawn wagons festooned in bells, brightly decorated storefronts and homes along the parade route, hot cider and music are all part of its appeal which normally draws thousands more visitors to Woodstock. This year’s line-up included the Irish Christmas in America show, combining a mix of song, storytelling and dance.
  • Having a team of eight massive bays hauling the famous red, white, and gold beer wagon, with two traditionally clad drivers and a Dalmatian dog on board, is marketing gold for Budweiser. Their Budweiser Clydesdales television commercials are iconic and one of the most famous is their classic 1987 advert, which features the team being hitched up and driven through the snow to deliver a Christmas tree to the local town.
  • The Budweiser Clydesdales had togged out previously to take part in the famous snowball fight scene for the 1987 Christmas advert. Now 25 years old, it still ranks as one of the most popular amongst the Budweiser commercials collection, which also includes ‘Respect’, the one-off special made to commemorate 9/11.
  • American cities ran on horsepower for decades and a charming Christmas tradition was street parties held for the working horses of major cities. One such street party for the capital city’s horses, during the early 20th century, was organised by the Washington Animal Rescue League. It took place at 12th Street, which was transformed by rows of Christmas trees hung with apples and corn decorations, while the four-legged guests dined at troughs filled with grain.
  • Snowman was the $80 former ploughhorse bought off a slaughterhouse-bound truck by Dutch immigrant Harry de Leyer. By the end of his Grand Prix career, Snowman, whose story captured the public’s attention, was inducted into the American Hall of Show Jumping Fame.
  • Snowman was the subject of several New York Times and Life magazine features and made an appearance on the Tonight Show where host Johnny Carson sat on the horse facing backwards. The famous grey was also the subject of three books, including Elizabeth Letts’ The Eighty Dollar Champion while the film Harry & Snowman, based on her book, featured on the bill at the 2015 Equus Film Festival in New York.
  • Jingle Bells, one of the most famous Christmas carols was originally titled The One Horse Open Sleigh. It was written in 1857 by Massachusetts-born organist and choir director James Pierpont for a Thanksgiving church service in Savannah. Living in the Deep South, his memories of New England winters inspired the song with its opening line of ‘Dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh.”
  • Can You Stop The Cavalry was ranked the fourth most-popular Christmas song in Ireland according to an Irish Times poll conducted in 2017. Written and performed by Jona Lewie, the anti-war song reached number three in the UK charts in 1980. The Rubber Bandits Horse Outside was another song that almost topped the Christmas charts in 2010, pipped by that year’s X Factor winner Matt Cardle.
  • Extra carrots are provided in the Christmas Day rations for the four-legged members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment although its work as usual for the regiment in their 365-day a year role of standing guard at the royal palaces around London.
  • Carol services have taken place at their barracks and the daily morning inspection changes on Christmas morning to a fancy dress theme. The lucky prize-winners receive lighter duties for the day.
  • An Garda Síochána social media followers will have spotted its Mounted Unit members featured in one of the the lighthearted daily searches around Ireland for Dazzler, the missing elf.
  • The London International Horse Show, which kicked off on Thursday, has moved to a temporary home while its usual venue at Olympia undergoes renovation work. A visit to Olympia is an annual tradition for generations with its festive atmosphere and last-minute Christmas shopping opportunities. And then there’s the visit from Santa Claus and traditional rendition of The First Noel during the nightly finale.
  • The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment perform their musical ride at this year’s show and keeping in line with the festive theme, the show jumping schedule includes the Santa, Ivy, Snowflake, Christmas Cracker and Christmas Tree classes.
  • Plenty of Christmas theme names found too in the racing world, most notably the 1964 Epsom and Irish Derby winner, Santa Claus. The bane of the bookies after every housewife and once-a-year punter backed him, the 15/8 shot resulted in a massive payout. A month later, Santa Claus started at 4/7 for the Irish Sweeps Derby, which he won in the hands of Willie Burke. The first dual Derby winner in 57 years, he received a hero’s welcome in the unsaddling enclosure from the 60,000-strong crowd. Two of his sons – Santas Santa and Santas Sleigh – later became Bord na gCapall stallions in the same era as Odin, while no less than five thoroughbreds have been registered down through the years as Christmas.
  • Names such as Mistletoe, Turkey, Cold Turkey and even Talking Turkey are custom-made for racing commentators to revel in at Christmas race meetings. Add in no less than 24 horses, registered with Showjumping Ireland, with Christmas contained in their name and its clear to see the Yuletide season is the gift that just keeps on giving when naming horses. Top of the tree amongst the two dozen is Roisin Hughes Grade A gelding Christmas Dancer with 206 SJI points.
  • Finally, the story of Joseph and Mary making that journey to Bethlehem is a timely reminder that yesterday, Friday December 17th, was the deadline for the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine’s first equine census.

    • Happy Christmas!