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Ante Up for a Winter Sleigh Ride
The Blizzard of 2009, arriving the week before Christmas, brings gleeful memories of my childhood in Plymouth Meeting, PA, where just about this time of year, our neighbors would surprise my sister and me with a winter wonderland ride on an old-fashioned sleigh drawn by two magnificent dapple grays, their sleigh bells ringing as they briskly trotted through the newly fallen snow.
This blog is dedicated to those who have never experienced the delight of riding in a horse-drawn sleigh. We start with a question posed by Flora Hillman, master storyteller and contributing writer and photographer at The Chronicle of the Horse magazine.
“So, what do you do when it snows over a foot? You take your camera and the old retired hunt pony (Ante Up, alias Andy), harness said pony up to the sleigh, hop aboard, and enjoy the snowy vista of Piedmont’s every beautiful Tuesday hunt country to the merry sound of jingle bells!”
Ante Up for a winter sleigh ride. Enjoy!
Flora continues–
The morning after the record-breaking Blizzard of 2009. Our area of Northern Virginia was hit with 21″ of fresh powdery snow—just perfect for a sleigh ride.
We put our sleigh—a 120 year old (c 1890) antique Portland cutter made by Union Carriage and Gear Company, Watertown, NY—to one of our foxhunting/driving ponies—a 12.2h Welsh Section C (pony of the cob type) who had been hunted for many years and driven for over 15 years as part of our former pair. At 27, he is now retired, except for the Christmas parades and sleigh rides!
To learn more about Flora Hillman and her adorable pony of the cob type, Ante Up, we encourage you to visit Auriga Farm.
