Here on Christmas Eve, I write this column for all of the little cowpokes out there who have been good all year, awaiting the magic of Santa Claus.
Nothing says Christmas like jingle bell-clad horses and sleigh rides in the snow. After all, this is the most wonderful time of the year, to be dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, singing sleighing songs and laughing all the way.
The horse-drawn sleigh, invented in the early 1800s, was quickly followed by the 1823 Clement Moore poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” A coincidence? I think not!
If you have ever been lucky enough to experience the magic horse-drawn sleigh ride in the dead of winter, then it’s pretty easy to imagine that Santa Claus could be a cowboy. There’s something about a silent night, the cadence of jingle bells and hoof beats and the Christmas wishes of children that cling to every breath hanging in the air as the horses glide through the moonlit snow.
One can almost imagine it’s reindeer themselves pulling the sleigh and that the rails could trade the snow for sky at any given moment. Sleigh rides and Santa Claus go hand in hand like, well, horses and sleigh bells.
There are a lot of clues that tell us Santa Claus just might be a cowboy.
He works all night, driving unruly reindeer across the open range of the sky. He works for nothing more than some cookies, milk and the admiration of children. That’s some brass only a cowboy could muster.
He’s got a little spread up north and a good woman at home, keeping the ranch running while he’s gone.
He rides through snow and rain until the job is done and the reindeer come home. He wears a hat, boots and a big ol’ golden buckle; earned from long season of heading elves and wrangling wishes. He is often seen kissing mommy and well, mommies like kissing cowboys.
With a whistle and a wink, his coursers fly. He travels with a list in his pocket and a red velvet saddle bags full of granted wishes. He works without needing recognition yet is the most recognized of all. He is history, tradition, love and lore. His jingle jangle may be from sleigh bells, not spurs but he is a cowboy through and through.
As you tuck your little buckaroos into their bunks this Christmas Eve, with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, stockings hung by the campfire with care, don’t forget to remind them to look for the skies and to listen for the magic of sleigh bells gliding to a stop up on the rooftop. The click, click, click of hoof beats delivering Ol’ St. Nick and his sleigh of toys.
Dream big my little cowpokes of a white Christmas and most of all believe! Believe in the magic of Christmas, of cowboys and of Santa Claus. Giddy up and Merry Christmas to y’all and y’all a good night.
We are lucky in Durango to have the opportunity just 20 miles north of town to take sleigh rides right in our own backyard. Bears Ranch at the Haviland Lake entrance offers sleigh rides and adventures for the whole family.
Jenny Johnston is a fourth-generation Durango local, part-time rodeo announcer, full-time wrangler to two buckaroos and a believer in Santa Claus.
