118 SIDELINES DECEMBER 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Happy Holidays
from the Sidelines Staff
By Jan Westmark-Allan
H
orses and the holidays go hand in hand.
From riding in a one horse open sleigh to
adorning our horses with reindeer antlers
to decorating their stalls, having a horse during
the holidays is a wonderful experience. I asked
some of our Sidelines staff, interns and columnists
Dana Bauer, Dana’s Doodle
Cartoonist
- My favorite horsey
Christmas memory was the year
my sister and I brought our horses
up to the house for our mom to
see modeling their new blankets.
She opened the window and yelled
at us not to bring Apollo to the
door. She knew he’d run inside!
Dani Moritz, Staff Writer
- One
of my favorite holiday memories
is of a Christmas party at my
trainer’s house – the house was
on the barn’s property. I was
with my best friends and we
all got water buckets with our
slogan “Go Big or Go Home” on
them. What more could a girl
ask for?
Jan Westmark-Allan, Editor
– We had some epic Christmas
barn parties in Florida, but my
favorite holiday horse memory is
taking holiday photos every year
of my daughter Abby on a horse
or pony, all decked out for the
holidays. Those photos were often
an ordeal, trying to get the horse’s
ears up, without them shaking off
their reindeer antlers or eating the
garland or mistletoe.
Lindsay McCall, Para-Equestrian
Columnist
- When I was 7 my
parents surprised me with a set of
jump standards, poles and a red
white and blue gate. I remember
stepping out onto our snow covered
porch, where large icicles hung
above me and wrapping my arms
around the one standard to express
my gratitude. I still have those jump
standards, poles and gate and still
use them in our sand ring.
Samantha Charles,
Publisher
and her fancée
Jerry Spitler
- For the
last three Christmases our
Hatchaway Hounds Mock
Hunt group has ridden in
downtown Aiken singing
Christmas carols. We sing so
badly that the city police chief
(who chaperones our caravan
of hay wagons, carriages and
riders) told us we need to
start earlier on the egg nog!!
to share their horse holiday memories and while
not everyone is included here, it’s a great sneak
peek at life with our beloved equines. Even if
they aren’t featured here, all of the Sidelines staff
wishes everyone a wonderful holiday season –
and we hope you get to make a few horse holiday
memories of your own this year!