Page 43 - SophiesPonyTalesJuly10C

CHAPTER 20 SLEIGHING

In addition to being hitched to carts, which are two-wheeled vehicles, or carriages which are four-
wheel vehicles, I was hitched to sleighs. Sleighing is different not only in the weather conditions but in the
way sleighs move. They slide around. In sliding they push the shafts into your side and you need to resist be-
ing shoved sideways. Vehicles with wheels usually pull the same, except of course when you come to a hill or
a bump in the road. With a sleigh snow conditions are very changeable. The snow is sometimes hard and
crusted, sometimes icy, sometimes deep and fluffy, and sometimes slush. That makes pulling a sleigh diffi-

cult. From being an effortless pull to strenuous can change with a few feet. Some of us can’t adjust to being
hitched to a sleigh. The runners of a sleigh can make strange sounds. Sometimes they make almost no sound.
In soft snow they are silent. Other times the sound is harsh and grating. On crusty snow the runners often
break through the crust with a crunch and crack. Whips help us overcome reacting to these differences in
sounds by attaching bells to our harness. The jingling bells help to disguise harsh, grating or cracking noise.
The bells also serve to warn others that we are coming. In soft silent snow our hooves and the runners are

almost silent, so the bells announce our being near. I enjoy sleighing. We go to sleigh rallies. When condi-
tions are right, sleigh rides are given at home.

After one sleigh rally held at Sturbridge Village, a restored colonial village in Sturbridge, Massachu-
setts, a picture of us was in a national magazine. I had previously been in other publications such as the
Chatham Courier, a local regional publication newspaper in Chatham, New York. It made me proud to be pic-
tured in a publication with a national audience. The magazine was the December 2012 issue of Early Ameri-
can Life Magazine. You may be able to find the issue, the article and the pictures. If fame comes your way

celebrate it. The main reason for the article may have been the antique sleigh rather than me, but the sleigh
could not have been there without me.

“Great Fun”

Some our best times have been with a sleigh,
making the most of snow on a winter’s day.
The twinkling snow and a tingling bell,
signals that we are coming and all is well.
Hitch up a sleigh, put on a coat warm;
take up the lines, head out in a storm.
Don’t forget to sing a sleighing song,
and don’t neglect to bring a friend along.

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