So far this week at Black Dog Stables:

One seasoned rider forgot—repeatedly—the correct way to hold her reins.

Another put her half-pad on backwards. 

A third forgot to fasten the straps on her horse’s blanket.  

A kid attached her throatlatch buckle to the loose end of her cheekpiece.

A 10-year-old arrived in the arena for her lesson without a girth.

And, finally (maybe), a pair of elementary-aged riders skipped into the barn belting out “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” at the top of their lungs. 

Yup. It’s the holidays. 

Symptoms in our equestrian youth may include extreme forgetfulness, inability to pay attention to anything, random singing and a repeated listing of everything they’re hoping Santa might leave under their tree.

Adult may experience extreme fatigue, irritability and an increased dependence on caffeine and wine. 

Last year, by the time the holidays arrived, the instructors at our farm were waving white flags, ready to roll over and play dead. Our students couldn’t pay attention during lessons. Forget learning new skills; they couldn’t retain skills they’d mastered previously. You know, things like putting on a girth. 

This year, we decided to take a new approach: We’d embrace the holidays, and perhaps arrive on the other side of them a little less exhausted, a little less disheveled and maybe a little more festive, too.

Our program runs on sessions that mimic most school calendars. We have four main seasonal sessions—winter, spring, summer and fall—each 10-12 weeks in length. 

This year, we decided to end the year with a four-week holiday session that runs from the week after Thanksgiving to Dec. 22. 

The holiday session ends (Dear God, what were we thinking?!) with our first-ever barn Christmas party and “Holiday Extravaganza.” 

“Ex-clava-glanza? Whatisthat?” 8-year-old Harper squealed when I started explaining it before her first holiday-session lesson (the same lesson that she arrived to, singing about Grandma getting offed by Santa’s sleigh). She and her lesson-mate, Kenzie, were now dancing around the barn aisle like ballerinas, waving shedding blades in the air, singing “Angels We Have Heard on High” with 27 syllables to the word “gloria.” 

“We started talking about Christmas in the car,” Harper’s mom said with a shrug. “I’m so sorry.”

When we started thinking about the ex-tra-va-gan-za, we wanted something fun for the kids to look forward to, something different from our normal hunter/jumper lessons, and something that would allow us to perhaps retain a shred of our own sanity throughout an already crazy season. 

We held our first on-property horse show in the late summer, which was a pleasant success. But we didn’t want to go full-on hunter show just days before Christmas.

Instead, at the suggestion of our head instructor Meagan, we offered kids two options for the holiday session: participate in a little fun-show, or a prep for and ride in a drill team performance. Both will take place at our first-ever Holiday Extravaganza on Dec. 23, which will also include food, games, crafts, general merriment and guaranteed chaos.

Our fun-show riders will participate in two classes: an “ornament and spoon” class (egg and spoon with a glittery Styrofoam ornament) and a timed, gambler’s choice obstacle course where the fastest one through all the obstacles, clean, is the winner. Slightly more than half of the riders chose the fun-show option. For those riders, their holiday lessons have consisted of perfecting various obstacles and practicing with their ornament and spoon, many of them chattering on about their holiday plans, or the gifts they hope Santa will bring, while they ride. Having something new, concrete and fun to learn and work on, with the holiday showcase as an end goal, has made their lessons more focused and less exasperating than before previous Christmas breaks.

The drill team option has been another breath of fresh air, for all involved. The horses and riders are enjoying the change-up, and riders are rising to the challenge. A team of two young riders (with jingle-bell-reindeer antlers taped to their helmets) talks each other through their team’s movements each week, and have bought matching reindeer sweaters for the performance. A group of teens has been practicing complex maneuvers to music, and arrive at their lessons focused and energized. 

Instead of traditional ribbons, kids will choose from a basket of holiday-themed prizes: reindeer antler headbands, ornaments, stuffed Santas, jingle-bell bracelets—all procured on a delightful ladies-day shopping trip with our barn team. 

But perhaps the best part of this holiday session is that our students, without consciously realizing it, are still working on skills that we emphasize throughout the rest of the year. Riders have to maintain balance, core strength and a consistent pace to keep that ornament on their spoon. They have to communicate effectively and clearly to their horses, memorize a course, and plan ahead as they navigate through obstacles. Drill team members have to remember their pattern and control their horse’s speed to match their teammates. And all riders are actively working toward a fun end goal, rather than being distracted each week by Santa’s upcoming arrival. 

But it might still be wise to do an extra check of your riders and tack before lessons—it’s still the holiday season, after all!

Sarah K. Susa is the owner of Black Dog Stables just north of Pittsburgh, where she resides with her husband and young son. She has a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Allegheny College and an M.Ed. from The University of Pennsylvania. She teaches high school English full-time, teaches riding lessons and facilitates educational programs at Black Dog Stables, and has no idea what you mean by the concept of free time.