Liz Goldman of Benton City, Washington, graciously gave me permission to share her wonderful version of the old classic poem…enjoy!
It was late December at a Christmas show, last class of the day and it was
starting to snow.
A dozen turnouts had answered the horn with pairs and tandems and a unicorn.
The paddock man yelled “I’m closing the gate!” when in swooped a turnout
with a team of eight.
The judge shook his head and consulted his card, then flipped through his
rulebook and looked real hard
For the section of the code, on which page it lay, for the turnout specs
that applied to a sleigh
With a hitch of eight that were not equine…then with a flash of red nose
the hitch counted nine!
The whip on this rig was dressed for the night in a bright red coat and fur
lap robe tucked tight
Around his belly and over his lap, and jingle bells hung from the fur on his
cap.
Obviously he hadn’t seen the “No Smoking” sign as he puffed on his pipe
while he guided his nine.
The announcer called “Trot” and the carriages glided while the gaze of the
audience was pretty one-sided
For the gent in red went around and around while it seemd his team didn’t
quite touch the ground.
On the reverse the horses all got a look at the gleaming gold sleigh and
that’s all it took
For the bays and the chestnuts, the gray and the black, to break to a canter
and refuse to come back.
They were snorting and pawing and a pair started to rear when the sleigh
driver shouted “You have nothing to fear.”
"I got a little off course as I started my flight and decided to make this
show my first stop of the night.
"I’m afraid I paid no entry fee nor filled out the form and I know my sleigh
is out of the norm.
“In fact, no blue ribbons or some other prize, I’ve a sackful of goodies,
for all a surprise.”
Then he lined up his hitch right beside the stunned judge, hopped out of his
rig and gave him a nudge
And a gaily wrapped gift from the pack in the sleigh while other entries
crowded 'round with a snort and a neigh.
Soon that jolly old elf had delivered his loot to each of the whips and
ringmaster to boot,
Then hopped back in his sleigh and to his team gave a whistle and away they
all flew like the down of a thistle,
But we heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight, “May your forty meter
circles all be round and just right.”
