Is the gift-giving season galloping up on you? Here’s a fun, easy gift to make for your horse-owning friends. If you’re a creative type you can embellish it as much as you desire.
Visit your favorite craft store and buy a box of large plain glass Christmas tree balls. You’ll also need paint that is designed for use on glass. Suitable paint pens are handy to use. Then you’ll need something to place inside the glass ball that’s of a horsey nature: crimped oats, clean wood shavings (stall bedding) or even artificial pine garland that resembles hay. Finally, pick out some coordinating ribbon. Earth-toned raffia looks nice, too, as it resembles straw or hay. Now gently wash the outside of the glass balls with plain water and allow them to dry. Next, remove the metallic top of the ornament and set it aside. Using your paint, print the name of your friend’s favorite horse on the outside of the ornament. If you’re really talented–or brave–add a drawing of that special equine or some horse shoes, blue ribbons or even carrots and apples. Once the paint is dry, fill the inside of the glass ball with your choice of stuffing. Replace the top, add your ribbon and voila! You have made a Christmas tree ornament that doubles as a reminder that someone’s heart is filled with love for a special horse this season.
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Cindy HaleCindy Hale’s life with horses has been filled with variety. As a child she rode western and learned to barrel race. Then she worked as a groom for a show barn, and was taught to harness and drive Welsh ponies. But once she’d taken her first lessons aboard American Saddlebreds she was hooked on English riding. Hunters and hunt seat equitation came next, and she spent decades competing in those divisions on the West Coast. Always seeking to improve her horsemanship, she rode in clinics conducted by world-class riders like George Morris, Kathy Kusner and Anne Kursinski. During that time, her family began raising Thoroughbred and warmblood sport horses, and Cindy experienced the thrills and challenges of training and showing the homebred greenies. Now retired from active competition, she’s a popular judge at local and county-rated open and hunter/jumper shows. She rides recreationally both English and western. Her Paint gelding, Wally, lives at home with her and her non-horsey husband, Ron.