Christmas Eve in the Stable: Gordon’s Tale of Talking Horses

The Animals’ Christmas Eve, by Gale Wiersum

“In the barn on Christmas Eve, after all the people leave,

The animals in voices low, remember Christmas long ago.

One small hen, upon her nest, softly clucks to all the rest:

‘Little chicks, come gather near. A wondrous story you will hear.'”

 

By: Brittany Bevis

There is a long-held belief, with claims of Mediterranean, Scandinavian, and even Irish roots, that has been passed down to generations of animal lovers over the years. It claims that for exactly one minute, at midnight, on Christmas, animals are able to speak.

For all the Christmas folklore that children hold so dear, that of flying reindeer and toy-making elves, this legend is perhaps the one that speaks the most of true Christmas magic.

One of our very own, a then-nine-year-old Gordon Downey, fondly remembers a Christmastime experience that helped shape his future as an equestrian and taught him an important lesson about horsemanship that would last a lifetime.

“My mom is one of those mothers who had all the answers, but she would always find a way to help you figure out the answer to your question on your own,” he says. “I’d heard from one of the older girls at the stables that, for one minute, at midnight, on Christmas Eve, horses could talk! I remember thinking that would be a marvelous idea, to go visit my horse and tell him all of my ideas about how we could do better at the horse shows. I even tried to arrange for a ride to the stables.”

“My mother asked me what I planned to talk to my horse about. I had this wonderful idea that if only he would listen to me, and go slow, put his head down, and perform the gaits the judge called for, then we could really move up the ladder and be successful. My mother said, ‘You know, he only has one minute to speak all year. Don’t you think it might be a good idea to see what he has to say?’ That was a great point of view. In my mind, of course he should listen to my voice. But, then, he hears my voice all year long, and I never get to hear his.”

“It was a really good piece of wisdom from my mother. She said that maybe I should listen to my horse to see what some of his hopes and dreams were, beyond winning trophies.”

The horse that Gordon so desperately wanted to talk to on Christmas Eve was a leopard Appaloosa named Sun Speck Rose. “He had white spots from head to toe. He had a gray, flaxen mane that looked like silver. He was a big tall horse, almost 16.1 hands tall. One Christmas, I fell off him and broke my arm, so I had a cast on Christmas. He was a stallion before that happened. The combination of a 2-year-old stallion and a young boy was a good combination! We gelded him shortly after that, and he became a lot more docile. I did win many titles with him, including State Champion, many years later. But, that year when I was in fourth grade, I just wanted to brush, bathe, and care for him.”

While Gordon might not have been able to convince Speck of the virtues of being a perfectly behaved show horse, he did learn an important lesson about horsemanship that Christmas Eve at Belmont Stables in Birmingham, Alabama. “Anybody who knows Gordon, knows that he has a lot to say. But, I have also learned how to be quiet and listen.”