Based upon the poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas”
by Clement Clark Moore
‘Twas a day in December, while at Hanaeleh
Not a horsie was stirring, not even Lexie.
The feeders were tied to the stalls with coarse twine,
In hopes that on orchard the horses would dine.
The sheepies were all snuggled down in the straw;
While thinking of carrots and grass they might gnaw.
And Oscar on the tack shed, and Rex on the ledge
Had just eaten dinner and laid down to “veg.”
When from behind the sheds there was such a loud peal
I had to go and see what was the big deal.
Down the hill and straight to the grain shed I ran
And was met by the sight of toppled trash cans.
The glare of the sun on freshly spilled grain
Made me think that someone would soon be in pain.
When what did I see when I opened the shed
But a little black horse with a very long head.
He had tipped over cans of pellets and hay;
I knew that he had to be Tamahome.
More ravenous than wolves the others they came
And he whinnied and snorted and called them by name:
“Now, Brutus! Now Sapphire! Now Gypsy and Rio!
Ulysses and Maggie and Stella and Ke-yo!
Tip over the grain bins! And topple the cans!
Now eat away! Eat away! Eat the rice bran!
So towards the hay shed, they ran fro and to
Along with the sheep, and Tamahome too!
I closed up the hay shed, and chased them away
Before they ingested the rest of our hay.
I picked up one bin, and righted another
While Tamahome ran around the corner.
His tail was long, and he was dressed all in black.
Instead of a bag, in his mouth was a sack
A bunch of carrots he had stuffed in the pack
And he flipped it around and over his back.
He was eating a carrot, and loudly too,
He ate it quickly – he did not even chew!
He was pleasantly plump, with a hay belly
That moved side to side like runny grape jelly.
It was clear to me that the horse liked to eat;
And I think he suffered from too many treats.
He picked up his right hoof, and stuck out his nose
Waiting for some food, I could only suppose.
He said not a word, but ran straight to the stalls,
He filled all of the feed bins, splitting his haul.
He split the apples between geldings and mares
But when he was done he had carrots to spare.
He gave those to the sheep, and even some hay,
Then he ran down the road and galloped away.
But I heard him whinny, as he ran down the street-
Many carrots to all, and to all some good treats!