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Skiing In Sun River For Rich Fellers and his family (wife Shelley and their two teenagers, Chris and Savannah), the holidays are an all-too-rare escape from the barn. They head to their vacation home in Sun River, Ore. "We're out in the woods, in the wilderness," says Rich. "Its always snowing—lots of snow— and it's about 30 minutes from Mount Bachelor. We spend Christmas through New Year's there every year." Rich's horses stay in work during that time, but they do get Thanksgiving and Christmas day off. Family has always been a guiding principle of Rich's business, Whip N' Spur Stables, in Wilsonville, Ore. He and Shelley left their thriving business in Southern California behind in the late 1980s, and Rich also turned down a once-in-a-lifetime offer to work for George Morris at his Hunterdon, choosing instead to prioritize raising their children—and devoting as much time to their activities as to their own riding careers—in Oregon. That's meant frequent camping, fishing and ski trips over the years, with nary a horse in sight. Family comes first. "During Thanksgiving we always do some kind of family get together," Rich says. "Sometimes we head over to other family member's homes, or they come here." >> Holidays Of Yore Growing up in Miami meant Margie Engle, who would go on to become an Olympic show jumper, never saw snow during the holidays—in fact, she says she never saw real snow until she was in her 20s. But the lack of winter weather never stopped anyone from celebrating. "When we were kids, we used to decorate the horses' stalls, like people do their houses," she says. "[Now] the kids [at our barn] sometimes will decorate the stalls and things. A lot of the clients will bring special things out. "For a long time, we would take the ponies out in the cart, and we would go caroling during Christmastime," Margie continues. "It was just so much fun. We had this big cart, and we'd all sit in the back and sing. The place I started with the horses, we'd have a big Thanksgiving lunch and dinner, and we used to eat out at the picnic tables. We'd make cakes for the horses, with apples and carrots and molasses. We put stockings up by the horses' stalls and filled them with treats— carrots and apples and such. That was always a lot of fun." These days Margie and her husband, Steve, both celebrate Hanukkah with her family in Florida and Christmas with his in California. "It's more just trying to be around family this time of year," says Margie. "My parents still live in the same house I grew up in as a kid. It's always been about being with family and friends." >> Tacos For Christmas For four-star eventer Colleen Rutledge and her husband, Brian, the holidays mean lots of food. "On Thanksgiving, we split between my family and Colleen's," says Brian. "We actually eat two Thanksgiving dinners. It's pretty bad! Colleen doesn't have any family in the area except for her parents and sister. So we go to my family in the afternoon and then go to her parents' in the evening." But in all fairness, Colleen, her mother Sallie, and her 11-year-old daughter Cassie have usually worked up a serious appetite on their traditional Thanksgiving morning foxhunt with Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds, which cast right next door to their farm. "Christmas is a big family event," says Brian. "We get up, and the kids [in addition to Cassie, there's Matt, 19, and Ciana, 6] open the presents. Colleen and I start a fire, and Colleen makes a big Christmas breakfast, and then we go to her parents' house, and then we go to my family's. Her family's Christmas dinner tradi- tion is tacos!" The Rutledges always decorate their home and barn in Mt. Airy, Md., and they spoil their horses a little extra on Christmas day. "There's a big star up there on top of the barn," says Brian. "I decorate our whole house. I about fall off the ladder every year trying to decorate." >> C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M W INTER 2013 63

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