MONTCO win15

D“Dashing through the snow. On a one horse open sleigh.
O’er the fields we go. Laughing all the way. Bells on bobtails
ring, Making spirits bright. What fun it is to laugh and sing.
A sleighing song tonight…” We all know the lyrics to the holiday
classic Jingle Bells. And for those who wish to partake
in the winter experience known as the sleigh ride, Matthew
Wismer of Northern Star Farm offers them from December
through March.
It all began when Wismer was a young child. He discovered
his great grandparents sleigh in the barn. He climbed
into the driver’s seat and took hold of its imaginary reins. In
his mind he was driving on a snowy country field, heading
toward the sunset. Wismer had been toying with the idea of
giving sleigh rides for years. In 2010 he decided it was time.
He headed to Lancaster County and purchased the horses,
two different types of sleighs, harnesses, heavy woolen Victorian
era sleigh blankets, and German sleigh bells. Wismer
had everything that he needed to launch the sleigh rides.
People travel from all over for their dream sleigh ride. Last
year, he gave 277 people sleigh rides.
“When you mention the words sleigh ride, you immediately
get people’s attention. I call it a strange phenomenon.
It is one of the few activities from the early nineteenth century
and prior, which has the power to conjure up feelings
of warmth and intrigue. The greeting card industry has been
featuring sleigh rides on Christmas cards for years. So many
people think of something magical when they hear the words
sleigh ride. There also is a romance factor associated with
sleigh rides. Here in the twenty-first century we are able to
put people in their very own Currier & Ives portrait experience,”
Wismer says.
You may find others that offer winter sleigh rides, but
not at the level Wismer does. Whether it is a private ride for
a family of four on his reproduction Santa sleigh pulled by
two horses, or a group ride on the bobsleigh for 12 pulled
by three or more horses, he handles each ride himself. His
audience finds out what it was like to travel by horse and
sleigh years ago as they travel over parts of his family owned
and operated 230-acre farm. Wismer is mixing in local history,
local lore, and sleigh trivia during the one-hour ride.
A sleigh ride pulled by two Belgium horses.Opposite, according to Wismer, a strap of 30 German made, graduated in size bells are
worn by each horse. Bells are an integral part of sleighing, with their history and origins rooted in an early warning device before
the days of horns.
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