The music of jingling sleigh bells is one of my favorite holiday sounds. The association with horses as well as the Christmas holidays has made them a special favorite of mine.
I bought my real, made for a horse, sleigh bells in the 1990s at Gordyville when we lived in Illinois. Gordyville hosts major horse shows, rodeos, a monthly flea market, and auctions, offering something for every horse lover, real or model.
At the time, I was studying music at the University of Illinois, had developed a good musical ear, and had come to realize the difference between the tinny sound of the mass produced Christmassy jingle bells and the silvery tones of real, quality bells. I remember picking these up and shaking them, and the sound was so beautiful, I bought them on the spot, even though I didn't have a horse at the time.
They have hung on my piano ever since, and have become a very sentimental, "when you are gone, I'd like to have those" piece among my six children and grandkids.
Here's a video of Ian, Curt, and me at Christmas time, playing Jingle Bells and using the sleigh bells in the chorus. (The baby you see is newborn Pony Pal Mila.)
Jennifer Buxton kindly made me a model horse scaled set of sleigh bells to match about five or six years ago.
Then, in 2018, she gifted me with another set! These have a working buckle. I keep both of the model horse sleigh bells with my Hagen Renaker and Stablemates.
This set of sleigh bells is a more recent find for me. I try every set out that I find when I am out antiquing, but I reject most - I really want a pretty sound. This set's sound isn't as beautiful as my other set, but it is still good, so home with me it came.
This big single sleigh bell is very much a sentimental favorite. It was a gift from my father in the early 1980s. I have used it as a Christmas ornament, but my kids loved it so much that they would take it off the tree and run around the house playing with it. To keep from losing it, I finally put it on the long green ribbon and it gets hung every year on a door knob somewhere in the house. The grandchildren enjoy playing with it just as much as their parents, aunts, and uncles did! Now, if only Tim would buy that beautiful vis-a-vis sleigh; I have an assortment of bells in which to deck out Diablo!
