Kendall Myers and Simon dodge the snowflakes on Sunday as they participate in equine Christmas caroling in Oakland Township.

Residents of Center Drive in Oakland Township who were feeling saddled by the coronavirus pandemic got a kick out of some carolers who arrived Sunday afternoon, and it didn't cost them a single buck.

Shannon Myers said a group of riders from Legacy Pines Equestrian Center on Center Drive dressed themselves up in holiday garb, decorated some of their 15 horses and trotted off to go Christmas caroling.

She said the merry group clip-clopped through the snow to sing a few Christmastime classics at each of the eight houses they visited on Center Drive.Myers said the riders spent some time before the event desensitizing their mounts, which were mostly quarter horses, to the jingle bells and battery-powered lights that festooned their fur.All the horses behaved perfectly as they made their way around the rural neighborhood.“We gave them a talking to before they went out,” Myers said.The riders were all ages, with the youngest being 12 years old. Adults on the ground reined in motorists as the group moved along the road.She said the neighbors' responses were as cute as Christmas.“They came outside and took pictures and videos,” Myers said. “They were very happy.”When the prancing posse returned to the equestrian center, Santa was in attendance to hear the wishes of the children and siblings of those who board horses or take riding lessons there.She said the inaugural equine caroling session was seen as a success.

“The owners of the barn decided that caroling would be something nice to do, since most people's holiday parties and gatherings were put on hold,” Myers said. “We spread some happiness to people and had fun doing it.”Cortney Shipley, who co-owns Legacy Pines with her husband, Jim, rode her mother's Missouri Fox Trotter on Sunday.She said one of the equestrian center's neighbors is spending her first Christmas without her husband and another is suffering from COVID-19.“We just thought we'd brighten their spirits,” Shipley said. “It was also fun for the riders, who haven't seen their friends in a while.”She said that because of the success of the idea, equine caroling will definitely become an annual event.“I think everyone had a good time,” Shipley said.

Cortney Shipley and Shorty, Maryann Steinmiller and Popcorn, Charlotte Slear and Skeeter, and Kendall Myers and Simon ride through the snowy woods toward Center Drive in Oakland Township, where they sang Christmas carols on horseback Sunday.

Cortney Shipley and Shorty, Maryann Steinmiller and Popcorn and Paige Kennedy and Dream traverse the woods to an equine Christmas-caroling event on Center Drive in Oakland Township.