{"id":100361,"date":"2025-12-25T05:03:46","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T05:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/100361\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T05:03:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T05:03:46","slug":"austin-man-dresses-up-as-santa-on-horseback-on-south-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/100361\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin man dresses up as Santa on horseback on South Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Santa Santa on horseback in Austin<\/a> <\/p>\n

For over a decade, one Austin man has been dressing up as Santa on horseback. This Christmas he’s back at it, pushing through what’s been a rough year.<\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas – We’re all familiar with the ring of sleigh bells to let us know Santa is coming, but what about the sound of horse hooves?\u00a0<\/p>\n

For over a decade, an Austin man has been dressing up as Santa on horseback. This Christmas he’s back at it, pushing through what’s been a rough year.<\/p>\n

Local perspective:<\/p>\n

Since 2014, Samuel Grey Horse has been putting on Santa\u2019s robes, bringing a Texas take on the man in red. Through a haze of headlights and car horns, he can be seen riding his horse, Big Tex, with Mula the mule following close behind.<\/p>\n

“I just want everybody to get a taste of when I was a kid seeing the man in the red suit,” said Grey Horse, surrounded by families taking pictures on South Congress.<\/p>\n

But it hasn\u2019t been the easiest year for Samuel, who had to work through a pair of tragedies in 2025.<\/p>\n

In January, he lost almost everything when his Austin home was burnt down in a house fire. Samuel, along with his horses and other pets, were able to escape unharmed.<\/p>\n

“It made me stronger, the fire. I lost everything, but I didn’t lose my horses or my life.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The community came together to raise over $40,000 to help Samuel get back on his feet. He says he now lives in Lockhart on a 105-acre ranch owned by a friend.<\/p>\n

But on November 5, tragedy struck again when Samuel’s horse, Big Red, died. He had rescued him in 2008, the horse being a longtime part of Samuel’s Christmas tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He wouldn’t go, and I said, ‘Big Red, I’m going to be OK,’ and he laid down, and he went to sleep. I’ll never forget that,” said Samuel when recalling Big Red’s passing.<\/p>\n

Samuel also continues to work through injuries he received during a 2010 accident where he almost lost his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“They told me I would never ride a horse again, and I would never speak correctly, but this is what I do, and this is who I am.”<\/p>\n

But through it all, Samuel says nothing will stop him from spreading smiles, and at the core of his Christmas spirit are his horses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The horses are good energy, good therapy. They’ll heal you.”<\/p>\n

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Marco Bitonel<\/p>\n

South Congress<\/a>Holidays<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Santa on horseback in Austin For over a decade, one Austin man has been dressing up as Santa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[132,1972,223,43370,27,29,28,394,216,393],"class_list":{"0":"post-100361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-holidays","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-south-congress","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-texas-headlines","14":"tag-texas-news","15":"tag-travis-county","16":"tag-tx","17":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}