Ready or not, the holidays are just around the corner. Unless you possess remarkable Martha Stewart-like qualities, chances are your shopping is not finished. To aid in the quest to find that just-right gift for the horse people in your life, we put on our elf hats and did a bit of scouting. The fact is, horse-themed gifts abound. From playful to practical, the choices are almost endless.

If the holidays put you in the mood to give gifts to your horses, you are in luck. We checked out the options and have the report of what lucky horses may receive this December.

Gifts for people

Let us start with the humans on your list, since they are most likely the only ones who will send a thank you note.

The enormous selection of horse-related gift items makes shopping fairly simple. The hard part comes when you have to narrow your choices. One gift consultant we contacted suggests simplifying things by finding a particular item you especially like and buying it for everyone on your list. For example, an appointment calendar or coffee table book of Thoroughbred racing images will appeal to a wide variety of recipients.

Catalog and Internet shopping make it easy to find suitable gifts without facing the dreaded mall crowds. Best of all, your purchases can be shipped directly to the recipient, saving you even more time.

If you are looking for a practical gift, consider the variety of videos available with advice on training and behavior problems, or a CD-ROM that makes life in the office a little easier.

Absorbine has come out with Equi-Dox, a CD-ROM that allows you to create customized releases, contracts, and agreements. Among the many forms included are: mare information sheet, stallion service form, hauling release, facility use agreement, and bill of sale.

Investing a personal touch in your gift giving requires more time, but the end result shows your thoughtfulness and may be treasured for a lifetime. Consider having racing silks, an old halter, or a set of horseshoes from a special horse cleaned and mounted in a shadow box frame. Scour auction Web sites such as http://www.ebay.com for Kentucky Derby (G1) or racing memorabilia to add to a friend's collection. Track down issues of old publications featuring a favorite racehorse, then have the story and photos matted and framed, along with the cover.

Breyer remains popular

You cannot go wrong with the highly collectible Breyer model horses. First introduced in 1950, Breyer horses today are not just for kids.

"We have many, many adult collectors," said Kathleen Fallon, marketing communications director with Breyer Animal Creations, based in Wayne, New Jersey. "We have a lot of girls and teenagers that collect, but probably half or more of the people that collect are adults that had Breyer models as children.

We often find that people put them aside when they go off to college but come back to collecting again as adults when they're working or when they have their own kids."

Fallon passed on her childhood collection to her nieces.

Breyer creates a new Holiday Horse each year, and this year's model is Jingles, a dapple gray pony who is pulling a sleigh. The company also introduces collectible horse ornaments each year. "We've been doing a Holiday Horse every year for five years now," Fallon said. "The Christmas program this year includes Jingles, the Holiday Pony, three collectible ornaments, holiday cards, and holiday stockings. We find a lot of collectors use the Holiday Horses as centerpieces and mantle decorations."

Breyer manufactures a broad range of models representing many breeds to cover the horse industry. Current popular Thoroughbred models include Cigar and steeplechaser Lonesome Glory. The Seabiscuit model that was offered in October exclusively on the home shopping television network QVC quickly sold out.

Another Breyer collector show will air on QVC in January. New in 2001 is a female veterinarian model scaled to the size of Breyer horses and sold complete with veterinarian bag and supplies.

"Our hallmark at Breyer is authenticity," Fallon noted. "It's important to us and we do enormous research. People in the horse world have been fantastic about helping and making suggestions. Most of the people here in marketing and product development are horse people, and it's fun to be doing the thing that you love."

Gifts for horses

You can always buy a new halter for your favorite horse this holiday season, but if you are inclined to do something different, you will find plenty of choices.

"You'd be surprised how many people buy toys for their horses," said Mike Heasley, store director at PETsMART in Ocala. "If we don't have it on the shelf, we can usually order it out of the State Line Tack catalog."

Since, PETsMART, the animal-oriented superstore, bought State Line Tack several years ago, a number of stores now include a State Line Tack store. Out of more than 500 PETsMART stores across the United States and Canada, 57 have State Line Tack stores.

"We get calls months in advance of the holidays from people looking for Breyer Christmas items," Heasley noted.

In the realm of toys for horses, the Eggbutt Horseball and Jolly Ball are popular choices. The Eggbutt Horseball is made of durable, heavy-duty vinyl and needs to be inflated. Complete with handle, the ball will endure plenty of rough play and helps eliminate boredom in horses that are confined to a stall or paddock. The Jolly Ball also has a handle for horses to grab onto but needs no inflating.

Made of heavy-duty plastic, the Jolly Ball, known as the "Big Red Apple," looks like an oversized version of the real thing and is designed to hang in the stall for horses to chew on and play with.

When buying gifts for their horses, many people instinctively think of edible goodies, and the manufacturers have not missed this fact. A visit to the shelves of your local feed store will reveal a host of horsey snacks, all packaged and labeled to entice human buyers.

We visited State Line Tack's "store within a store" at the PETsMART in Ocala and found an abundance of horse treats, which include:

• Giddyap Girls Biscuit Company Premium Horse Treats with apples, carrots, raisins, and more;
• Sweet Lumps, pelleted treats with ground corn, oats, and soybean meal as the main ingredients;
• The Original Horse Candy, pelleted treats with a sugary coating;
• Mustang Munchies "with real apples and carrots";
• Applezz N' Oats, featuring dried apple pomace and rolled oats as the main ingredients;
• Orchard Sweets, 100% apple treats;
• Carrot Crunchies, orange pelleted treats;
• Peppermint Snacks, pink pellets that smell like peppermint candy; and
• Brown's Luck & Love treats in crunch carrot cake, pineapple, and alfalfa and apple.

New grooming and stable supplies can also be satisfying gifts. Sale consignors may want to stock their tack boxes with packages of a new product called Quick Bath from International Veterinary Services Inc. These heavy-duty 8x10 inch wipes are ideal for spot cleaning a horse's face and body in a hurry.

Wipes remove dirt, clean the hair coat, and are handy for cleaning cuts and scrapes.

With their round and rectangular shapes, the Lil Grooma Groomer and the Unigroom Champion Groomer are colorful grooming tools that put a clever twist on the traditional curry comb. Lil Grooma Groomer has flexible rubber fingers that provide a massage while penetrating into the coat to remove loose hair and dirt.

Finally, add a little holiday sparkle with Twinkle Products. Glimmer for mane, tail, body, and legs is a gel with sparkle that has actually shown up on some recent sale entries in Kentucky. Available in ten assorted colors and easily removed by washing, Twinkle is an oil-free gel that contains suspended glitter. It can be applied on the hip using a stencil, and