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Covered Wagon Shadow Puppet Show: A Homemade Christmas Video

Published December 20, 2025

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

You’ve watched plenty of AI-generated Christmas videos this season. Now watch this home made shadow show I made just for you, projected against the side of my covered wagon. Talk about really raising your holiday spirits!

Click on the player to kick the shadows into gear. They’re shadow figures I cut out of card stock and projected against the canvas cover of my covered wagon.

That’s me in the video above riding my mule Cracker and leading my pack mule Brick. Brick and Cracker are the two mules I rode from North Carolina to Idaho in my new book Two Mules to Triumph which you can buy here. That’s my Julia riding her Haflinger Pie. In real life, I don’t set that far back in the saddle.

I hand-traced the figures onto heavy card stock and then cut them out with scissors. Thanks, Julia, for helping me animate this project and Ronald Hudson, for the use of your beautiful wagon.

I wish you and your family, and all your critters, all the very best this Christmas season and best of luck in the coming year.

About my new book Two Mules to Triumph

Two Mules to Triumph is the perfect read for you or anyone who loves true stories about adventure, travel, horses and mules.

Two Mules to Triumph book cover — Long Rider Bernie Harberts riding mules Brick and Cracker across America

Two Mules to Triumph is my new book about riding my imperfect mules, Brick and Cracker, 2,300 miles from North Carolina to visit my brother-in-law in Idaho. It is a message of encouragement that things don’t have to be perfect to set off on your dreams and that our nation is not as divided as many fear it is.

In addition to being a great travel adventure, Two Mules to Triumph includes over 140 photos, maps, and sketches, as well as a section containing gear photos and a comprehensive packing list for anyone interested in embarking on a saddle voyage, whether it’s an overnight trail ride or a Long Ride covering thousands of miles.

Read more
Shop now at: Amazon / Barnes&Nobl e / Apple Books / Kobo / Download on Kindle

More about what escapes categories on the homestead in the Splinters pile.

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