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Austinites raise $30,000 for Samuel Grey Horse, city’s horseback Santa, after fire destroys his home

Samuel Grey Horse, dressed as Santa Claus with a hat and white beard, rides a mule on a busy city street. Several cars are driving behind him.
Gabriel C. Pérez
/
KUT News
Sam Grey Horse has ridden mules and horses around Austin for years, dressing as Santa Claus around the holidays. Community members have rallied around him after a fire destroyed his home.

Samuel Grey Horse is known for spreading holiday cheer by dressing up as Santa Claus and riding around the city on horseback. After a full month of doing just that, the Austin native is struggling financially after the house he had lived in for nearly a decade burned down.

Grey Horse had been away from his Southeast Austin home last Thursday night when he got a call from his roommate about the fire. He rushed back to the sound of sirens and the sight of flames rising over the trees.

“I was [just] looking at the fires from LA on my phone,” he said. “Little did I know I was going to be living that same nightmare.”

Several firefighters stand in front of a house ablaze in flames at night.
Courtesy of Samuel Grey Horse
The Austin Fire Department works to extinguish the fire at Samuel Grey Horse's home. Grey Horse says what remains of the house will probably be torn down.

The fire originated from an old fireplace that he and his roommates, who rent the house, had been using to keep warm during the recent cold snap. Everyone — including Grey Horse’s mules, horses and pigs — got out safely, but Grey Horse lost all of his possessions.

“Eight years of stuff I've had. … I reach over and think I need this, and it's just not there anymore," he said. "Nothing's there anymore."

Now Austinites have banded together to help Grey Horse as he gets back on his feet. A GoFundMe supporting him and his animals has raised more than $30,000 in a week, surpassing his original goal of $25,000.

Grey Horse said the outpouring of support has been "unbelievable." Loved ones and Austinites who recognized him as the city’s horseback Santa or from his work in the local music scene reached out in the days after the fire to help.

A stranger even messaged him on Facebook offering him and his animals a place to stay in Lockhart. He’s splitting his time there and at a friend’s place closer to his old home, so he can keep riding around Austin.

“That showed me that Austin loves what I do, and I'm going to continue making smiles and putting on my costumes,” he said.

The GoFundMe is still accepting donations. Grey Horse said he’s putting the money toward equipment for his horses, necessities like clothes and a trailer to live in long term.

He said he’ll be back riding in Austin’s streets this weekend. Grey Horse, who’s 63 and disabled from a previous riding accident, relies on income from showing people around the city on horseback.

“We got our lives and we're going to start over,” he said. “I’m going to continue making smiles on my horses downtown.”

Chelsey Zhu is the digital producer at KUT. Got a tip? You can email her at czhu@kut.org.
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