sleigh

The sleigh jingled along the snowy road.

In front of us stood Santa's sleigh.

In 1846, when the word first appeared in the printed record a dashboard was a barrier between the riders of a sleigh or wagon and the flying mud and water coming from a horse’s hooves.

They believe that -- on the night before Christmas -- he travels through the air in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. He enters each house from the top by sliding down the hole in the fireplace.

The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element.