A tall, stylized cream horse with large irregular black spots stands in side profile, its proportions elongated in the manner of folk art. Its rider, softly painted without facial detail, wears a chocolate-brown coat, tall black boots and a wide-brimmed black hat, and a long red fringed scarf streams in the wind. To the left, a snow-laden fir tree strung with tiny warm lights stands over two wrapped gifts.

Against a dusty olive-green night sky, a few round snowflakes drift above a thick band of snowy ground. Thick palette-knife impasto marks the snow, the horse's body and the tree's boughs, while fine scratched lines describe its coat and tail. The mood is quiet, rustic and slightly whimsical.