Santa has many friends who help him run things at the North Pole. His wife, Mrs. Claus, who he has been married to for over 200 years(link to the appropriate article). He also has his playful, cheerful elves who build all the toys that Santa delivers every Christmas. And of course, Santa has his team of high flying reindeer. Without reindeer like Dasher, Prancer, and Rudolf to carry Santa's sleigh, how would he deliver his presents? Christmas would not be the same without them. But why does Santa Claus have reindeer? How did he meet them and discover that they were the perfect helpers to spread Christmas cheer?

Why Santa Began Making Toys

People all around the world have different ideas about Santa’s history, and Ol’ Saint Nick is good at keeping secrets. What we do know is that, even before he became magic, Santa was already known for being a kind and caring soul.

While Santa lived in a place called The Forest of Burzee, he met a master woodsman traveling through the forest. Santa was amazed by the woodsman's experience and talents. The Woodsman was impressed by Santa's height, energy, and his kind nature. But most of all, the Woodsman was impressed by Santa’s wisdom, which was beyond his years. The Woodsman asked Santa to travel with him, which Santa excitedly accepted. Santa loved to travel, and he felt like he could learn from the woodsman. And he did. Santa learned woodworking from him, and one day he made his first toy thanks to this skill. It was a wooden figurine of a cat, lovingly carved by hand.

During these early travels, Santa grew to love the world and all its inhabitants. He spent time in Ancient Greece, and it was there he learned to love Christmas. This is when Santa began giving secret gifts. Saint Nicholas Clause loved to give gifts in secret because it made him happy, and he didn't need people to know it was him giving the gifts. He just wanted people to be happy, not to receive thanks. He was happiest when he was inspiring others to be nice to each other.

Because of his kindness, Santa grew into a famous figure. Eventually, he traveled more through the world. In each place he lived, Santa left behind stories of a man famous for being generous and giving gifts. In Russia they called him Father Christmas. In Germany, they called him Saint Nickolas. In the Netherlands, Santa Claus became known as Sinterklaas. In Britain and America, everyone called him Santa Claus.

No matter where Santa went, he loved to give and grew famous for freely giving gifts. Being such a charitable man, only one thing that made Santa sad was that he could not give gifts to the entire world. At the time, Santa could only bring Christmas cheer to the people of wherever he was living. It made him sad that there were millions of people who didn't get to experience Christmas as he loved it.

No matter how hard he tried, Santa was only one man and could only do so much without help. This is when Santa realized that to fulfill his dream of bringing happiness to everyone, he needed help. This set him down the path of building his North Pole workshop, as well as finding the elves and reindeer.

Why Santa Needed the Reindeer

While searching for a good place to build his toy factory, Santa found just one place that would work. The North Pole! By living there, Santa could keep his big secret hidden away from the world. Plus, the North Pole let him travel to all the parts of the world easily. It also has special magnetic energy that makes Santa's magic even more powerful. Since he lives there all year, his powers get supercharged as he goes about his daily life. This is one of the reasons Santa and his friends are able to have the power to deliver millions of presents every year.

After finding a place to live and convincing the world’s greatest craftsmen, his magic elves, to help him, Santa needed to find a way deliver so many presents every year. With the help of the elves, his woodworking skills, and his magic powers, Santa built his sleigh. Santa had to build a sleigh because nothing else could work properly in the North Pole’s heavy snow. He needed something that could travel in the snow and run off the magical energy there. But even then, Santa's plan wasn't complete. Santa had his sleigh, his toy factory, and his happy workers. All he needed was something to pull his sleigh. Something big and fast.

Why Does Santa Have Reindeer?

Santa tried a number of animals before reindeer, including Elk and Sled Dogs, but when Santa met his herd of reindeer, he knew he had found the right fit.

The first herd of Christmas Reindeer were coming from Siberia in search of a place to celebrate Christmas when they stumbled on Santa and his elves struggling to pull his sleigh through the heavy snow of the North Pole. When they heard about Santa’s Christmas mission, the Reindeer offered to help Santa and the elves. Santa offered each one of them a Christmas Cookie with a magical flying formula. With their new talent, they agreed to help the gift-giving Santa to distribute his Christmas presents.

The Reindeer Run Their First Christmas

After finding the eight reindeer with the purest hearts and strongest bodies, Santa invited their herd to live forever in the North Pole with him and the elves. It sounded like a dream to them, and they accepted. They formed Santa's original team of reindeer. They knew their job was going to be hard, but they were up for it. They knew that to help Santa with Christmas, they would have to be very fast.

They trained hard, planned the route carefully, and gave it their all to see how fast they could go. The results were amazing -- the reindeer were so good at pulling Santa's sleigh, he could visit homes faster than ever now! They could deliver billions of gifts to children without even breaking a sweat. Nowadays, with his team of reindeer, Santa is able to make all his deliveries with no stress, which makes him even happier than before. And while he's out making deliveries and eating cookies, he makes sure to share with his reindeer friends.