Training all Santa's reindeer...

If you happen to have glanced up at the night sky in the past few weeks, you might just have caught a glimpse of a small herd of reindeer racing through the stars.

"From October 1 we start the practice runs. Every year there are more houses added to the route, so we have to get faster and faster."

Reindeer trainer Hedvig Kroinos says she finds the first few weeks in October particularly hard. "The reindeer are always very unfit at the start, and there is a lot of complaining that the route is too long, they are too tired and so on. I put them on a strict diet as well, and they certainly don't like that so they are very grumpy to begin with."

Naturally competitive animals, Hedvig says the reindeer respond well to some light-hearted competition to motivate them.

"Last year we had a biggest loser competition, and they shed their winter weight very quickly. Although Rudolf tried to cheat; he had his coat shorn off to try to lose a few extra grams. And he was caught spiking Blitzen's oats with some kind of high-calorie powder."

This year, Hedvig has got the reindeer on board with some old-fashioned bribery. "I told them if they manage to complete the Christmas Night Present Run in record time, they can choose where they go for their January holiday."

Most of the reindeer are keen on visiting some distant relatives in Norway, "but Rudolph, he always has to be difficult. He says he would rather go on safari in Africa. We've tried telling him he might get eaten by a lion. The other reindeer would probably be cheering the lion on".

"The song says the others laughed at him for his nose, but that isn't the case. They were actually very polite about it. He says he is the biggest name in the herd, and if he left, they wouldn't be as popular. It is very hard to live with an ego that big. "

Hedvig says the nine reindeer all have their very own personalities which can make getting them to work as a team hard at times. "Dasher is always in a rush. He falls over his own hooves trying to get somewhere before everyone else, so we have to make sure he is near the front. Everyone expects to see Rudolf at the front and to be blunt, Rudolf is the least fit of all the reindeer, so makes the others quite grumpy."

Rudolf's problem is made worse by the treats left out by children. "He says it is rude to leave the plate untouched, so he eats every single treat. Of course, this makes the other reindeer even grumpier as they don't always get a treat too."

Hedvig says if Stratford children would like to leave reindeer treats out "then maybe just a small saucer of oats mixed with some glitter and put a note by it saying it is for ALL the reindeer to share. That way they will all have some, and the glitter is a great energy boost for them. It's like sugar, only sparklier".

Every year the reindeer team comes across new problems. "There are more drones around nowadays, and they can get in our way. When Vixen sees one with a camera on it she likes to pose which slows us down too. As for Prancer, she loves all the open paddocks around Taranaki. She says the crops here are the best tasting in the world. It is amazing how many times she claims she needs a toilet stop when we are flying over Taranaki, and every stop seems to end with her with her mouth full of maize or strawberries or something."

Flying over the Taranaki region is a favourite part of the route for all the reindeer, not just Prancer.

"They love seeing Mount Taranaki. We try and time it so we have time to stop for a hot drink and snack there. We park up on the peak and just look out at the Christmas lights all over Taranaki."

In the old days Santa and the reindeer used the stars to navigate by, "but Comet bought himself a GPS a few years ago, and now insists on using that. It is ok, but sometimes the GPS gets a bit confused because we are flying above the satellites so it can't work out where we are".

Santa refuses to stop to ask for directions, meaning they sometimes get a bit lost on the way.

"To be fair, I'm not sure how easy it would be to pull over and ask a local farmer for the best way to Eltham when you are wearing a red suit and have a herd of reindeer with you. You do look a bit suspicious".

With just a few sleeps left before the big delivery run, Hedvig can't talk for long before she has to head back out to the paddock and get the reindeer harnessed up for the next trial trip.

"This week we have started doing full dummy runs, so we load the sleigh up full of big sacks and we pad out my jacket with extra padding so I weigh the same as Santa."