The Ponies
Monday is grocery day and hopefully we will find the Newfoundland Ponies, which have been moved from their earlier home in the fenced area on the south side of the causeway.
Once again it is a very warm day but we begin the thirty minute walk to the store on the south island. We pass the school, the A.R. Scammell Academy, where only five students in five different grades attended last year. The yard around the fire hall has been roped off and picnic tables have been set for the upcoming garden party. The post office and town hall are quiet.
Looking west from the causeway across Main Tickle.
We find the grocery store, in Skinner Harbour; beside it sits the Harbour View Cafe. The “OPEN” sign trumps the “for sale” sign so we wander in to find what they are offering today for lunch. It is only 11:00 so we tell the owner we will go across the parking lot to the grocery store first for some groceries and then return for a small lunch.
The grocery store has more bolts of quilting fabric than dry goods but we find frozen vegetables, fresh tomatoes and a bag of romaine lettuce. The cartons of milk in the fridge all carry names of people who have called ahead to reserve them. We settle for non-refrigerated milk and pick up taco shells and a pizza mix.
The clerk/owners are very accommodating offering to take us back to the boat to store our supplies and then to drive us to the site of the Newfoundland Ponies, now located another thirty minute walk away. In the heat of the day we are so appreciative of the offer!
Our driver and guide is Lydia Diamond, born and raised on Change Islands. Before heading to the ponies she takes us on a little tour of the islands. Some of it we have seen on our walks but today we get the local commentary to accompany the views.
Lydia tells us about the five students at the school - only one teacher. There are approximately one hundred people living here in the winter but that triples in the summer months. There are many people from Ontario buying properties. (Including “Mike from London” who we met on the dock yesterday when he and his wife came to swim.)
She tells us the garden party is starting on Wednesday with a beer tent and barbecue. There will be dinners, dances and live music for five days. There is a medical clinic, but no longer a resident nurse. The doctor comes from Fogo Island once per month.
Looking north across Main Tickle
On the way to the ponies, we pass a large open field where a couple of small shacks are visible from the road. Lydia explains the field is where the plane used to land, bringing the mail. The shacks were for the post master to sit and wait, often in the cold and wind of winter. Back in the day the mail would then be loaded on to sleighs or wagons and pulled by horses back to town for distribution.
Our tour with Lydia ends at The Newfoundland Pony Sanctuary where Lydia’s young niece greets us and agrees to drive us back to the dock once we have finished our visit.
We know nothing about the Newfoundland Ponies, except for the frequent articles we read in “Downhome Magazine”, explaining their plight of near extinction. In fact, we really do not know anything about horses in general.
The tour begins along the fenced paddock where the 2 males and 5 females are separated. They are all named: “Charlie”, “Jigger”, etc. There are also two visiting horses being boarded here for the summer.
Crystal explains the differences to us: Newfoundland Ponies have a lower set tail (to keep the snow off their backs), a heavier coat, long bangs over their foreheads and turned in fluffy ears. They also change colour during the course of the year.
The first settlers to this region brought five different breeds of horses with them in the 1700s. These eventually inbred to become the Newfoundland Ponies. The ponies are short and cannot carry much weight but they are very strong and can pull up to 3,000 pounds. They were used for hauling fish nets and lumber for firewood, building homes and stages and some were utilized in the mines.
The ponies were allowed to roam freely in the summer and to eat wherever they pleased. In the late 1960s the “no roam” laws were instituted and many of the ponies were put down by their owners as they could not afford to feed them.
The seventy-seven remaining on the island are facing extinction so places like this sanctuary have the mandate to keep them healthy and safe. This location, founded in 2005, functions on private donations except for an $80,000 government grant they received to build the new barn, only after they had privately raised the additional $100,000 needed for the structure. Donations must cover the small salary for our guide, hay and veterinarian fees.
Spreading the news about the Newfoundland Ponies starts with children - you can book a birthday party here, including pony rides.
After meeting the founder, Netta Parsons, hearing of her passion, we make our own donation and leave the sanctuary, better educated and feeling some calm after spending the time with the ponies and hearing their individual stories.