PaulaO wrote:How did you find Barnaby? And have a butter tart for me please.
The butter tarts were awesome, but still not as good as they used to be. Wherever the store used to get them,they were full to the top, and oozed when you bit them. They are still really good, just that they used to be better!!
As for finding Barnaby, I kind of lucked out 10 years ago when I was looking on behalf of my elderly neighbour (73 at the time) who wanted to see his granddaughter (4 at the time) ride before he died. A lot of people want to save the breed and have Newfoundland ponies, but don't do anything with them. The wonderful thing about these ponies is that they are like Newfoundland dogs in their love for kids. It is such a waste to have them and do nothing with them. I had found a bunch of people with older but unbroken ponies. Then I came across this Newfoundlander in the Niagara area who loved ponies and had young kids. He was buying ponies in Newfoundland and bringing them to Ontario to sell at a profit. The market was good at the time, so it was worth his while. When I went to see him, Barnaby was the one for sale. Barnaby was an unbroke 4 yo stallion, who had been brought to Ontario to be a breeding stallion, but he turned out cryptorchid so was unsuitable for breeding. The guy's vet wouldn't touch a cryptorchid so we ended up getting a deal. There was a new equine hospital in our neighbourhood that had just opened and took him at quite a reasonable rate to geld. Fortunately my elderly neighbour wanted the pony for his granddaughter more than he cared about the costs associated. I backed Barnaby and did all of his training for the fun of it. I didn't charge them. I had a job(I am a teacher) so I didn't need the money and I wanted to test my skills as a horsewoman by backing the pony. I am not sure any skills were actually involved. After teaching him to lunge, I pretty much just mounted up and started riding. He was incredibly easygoing and sensible, even as a 4yo. I hacked him, schooled him to 1st level dressage, had a petite teenager ride him in jumping lessons, and aimed to make him an all around fun pony that you could do anything with. It worked. He was and is truly loved by his little girl although she has sadly outgrown him. Even though I haven't been on his back for many years, my friend has been hopping on him after she rides my mare, and he is quickly remembering everything I taught him.
The grandfather has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and the farm is too much for his 78 yo wife. So all of the horses have been sold, and the farm is up for sale. The girl, (now 14) did not want to sell Barnaby even though she has outgrown him, but she also doesn't want him to rot in a field. I have multiple myeloma (blood based bone cancer) and am on relapse number 5 or so. My bones are so fragile I really shouldn't ride my mare or any horse for that matter, anymore. Like Barnaby's girl, I have a horse that I can't ride, but love dearly and can't bring myself to sell, even though it is the most sensible solution. I have a wonderful part boarder who has been keeping my mare going, and doing a fantastic job so I ride vicariously through watching her school my horse. I felt for the family, who are going through a rough time with the Alzheimer's and selling their home, and moving to a new town out of the area, so I offered to buy Barnaby so that his girl would always have access to him and know where he was. I did tell them though that he had to be drivable as I can't ride, so I currently have him on trial until he proves himself as a driving pony. I love him almost as much as I love my own mare, but I really can't afford to board 2 unsuitable horses, so I am crossing my fingers that he continues to be as chill as he has been about driving. The new shafts should be ready in about a week, so next lesson we will put him to the cart and see how it goes.
Thank you everyone for the kind compliments. He is just as sweet as he is cute. I will continue to post pictures as our lessons progress.
Trying to fix. This is my first time using flicker as a hosting site because photobucket just freezes on the iPad. Maybe I need to go downstairs and use the real computer and go back to photobucket. It never failed me before.
OMG So cute! 
