​LOOKING BACK. Part 4
In early 2011, Cindy Mehaney let us know that she was getting a registered Newfoundland Pony stallion, from Maine, on a breeding lease. She asked me if, while he was on his way to her farm in Michigan, we’d like for him to make a pitstop to breed our mares.
That was a pivotal moment, to either step up to help the breed or to politely decline and just enjoy our ponies as pets.
We realized that there just weren’t any Newfoundland Pony stallions in the area (or so we thought) and that this was an opportunity that we may never get again. Then Cindy told me the stallion’s name, Macosa’s Dream.
Wait, what? Macosa? You see I had met him before, when I purchased Bob, (a Clydesdale cross and best horse ever) from the horse farm in Maine where Macosa lived, in 2004. Back then, I thought he was a handsome pony. He lived in a special place in the back of my mind, but nothing more.
Seven years later, there was no doubt we would breed our mares to him. And so we made the trip to Maine to pick him up, the start of the first leg of his journey. Quite frankly, having been hurt by a stallion some years before, I had much trepidation about even being near him.
His coloring was like nothing I’d seen before. He was what we Nfld pony people call a radical changer, a roan, but his owner showed us photos of him in July, where he’d be completly dark again. And then he would roan again, before the winter months turned him dark once more.
We loaded him into our trailer and thus began a new chapter in our pony world.
With the help of horse-experienced daughters, Lexi and Caityln Aho, and at their farm, Macosa successfully bred our Applewood Highland Heather, the first purebred Newfoundland Pony mare he had ever encountered. Try as we did, and over a long period of time, our other mare, Brynshire’s Mandolyn, had absolutely no interest in him.
While waiting for the day his transport was to arrive, Lexi road him on the trails. Even riding along in a group of all mares, he did nothing but behave. Macosa then traveled the rest of the way to his new home.
Over time we learned that it wasn't just Macosa who was a kind, safe, stallion - the same manners and sanity applies to the majority of Nfld Pony stallions.
Macosa was the first breeding stallion in the USA and this rendevous produced his first registrable offspring. Spending time with him, Macosa proved my own fear of stallions should not apply to all, especially not him; he was the epitome of grace, dignity, manners and kindness to mares. He was not just handsome, he was stunning. And we were so lucky to have had him in our lives for even just a short time.
Photo courtesy of Amanda Rains

Looking Back - Part 3

​LOOKING BACK - Part 3
Onward to NH...In 2010 we bought a little house with beautiful views, in a little town. Before we had even unpacked we got a call from a woman in Michigan who owned and raised Newfoundland Ponies. I had just joined the pony society and she had found us that way. We had a lovely chat.
I learned that her husband was from Newfoundland. They hauled their ponies themselves from Canada to the USA. Cindy Mehaney told me many things about the pony, but also something I was not prepared to hear - that in order to save the breed, we must breed our registered mares. On top of that, Fiddler's Green Stables was the only known breeder of registered Newfoundland Ponies in the USA. Seriously? It was then I learned just how endangered they were. But BREED?? I had never even bred a guppy before!
We stayed in touch and became friends. It wasn't long before we were a small part of the small Nfld Pony Facebook community. But I never forgot what Cindy told me about breeding...
We met at an important intersection along the pony path, picking the road to Extinction or the one to Survival. Had Cindy Mehaney not reached out, the path I would have chosen would have been the one to Extinction, simply because I did not know...
Cindy Mehaney, you are a true steward of this breed. And a true friend.

​Pictured top to bottom at Fiddlers Green Stable: "Porch Ponies". Dunworkin Shandy Chapman with newborn colt Jiggs. Foundation stallion Champion K.