Meet Cabot

We have a celebrity with Villi Poni! Meet Vinland's Cabot Chapman, or 'Cabot' - a rare line of an already rare breed, gorgeous bay stallion. Once made into a Stone Pony model that sold in a limited run for over $200 a piece, Cabot is a 'model' of his breed (see what I did there? I love puns). Cabot is of the Star of the Sea line, with only two registered foals on record. He's 20 years old this year, and his previous owner has very graciously allowed him to come here to help with conservation efforts. Being Star of the Sea - a foundation Newfoundland Pony stallion - direct son, Cabot is a perfect addition to our conservation breeding program. None of the mares we have are currently related to him, and while we wait for Ace to grow, Cabot will be be an outstanding fill in. 

Cabot is big for a pony - at 14.1 (almost 14.2HH), he's the only Pony we have bigger than Winsome. Cabot also comes to us for a little bit of rehab - outgrown by his previous kids, Cabot didn't have much to do, and fewer choices for compatible mares where he lived to help preserve the Pony. He was also having trouble keeping weight on, and his winter coat that once came in so full and thick wasn't doing so well. He was also kept by himself since he got frisky when the ladies were present. He needed some one on one attention, and thanks to wonderful people like yourselves, we managed to raise enough money for him to come here to a foster home who has already fallen madly in love with him (including his gelding buddy Phoenix). 

These were taken the day after he arrived to us. He's a little thin, without much muscle, but he's super sweet and possibly better behaved than the geldings he shares his home with. Currently, they are not in the same paddock, but they share a fence line, and like to play 'I'm not touching youuuu' over the rail. 

For an old man, he looks pretty frisky, right? Newfoundland Ponies can live to be over forty. While we build up his muscle tone and weight, and get his teeth taken care of (he's starting to wad hay and takes a very long time to eat it), we're hoping for a March breeding season with our mares. Some of which either have no living offspring, or none that are capable of carrying on their lines. Our beloved Misty, for example, has had 9 foals - 8 of which were colts that were gelded before they could have offspring, and 1 filly who died. Our Storm has had only 1 foal, also who died, and Lily who has never had a foal. We thought she and Ammy were going to have a foal this summer, but it turned out to be a false pregnancy. Winsome is almost old enough to breed (just imagine how big that baby would be), and her half sister Mandy has also never had any offspring. 

We keep telling Cabot if he's good and eats all of his hay and grain and works out, he's going to have a very good spring. And, even better, his foster wants to try him out with mounted archery and possibly even falconry! And, not to be outdone, we're hoping we can bring Cabot and possibly Cabot babies to Equine Affaire 2019! Stayed tuned for hopefully some adorable babies to help out our critically endangered Ponies!