The continuing adventures of gaffer

You're probably wondering why all of the sudden on one day there's like 5 updates to this otherwise silent blog. Honestly, we've been having so many things going on that this just fell by the wayside as we updated our Facebook and Instagram accounts (which we can do from a phone). But now we finally have a chance to breathe and wow, we have a lot of stuff to share!

Who here remembers Gaffer?

Gaffer was originally a straight adoption from Michigan to a local family here in New Hampshire. There's an entire blog entry about the epic road trip we went on to go get him (what should've been a simple 12 hour round trip became 27 hours of shenanigans and wrong turns). As sometimes happens, Gaffer and his family didn't work out. His previous owner said he was 'cold backed' - meaning he needed work before putting a saddle on him to prevent him from bucking, and it turned out to be more of a project than his first family was comfortable with tackling on their own. No worries though! Villi Poni will always take back their adopted Ponies if things don't work out.

Gaffer, as it turned out, mostly just had a saddle problem. Our trainer, who is fantastic with the Newfoundland Pony, had him in ship shape in no time at all, riding him, letting him follow her during chores, and babysitting the new human baby who accompanied mom into the barn. But as much as the staff loved him, Gaffer needed a family of his own.

Remember the part about Pony Karma?

A family, who also saw us on Chronicle and found out about the Newfoundland Pony's critical status, also found out how we use our Ponies for Equine Assisted Learning. They were interested in starting their own program for youth at risk at their farm in the Lakes Region, and also wanted to help out with conservation practices at the same time. How perfect was that? He will be heading for his new home by the end of the week, just in time for the holidays! We know Gaffer and his new family will have a wonderful time together, and we have another fantastic ambassador for the multi-talented usage of the Newfoundland Pony, and True has found her perfect family, too!