A New year for Newfoundland Ponies!
After a restful winter hiatus, the ponies are gearing up for an exciting 2020 season. We have new programs, relationships and happenings to look forward to.
First off - we changed our hours for better accommodation of both visitors and volunteers.
The Center opens to the public Memorial Day weekend - November 15th.
Wed thru Friday by reservation only. Closed Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.
Saturdays we open from 12 to 3 with no reservation needed.
Tours will now include a Pony Tale walk around the grounds, highlighting the breed and individual ponies.
Our popular Pony Picnics and Pony BFF tours are still available, but need to be scheduled ahead to ensure an enjoyable experience. This year the Shattuck Golf Course’s new restaurant (which is right down the road from us) is happy to provide food for your pony picnic.
The Center has partnered with the Awesome Animal Academy, a project-based program that is turning young people into the leaders, stewards, and social entrepreneurs they are meant to be. With the emphasis being saving endangered species and breeds, our ponies have their own segment and their own work book! Young people can now play a significant part helping us to save this breed too, as they explore, examine and engage in that mission or an animal of their choice. How cool is that! This program and our ponies will be included in the Jaffrey-Rindge Rotary’s “Best Camp” activities in July. We are available for schools, youth groups, other camps, and organizations. And stay tuned for information on our Awesome Animal Academy Camp to be held at the Center in August. www.awesomeanimalacademy.org
We are also excited to be working out details for a True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship partnership, providing life skills development programs using our Newfoundland Ponies. This not only highlights the pony’s inherent ability to easily connect with people (which makes them very good teachers) but helps our community at the same time. True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship, a 501c3, provides therapeutic horsemanship to individuals living with one or more physical, cognitive, social, emotional, or behavioral challenge; helping humans and horses find the therapeutic benefits of horsemanship. Learn more about True Hope at www.truehopeth.org.
Stay tuned for announcements coming soon, about our expanding Foster Network program.
And last but certainly not least - Foals!! That’s right - we have not 1 but 2 foals due to be born here this year, one in the spring, and one in the summer. Thanks to the work of the center, 2 other foals will be born this year on a farm that we mentored, located in the midwest. Our young stallion, Lucky Ace, is the father of one of those babies as well as one of ours. In total, we are responsible for 8 foals born in the USA since we started in 2013. Still our numbers remain in the 30’s, of the less than 400 in the world, but slow, steady and responsibly is how bringing them back is done. We are planning some fun events to welcome these precious babies to the planet and will announce them soon.
We are always interested in volunteer help. There are a variety of volunteer needs and ponies who need buddies. This spring we have a few projects planned to make things even safer for the foals. It took a long time and much effort to get the tiny feet of Newfoundland Ponies on terra firma and we want them to be firmly planted there for a very long time. Please visit our website & fill out an application. Group orientations are held as soon as a group is gathered.
For more information on anything and everything, email us at newfoundlandponyinfo@gmail.com
Looking forward to seeing you in 2020!