Hardy, Willing and Tough as Nails

There's exciting news from Newfoundland and Labrador for those who are familiar with the hardy breed known as the Newfoundland Pony: a census has been announced to record the number of these hard-working little horses that can be found in the province today.  The Newfoundland Pony Society has been gathering information for the past several months; it's believed that only about 400 Newfoundland ponies in North America today, with only about 250 available for breeding.

In the early 1970s, there were an estimated 12,000 members of this breed on the island; by the late 1980s the population had declined drastically to only about 100 animals. There were several factors at play: machinery was rapidly taking the place of draft animals for farm work, many municipalities had enacted laws that made it more difficult to keep livestock, especially using traditional "open range" grazing, and unwanted ponies were often sold, knowingly or unknowingly, to be used for meat, oftentimes for pet food.

The ponies are distinctive, small in stature, and sturdily built -- "all-purpose" animals that can be used for farming, riding, and hauling wood. Their characteristics, according to the Newfoundland Pony Society (a registered charity), include the following:
• good winter animal, all-around hardy
• structure can vary from fine-boned types to larger stocky types
• height can vary from 11.0 to 14.2 hands
• coat colour can be black, brown, chestnut, bay, dun, grey, roan and white (pink skin)
• coat is heavy and sometimes changes colour and character seasonally
• has a thick mane and tail – usually black
• has a low-set mane and tail
• has a short, broad head with small ears
• has flint hard hooves.

One development of the census appears to be that while the breed is still considered critically endangered, there are more ponies present in Newfoundland than had been previously thought; that's good news for those of us who are hoping for a comeback for this living, breathing part of Newfoundland and Labrador's cultural heritage!

The Horses of Cape Bonavista

Until relatively recently, common grazing ground was found in most of the small communities of Newfoundland and Labrador. Horses and ponies, sheep, goats in in some cases cattle all grazed on community pastureland, ranging at will. If fences were constructed, they served not to keep animals in, but to keep them out of the immediate areas around the houses or vegetable gardens. Today, with less reliance on family farms and fewer people following a traditional rural lifestyle, that community pastureland is fast disappearing. There are a handful of communities, about thirty, where the practice continues and Bonavista is one of them. The community pasture is located on a small peninsula or cape, and a public road leading to the Dungeon Provincial Park runs through the middle of it. The area is fenced, and at the points where the road goes through these fences, cattle grids have been installed. Cattle, sheep and horses all graze here: the curious horses sometimes approaching people who stop for a photo -- like these three.

Courage and Patience and Grit

Songwriter Mark Walker was born in Tickle Cove, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, in 1846. A fisherman who also served as the first postmaster in the community of Sweet Bay, Walker penned several of modern-day Newfoundland and Labrador's favourite songs, among them "Fanny's Harbour Bawn", "The Girls of Sweet Bay", "The Antis of Plate Cove" (about the forces that opposed Confederation with Canada), and "Down by Jim Long's Stage", but perhaps his best-known and most-beloved song was "Tickle Cove Pond", a song that tells the tale of an incident that took place in Tickle Cove in the spring of the year.  It was first recorded by Canadian folksinger Allan Mills in 1963. To listen to a recording of the song performed by Jesse Ferguson, click here. The lyrics follow. 

In cuttin' and haulin', in frost and in snow

We're up against troubles that few people know

And it's only by courage and patience and grit

And eatin' plain food that we keep ourselves fit

The hard and the easy we take as it comes

And when ponds freeze over we shorten our runs

To hurry my haulin' with spring coming on

Near lost me a mare out on Tickle Cove Pond

Chorus:

Lay hold William Over, lay hold William White

Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might

Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can

And give me a lift with poor Kit on the pond

I knew that the ice became weaker each day

But still took the risk and kept haulin' away

One evening in April bound home with a load

The mare showed some halting against the ice road

She knew more than I did as matters turned out

And lucky for me had I joined her in doubt

She turned round her head, with tears in her eyes

As if she were sayin', "You're riskin' our lives"

All this I ignored with a whip handle blow

For man is too stupid; dumb creatures to know

The very next moment the pond gave a sigh

And down to our necks went poor Kitty and I

Chorus

For if I had taken wise Kitty's advice

I never would take the shortcut on the ice

Poor creature she's dead; poor creature she's gone

I'll ne'er get my mare out of Tickle Cove Pond

Chorus

So I raised an alarm you could hear for a mile

And neighbours turned up in a very short while

You can always rely on the Overs* and Whites

To render assistance in all your bad plights

To help a poor neighbour is part of their lives

The same I can say for their children and wives

When a bowline was fastened around the mare's breast

William White for a shanty song made a request

There was no time for thinkin', no time for delay

Straight from his head came this song right away

Chorus Final

Lay hold William Over, lay hold William W

Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might

Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can

And with that we brought Kit out of Tickle Cove Pond

 

*It seems the surname Oldford, often associated with this song, is not one of long standing in Tickle Cove.  The name Over, originally Ovier, was referred to in the song when it was penned by Walker.  Reference.