Farmer's stallions feel the need to breed — but the mares don't care
A Harbour Grace farmer's call for Newfoundland pony stallions last year means four new foals on the island this year, but he's concerned he's not seeing the same response to his latest effort to help the breed.
"I just can't believe the pony people here in this province, I just can't believe them," said Harrison Verge, the owner of Black Brooks Stud Farm in Harbour Grace.
Verge said he hasn't heard from anybody in the province's Newfoundland pony community about this year's offer of four stallions for breeding, at no charge. Last year's offer of three stallions means four new Newfoundland pony foals in Newfoundland this year, he said, but the lack of interest this year has him considering selling his farm altogether.
"They just don't care anymore," Verge told The St. John's Morning Show.
The breeding effort is important for Newfoundland ponies because of a lack of bloodlines on the island, Verge said. Most of the province's mares and studs are on the Avalon Peninsula, he said, and many of them can't breed with each other because they are too closely related.
"That's a big problem there," Verge said. "That's like painting yourself in the corner."
With access to stallions from other farms, he said, new bloodlines could be introduced and the species would have healthier foals and a larger population. The population is estimated by the Livestock Conservancy to be between 200 and 250 animals, well down from a government estimate of 9,025 ponies in 1935.
"You have to diversify," he said. "That's the only way to survive the species."
Considering selling ponies
Verge grew up around Newfoundland ponies, which were common when he was a child, and said he has always loved horses. When he noticed the aging and declining population of the animals he figured he could do something to help.
Last year Verge offered three of his stallions, with three different bloodlines, for breeding, free of charge for anybody who could come and breed the mares. As a result, four foals were born in nine days.
He wants to do the same this year — this time with four stallions — but said despite his efforts to reach out to others on the island with mares, nobody has expressed interest.
"It's a sad, sad thing for the Newfoundland pony," Verge said.
It costs thousands to keep stallions, he said, and they must be fed hay year round. If he can't get breeders to support the program, he said, he might have to sell his own ponies off.
"That don't make me feel very good."
It's a decision Verge said he has to make soon, as the prime breeding season will be over at the end of next month. But he's hoping that won't have to happen, and says anybody who is interested in breeding with one of his stallions can reach out to him via Facebook or by phone at 709-596-5883.
"I would love to see some mares roaming in the yard here to breed."
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