The Newfoundland Pony Society is putting a push on getting ponies registered.
The once plentiful breed numbered in the thousands just a few decades ago, but changing municipal laws and the advent of ATVs helped to hasten their near-demise. Nowadays, the number of registered Newfoundland ponies is in the hundreds.
The good news is that previously unknown ponies are continuing to be found, mainly on the mainland.
Korrine Affleck is a councillor at large with the society and chairs the Newfoundland Pony Rehoming Committee in Perth, Ontario. She is also the proud owner of a few Newfoundland ponies. She says she comes across ponies all the time that are not registered.
Society President Jack Harris says it’s important to get all genetically identified Newfoundland ponies registered to help ensure the future survival of the unique breed.
He says they know of at least 75 ponies that they either have DNA on or they are “pretty sure” are the offspring of registered ponies but are not yet registered with the society. He says it can take a bit of work to track the owners of the ponies down and convince them that having them registered is a good thing.
