Changes coming for Newfoundland Ponies on Change Islands

A fundraising campaign and victory in an online contest have breathed new life into a Change Islands pony sanctuary.

Now, the construction project that themoney is fundingis raising hopefor the future of the endangered Newfoundland Pony breed.

"Last yearit was just doom and gloom, and this year it's looking bright," said Netta LeDrew, withthe Newfoundland Pony Sanctuary.

The animals at the sanctuary are well loved, but have been sleeping in shabby, leaking structures.

LeDrew is pleased to see the first steps being taken for a new tackroom, office, and 14 stalls, each of them almost double the size of what the ponies sleep in now.

"No leaky roof, good stalls, no water in the stalls it's going tobe comfort.Big change," she said.

"It's like a man moving from a cave, to a really nice home."

'It's everybody's barn'

On the heels of months of fundraising, the successful campaign was topped off by winning $90,000 in an online Aviva Community Fund contest based on votes.

"It's everybody's barn, in that sense," said volunteer Carolyn Parsons. "Because everybody who voted, and who donated, they own a little piece of this. They helped the Newfoundland pony, because we need that awareness."

Parsons believes that the sanctuary on Change Islandscan have a positiveimpact on the breed across the province.

"This is the Newfoundland Pony Sanctuary," she said. "We'll have them here, we'll start the awareness from here, and then people can build upon this."

The breed has been struggling to survive. Numbers plummeted from about 12,000 in the 1970s to just a few hundred ponies today.

The sanctuary's breeding program has been on hold for yearsbecause there was notadequate stable space for foals. With the new barn, there are plans to reestablish breedingby 2016.

"If we all get together and we breed [the ponies]and bring back these numbers, it will look some good," said LeDrew. "The Newfoundland pony is our heritage animal. It built Newfoundland, as far as I'm concerned. They built the roads, they worked the fields, they hauled the firewood."

A big party is in store to commemorate the project. The sanctuary will christen its new stable with a publiccelebration on Sept. 6.