Newfoundland ponies

July 31, 2015July 30, 2015

Thanks, Paul (or, a little Pony Blogging!)

We have our friend and Green’s Harbour neighbour Paul Seymour to thank for this gorgeous photo, taken at The Doctor’s House, and for many more gorgeous photos we’ll be sharing over the coming days (make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook so you don’t miss ’em!).

This is Monty, our radical changer Newfoundland pony. That means his coat changes with the seasons, and it’s quite a beautiful thing to see. We can’t think of anything more wonderful, or more ‘Newfoundland,’ than a Newfoundland pony in a field of wildflowers. Enjoy your weekend!

June 23, 2015June 22, 2015

Happy Ponies

Green grass equals happy ponies, and we’ve had very happy ponies of late. These are also some of the most people-oriented ponies I’ve met, so I know they’ve enjoyed all the foot traffic and visitors that comes with the summer season.

Just a heads up that a lot of our Spring packages end this weekend. This could be a great opportunity to get your getaway in before we really start to get busy!

March 25, 2015March 24, 2015

We’re so in love with our Newfoundland Ponies and ever grateful to Dr. Frasier and Clifford George (yes, our wonderful artist, poet, raconteur and friend) for their survival. Turns out there is a controversy developing as to whether Newfoundland ponies are actually their own distinct breed. But names have little meaning when you love your flock like we do. Our animals, whether they be Bridie the pony, Eweness the sheep, Rosie the goat, Donald the duck, Peckie the hen, Golden the goose, or Mickey the moose, or any of the wild rabbits, blue jays, hawks, feral cats, or other visitors to our sanctuary, are all precious, welcome and loved. None will go hungry at our sanctuary.

If we have to put up a fence to protect the flowers, so be it. If we have to plant more sunflowers to feed the rabbits (that’s all they ate last year – left everything else as is), so be it. If we have to buy extra feed, so be it.

As we strive to become a Farm to Table organic organization with zero energy footprint, we will never lose touch with all the wonderful creatures that share our acres. They’re as fundamental to The Doctor’s House as anything else, and we just plain love them, anyway!

March 18, 2015March 17, 2015

It’s Beginning to Look a Bit Like Christmas at The Doctor’s House!

It was a green AND white St. Patrick’s Day yesterday, thanks to Sheila’s Brush. A visit to our appropriately named Shamrock and Bridie seemed like a fitting way to spend the holiday (especially since we’d already got our Irish dancing in over the weekend).

Maybe we’re past the point of wanting to snow, but how beautiful and peaceful it looks when freshly fallen. Since we’re lucky enough to work from home, the storm didn’t keep us from working – it just encouraged a little extra cozying up when necessary!

The view here from the kitchen is unbelievable, and the beauty is that it won’t last. We are expecting one more storm this weekend and that should it. Sheila will have used all her paint, and Spring will descent upon the Wonderful World of Whiteway and The Doctor’s House in all her glory – bring it on!

September 27, 2014September 26, 2014

Two Heads are Better than One!

All our beautiful ponies have been become showstoppers with our guests of late – and it’s easy to tell why. Not to mention that if you run into Jerry on your stay at The Doctor’s House (a very likely occurrence!), then he’s going to insist you feed the goats. We’re definitely an animal sanctuary, and an animal lover’s paradise, too. So animal lovers don’t forget – it’s easy to visit the ponies this fall, with our Autumn Specials.

July 14, 2014July 10, 2014

Days of Yore

Here’s groundskeeper and husbandry expert, Perry Oliver, using a scythe to cut fresh grass for our horses. They’ve already eaten most of the grass in their current pasture, so we’re creating another one for them that should keep them going all summer. In the meantime, they need their daily greens!

We couldn’t operate The Doctor’s House without all the skills and wisdom Perry brings to the table. His knowledge of animals’ physical needs and psychiatry is amazing, and he keeps all our four-leggeds happy. And schything is a dying skill that not many can do anymore. Everyday, some new task pops up that makes us really grateful to have Perry on board, as he redefines ‘Jack of all Trades’ and then some.

June 22, 2014June 21, 2014

Our Ponies’ Debut!

We love our ponies and so do our guests, so it was only a matter of time before they got a little online-love! Thanks to Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism for their recent blog featuring all the wonderful things to do on the Western shore of Conception Bay. And thanks to blogger, Dominique Chiasson, for staying with us, writing such a nice review of The Doctor’s House, and including our girls, Bridie and Shamrock in it. They’re our rescued Newfoundland ponies, and we’re happy to get the word out about how special they are!

And thanks again to recent guests Stephen and Kayla for the beautiful photo of Bridie.

June 16, 2014June 15, 2014

Beauty is a Beauty

There’s lots to do to get The Doctor’s House for our first weddings in July, but this might have been the most fun. We’ve planned on having Beauty give carriage rides to our couples – but we had to be sure she was up to the job. So we had local expert Dave Knight come out to see if she could perform the task. She passed her test with flying colours, and now we can’t wait for this beauty of a Beauty to help create magical weddings. We think our horse drawn carriages will be quite romantic!

June 5, 2014June 3, 2014

The Great Escape

Talk about a comedy of errors – especially for someone like Jerry who is mildly afraid of horses! A few evenings ago he was working reception at The Doctor’s House, when through our glass door he saw blurred images moving past quickly. Knowing they couldn’t be human, he ran and opened the door – to see our 4 ponies and Eweness the Sheep on the gallivant. They’d found a hole in the fence and taken full advantage.

The Berry was away, and Perry, our caretaker, was unreachable – so it was up to Jerry, slightly (just slightly!) afraid, to figure out how to get our animals, now on the loose, back to the safety of the barn.

So he got some apples and a bucket and went looking for the beasts. He found them in the furthest field from the barn, all smiles, munching on the fresh green grass and enjoying the sweet taste of freedom.

Shaking, a little, bucket in hand, Jerry approached Monty – the leader of the pack. As Monty munched on his first piece, Jerry put on his rein, held the old bucket in front of his nose, and led him easily (with heart pounding) back to the barn. To his relief, the others followed their leader neatly behind him.

Back at the barn, Jerry released the horses to look for the hole in the fence. He found it quickly, but not before the four ponies took off in full stride again, down the field and out through the hole, back to where he had last found them – laughing at him all the way.

So Jerry fixed the fence and started after them again. Thankfully, by this point, The Berry had returned, so she much more confidently led them back to the barn.

Here is the picture we took the morning after the Great Escape. The animals are clearly not as happy to have given up their freedom – but they are much safer now that their little adventure is over. And, it’s not like we don’t make sure they get plenty of exercise!

January 24, 2014January 23, 2014

Some Love for Shamrock

We’ve had some questions after posting about our construction project to turn a barn at The Doctor’s House into a wedding reception hall, wondering whether it would displace our menagerie of animals. And the answer is, happily, no! Our Newfoundland ponies and goat have their own, newer barn, where they’re given lots of love and other necessities – and that’s not going to change.

Here’s Laurelyn with Shamrock, a looker if ever there was one, and the sweetest pony around. She loves attention and kisses, and absolutely loves humans. Thankfully, the feeling is mutual!