June 19, 2024
I thought I would share some Canada Day Stories with you. For years Trailblazers were a driving force for North Rustic Canada day celebrations. 10 to 12 horses and ponies would be in the parade. It was no easy accomplishment. 2 weeks before everyone would be cleaning and polishing tack. They would plan their costumes. Some years there was a celebration theme, that meant Yogi would be sewing banners, hats and saddle pads every evening. There was much polishing of the pony carts. The evening before we would load the carts and tack supplies on the Sonoma and head for the school in North Rustico and drop that load off near the chain link fence. At the barn Trailblazers would put the tack in a laundry bag for each horse. The driving tack was in totes. Trailblazers would sleep over the night before, through 20 years, Harry Weeks, Frank Doiron or Byron Weeks would arrive at 7am to load the herd. I cannot thank these men enough for all the trailering they did for the kids. I hoped they were able to enjoy some of the festivities on that day, because they did not just pick up the herd for the parade, they took them home and then came back at 4 to take the ponies home. We arrived at the school, tacked up the herd and waited for our orders from the parade Marshall to join the parade. I was frazzled but we managed. We enlisted help and had a walker for every horse and rider. It made me very proud of Trailblazers when we were all decked out in our red and white. Once in a while a horse was not cooperative. We had one incident on a very wndy day with Prize. Allison was the rider that day. It did not go well, the pony was terrified of the overhead bunting flapping in the wind. I suggested to Allison that she walk the pony. That was not on her agenda. It was getting tough for me to hold the pony, a spectator jumped out of the crowd and led the pony right to Fisherman’s wharf, where the overhead decorations ended. At the end of the parade Trailblazers would load the riding horses and they were drove home and put out to pasture. Then I then made a run back to Rustico with my helpers. The ponies and carts with their drivers drove to the park for they were giving pony drives from 1 – 4 to raise money to pay for the trailering. Their first job was to water the ponies. The folks that lived in the then yellow house at that end of the park were very generous in lending us their water hose to accomplish that job. Through the years we had a routine, parents volunteered, they had a table set up to sell tickets. One year we even had a canopy over the table. The rain did not stop us. We made sure we had drinks and snacks for the Trailblazers, it never failed that each year a tray of Cavendish chips would arrive for us to snack on. I am so grateful for Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous for doing that. We usually had 6 ponies and carts following the cone path. Parents would put their child on each side of the driver and off they would go. We would spell the ponies off after an hour. I was so proud of the kids making sure the ponies had enough water. It seemed to be a problem for them to drink out of buckets. So they trained them all to drink from a bottle. It made for a lot of fun but made it much easier for them to keep going. It was hard work for Trailblazers some only 10 – 12 years old. So we made sure they had a chance to rest or check out the other venues. Breezy, one of our Newfies was not happy pulling a cart, so he was the picture pony. I am sure there are lots of pictures of little ones sitting on his back. In those days we charged a dollar for a ride, 2 kids each round and we made $2. We usually made about $300 for the trailering, so my calculations say that 300 kids had a fun time. I am not sure $300 covered much of the time and fuel for Harry, Frank or Byron. But not once did they ask for more, they said they were doing it for the kids. At 4 o’clock we packed up and loaded up all the gear. The final trucking got the ponies home. We made a quick job of unloading ponies and gear, because Yogi’s treat was to go for the boat ride and the boats left at 6. My thanks to all the Fishers that made room for a hitchhiker through the years. Those were the best of days!! We haven’t been part of the celebration for a few years now. I was fortunate for help from parents and volunteers to attempt the parade. I am not sure I would have the energy to do it now. But the love and kindness will always be the memory of North Rustico Canada Day. Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd.