Feb 7/09 - Time to start reviving Pony Breeders of Ontario

Back in the fall of 2005, I attempted to set up a formal organization called Pony Breeders of Ontario, similar to the organizations of Virginia Pony Breeders Association, Maryland PBA, Florida PBA and Minnesota PBA. I held an information/working session the end of October and we have a small number of very enthusiastic people attend and a lot of work was done in ironing out what the group wanted and how the organization should work.

I and the interim Board of Directors spent many an hour on email and phone hashing out details. I sent out the initial newsletter. But when asked to perform simple tasks - investigating setting up bank account, etc the work seemed to fall back onto my shoulders. Meantime I was busy creating forms and the database, writing the newsletter, etc. We even had a logo contest and selected a logo but never purchased the rights to that logo - but I'm sure we could negotiate to do that now if we decided to proceed. It was a fabulous logo but according to the agreement, I can no longer use it as it is unpaid for.

Finally when all was said and done and we were "live" I had 2 members and 5 ponies applied for. I never cashed the cheques, and basically dropped the ball due to lack of interest from the people at the original meeting.

Why did it not succeed?? Many times since then I have asked this very question. Was it too complicated??? Was it ahead of its time??? Was it too expensive??? Did it require too much work on the part of the "interim" board who agreed to put forth some of their valuable time to see this organization get started????

In the intervening years I have still been writing some articles promoting Ontario bred ponies and their breeders/owners. The past couple of weeks, I've been contemplating reviving PBO and how it should be - maybe a looser, less formal format is what is wanted/needed. Maybe we don't need to go the formal way that VPBA has gone. This is the attempt to see if we can all work together for the greater good of Ontario-bred ponies and everyone to say what they need, want and desire out of a collective group. Maybe it's just a place to chat about their breeding programs and their successes.

I've done it as a moderated group to keep membership restricted to Ontario breeders as some of what may be discussed may not be suitable for other audiences.

Many thanks to Barnmice for creating this website that allows us to create special interest groups.

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Comment by Diana on February 11, 2009 at 6:59pm: Thanks for the comments ladies.

I'm wondering if we need to be a "Club" at this point with membership fees or formal shows. This is what I mean by a looser organization. I do know that in order to access funds (goverment grants, etc) we DO need to be a formal organized group.

Today's economy is harder that it was back then for all of us.And for some reason we all seem busier and busier.

I see nothing wrong with individuals forming local (regional or county) groups to put on activities as such as they need.

What we need to discover right now is what pony breeders (and enthusiasts) WANT/NEED to help them achieve their personal goals with their ponies.

Some thoughts are:

-reduced advertising fees in major North American publications (group advertising reduces cost of full colour full page when split between x number of breeders)
-more places to exhibit
-ability to share: information, stallions at stud, young stock for sale, buyer requests that you are unable to fill yourself (thiink: pay it forward), trainers, places to purchase equipment
-assistance in getting "good news" stories out in the press
-......(you fill in the blanks)

Once we discover what the common wants and needs are then we can formulate an action plan to accomplish these tasks without everyone flying off in a multitude of directions all at once buring out your energy, annoying the people who might have helped us pony breeders, and getting you frustrated once again.

Keep the comments coming - I'll do my best to summarize as we go along. I only get online a couple of times a week, so please be patient.

Comment by Heather Lambert on February 9, 2009 at 8:11pm: Hi Diana,
I am also one of the original group that was at the fall meeting in Schomberg that fell shy of committment, my appologies. My travelling companion that day, also from the Westmeath area, (Pembroke) Donna Coulson, has since passed away. To try and answer your question, "why did the pony club not fly", my guess is it may well have been bad timing, people wanting it, understanding the need, but too chaotic a life to commit. For me, "a little crumb" the purchase of a trailer, and the funds to travel long distances to shows, and lets not forget a trainer/rider, well, it was and still is financially out of my reach as I am going through character building times.
I do strongly believe that it happened for a reason we had just enough people at that meeting to proceed with picking a name , etc. and it was born. I had no idea that P.B.O. never went anywhere though.
I believe there may well be a re birth for P.B.O. given the fact that you, believe in a need and you, are a determined, dedicated, knowledgeable individual. Sorry to say, I am not in position to take on a title with P.B.O. but I will circulate flyers again in the Ottawa valley, I will pay a membership fee member even though my ponies are registered 1/2 Welsh and I do not need to register them with the club, I will do what I can.
MayGod Bless this adventure with success,

Comment by Andrea Hard on February 9, 2009 at 8:35am: Hi Diana - thanks for the invite! A few comments - with me, it was simply bad timing - we were going through some very rough times with our youngest daughter who is now, I am happy to say, a normal happy 17 year old. Also, distance and finances were an issue. So, now that I am fully able to finally commit to my happiness, I am excited to be back in the pony world. Though, we are not breeding for a few years in order to catch up on our youngstock as well as we are re-establishing our riding school and pony training, which should also be a part of the network of pony breeders as those gifted with hight issues such as myself are now the lucky ones!

To further my comments, I am more than willing to work on issues that break down Ontario into regions. From my times with the NSH, it is far to big an area to take on in one group. I feel that if we can work on regions that are not large and break them down even further to local and then a regional show that ends up with a national level show - possibly the Royal ????, we might stand a better chance. This would allow small breeders who lack income to put into their ponies, a way of being a part of the program - after all it is the small crumbs that are the main stay of anything.

I would be willing to talk to people in my area to see what venues are available for shows, which shows would be willing to help us out and include a few classes etc. I do not mind doing the work- I know exactly how you feel from my NSH days - you get so excited and jump in and then end up doing everything with only a few people for support!

I would love to hear more comments and look forward to hear from anyone out my way - Peterborough, Ottawa, Bellville............