Nicholas Donaldson
It has been a difficult week for Rhonda Snow, who was forced to sell 23 of her 50 horses in Grunthal, Man. on Saturday.
Twenty of those animals were the rare Ojibway ponies that Snow keeps on her farm–something she is very proud of and a breed she is committed to preserving.
In fact, Snow was given a lifetime achievement award by the Rare Canada Breeds charity in 2016 for her work with the ponies.
“[After] personal pressure, financial burdens, and health issues, I was advised to make the difficult decision to take the ponies to Grunthal,” Snow told the Times earlier this week.
“After having the Ojibway horses for many years, promoting the breed, building strong bloodlines for the future and trying to place them throughout their native lands,” she noted.
Snow explained the situation in a post on her “Manitow Mistatim Ranch” Facebook page last Thursday, pleading for help to make sure the ponies went to good homes.
“I am writing this from my broken heart and with tears for my babies,” Snow’s post began.
She asked anyone with the ability to help to contact her for information on how they could save them, adding that if it was her choice, she would keep them forever.
The post received a lot of attention, with almost 400 comments after being shared about 1,160 times.
Snow also was concerned some of the ponies would be sold to meat buyers, but later was assured by the sale manager that this would not happen and that she could refuse to sell to those buyers.
Her only consolation now is knowing the power of social media also led to the horses being sent to good homes.
During Saturday’s sale, the ponies were bought by–and went to–farms and families across Canada and the U.S., something Snow still has mixed feelings about.
“Many years of breeding and housing this many horses took its toll,” she conceded.
“I was devastated to lose my family herds but knew the bloodlines were built up enough,” she added.
Still, Snow is grateful for the support she received and the attention it brought to the rare breed.
“The positive supporters that have understood the difficult situation will now ensure the breed’s future,” she remarked.
Snow noted she’s been getting a lot of responses from some of the ponies’ new owners, as well as others who saw her post go viral.
“I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I got hundreds of responses and I am having a hard time getting back to them all.
“I’m getting stories and having a back and forth about where the ponies are, their temperaments, everything.”
Snow said it began on the day of the sale, when one girl called over to her in the parking lot to show Snow a picture of the girl sitting on her new pony in the stall.
Snow hopes she will continue to hear from the new owners and is grateful they ended up on good farms.
She also thanked the positive media coverage she received from CBC and CTV News, which put out articles and videos both before and after the sale explaining Snow’s story and the plight of the Ojibway ponies.
Snow said the attention and awareness are what the ponies deserve in the struggle, and is pleased they wall were placed in good homes.
“I thank Rare Breeds Canada and loving supporters who have been with me throughout this long journey,” she noted.
“Miigwech.”
