Sadly, we will be re-arranging the ponies here at the farm. As it stands right now, all but Bette will be leaving us sometime at the end of September. Doodle is headed to Louisiana to be turned out for 2 years so he can grow up and be a pony. He will return in the future. Brandy and Dandy will head back to PA where they came from so Brandy can spend some time romping pastures with other young stock. In a few years, Brandy will also return to be bred to Doodle. Maggie will find a new home with a stallion named Squeaky in Maryland. Marianne Alexander (our founder) will be sending us her John Henry to keep Bette company in the meantime. This is an extremely difficult decision, but the staff here at the farm feels it's a good decision for all of the ponies. Meanwhile, we'll continue our efforts to fund raise and keeping our volunteer program running with just 2 ponies. Last week I was nominated as the National Grant Director for the entire organization. Over the winter months I'll be focusing on bringing more monies and sponsorship to the program and finding ways to get us more into the public eye.
No volunteers will be required after 10/28/05 as we cease operations for winter. We'll resume again on 4/3/06. I will be emailing volunteers in March about scheduling. Meanwhile if you know of families wishing to utilize the pony program for disabled children in the winter months, please don't hesitate to send them our way. We are also very close to having our own farm truck and trailer which makes us portable! This will certainly help us bring more smiles to children, one pony at a time.
I can't thank you all enough for all the time and effort you've put into making this past year a success. I know this next year we'll be even stronger than we were this year!
Haberlin's Hope Farm was started by Christian and Gineane Haberlin. In 2004 they joined Personal Ponies as volunteer breeders of UK Shetlands for differently-able children. Later that year, Gineane became Massachusetts State Director for the organization. The farm is home to 4 UK Shetlands, a Weimaraner Dog named Jake, a cat named Raziel and several organic gardens.
I don't have much in the way of spare time. Between my house, husband, dog, cat, salt water reef tank, horse, 4 ponies and a full time job, and a baby on the way, it's safe to say that I'm a pretty busy person. I am the Massachusetts State Director for Personal Ponies Limited. We provide United Kingdom Shetland Ponies for special needs children. More on that here. Despite being so busy, I love spending time in the gardens.
