BY MARVIN YOUDEN
SPECIAL TO THE GEORGIAN
One of the fondest memories 65-year-old Danny Benoit of Black Duck Brook recalls from his childhood is riding to Midnight Mass in Lourdes, an 11-kilometre trek, on horse and sleigh.
“What a sight it was,” he said in an interview last week. “Here were 28 horses all in a line carrying their families to church.”
Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Mr. Benoit, a welder by trade, has always kept his connection with horses. He grew up with them as an important adjunct to life. His father was a farmer, fisherman and carpenter and, like many families in earlier times, used horses for various tasks.
“My father took me out every day on the horse,” he said. “I have ridden in a wagon, a sleigh and on horseback.”
And Mr. Benoit has never let that tradition die.
“I worked for 37 years on the Mainland,” he said. “And wherever I worked, I always managed to live in the country where I could have a horse.”
For the last 20 years of his working life, Mr. Benoit made the popular commute between the Mainland and his home on the Port au Port Peninsula. Now he has given up work, except for a small garage near his home where he does some welding.
He maintains his interest in horses, however. In addition to his one-year-old purebred Newfoundland Pony, Mr. Benoit has a 1,400-pound workhorse. He uses his horses for hauling wood, taking leisurely rides himself and entertaining local children by giving wagon rides.
“As long as I am able to make the hay,” he concluded. “I’ll have horses.”
