In his youth, Sands and his brother would catch and break the ponies, building corrals for their favourites. Their predominate colour is dun, and many have a dorsal stripe running from neck to tail, with subtle striping down their legs.īill Sands recalls how he and his friends would climb the trees and watch the Ojibwe spirit horses gallop through the forest below. They are hardy, with small, hard feet, and strong cannon bones. Standing between 12.2 and 14.2 hands, the sturdy spirit horses have thick, lion-like manes and hairy ears. The Ojibwe spirit horses, also known as Lac La Croix Indigenous ponies, are somewhat smaller than other breeds. Photo: Ian Kennedyįor centuries, these wild Ojibwe spirit horses, the “Little Horses of the Big Woods,” wandered freely on Walpole Island First Nation, an Indigenous community bordering Ontario and Michigan at the mouth of the St. Memories rush back.Īt TJ Stables, Bill Sands shares stories of the Ojibwe spirit horses with his grandson. In one arm is his grandson his other arm is outstretched pointing at the Ojibwe spirit horses, the same horses from his childhood. He is dressed in a blue-checked shirt, jeans, a ball cap, and ostrich-leather boots. Standing in a pasture at TJ Stables near Chatham, Ontario more than half a century later, Sands, now in his seventies, undoubtedly looks like any other visitor. Opening his eyes, the scene was still vivid in Bill Sand’s mind. When the drumming of hooves had faded, the boys would drop from the branches like apples in autumn and continue on their way. Emerging from the trees, the herd would wade across the shallow waters of the river to a small island, cooling themselves while they escaped the bugs. Through Ontario’s Carolinian woods, the boys often followed snake-like “miikaans,” the little roads created by the horses. Here they sat watching dozens of horses pass below.
Pounding hooves echoed through the oaks like a warning bell, chasing Bill and his friends into the low branches. Sitting in the trees, the boys could feel warmth in the air, the breath of the herd rising to their feet.
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