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Sonja Gibbons
Hatteberg's People
Reporter: Larry Hatteberg
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September 14, 2002--Sonja Gibbons of Moundridge isn't raising ponies for fun or profit. She's going to give her ponies away to special children.
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There are thousands of children across the country with special needs. Children who need something to love and care for. That's why a little barn south of Moundridge becomes important. |
"It's just an old barn that feels like my second home actually. It's just a comfortable place."
Sonja Gibbons has loved horses all her life.
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Recently she read about a group that places special needs children with a breed called a U.K. Shetland pony. They needed volunteers to raise the ponies.
"I was hooked. I said this is what I want to do."
So with a lot of curious onlookers, the ponies began arriving from across the country. There are now three adults, and a relative newborn, one she is raising to give away.
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"I'm feeling that empty nest thing. All my kids are grown and gone from home. These are my kids. There is just something about a horse. They've always been beautiful to me."
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Gibbons is the Kansas State Director of Personal Ponies.
It is not a quick process to raise a pony that has the manners needed to be with a child. It takes about three years.
"Years and years ago, they were bred to work in a coal mine in Great Britain,
wales, and Scotland and places like that. They bred them for their easy going temperament."
With rain clouds tired of crying, a light mist blankets the ponies pasture, with the rain, the grass and clover make pretty tasty meals.
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"It doesn't matter how rough my day has been, when I come out to see them, my troubles fade to the background."
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There are thousands of special needs children across the U.S. and Sonja knows she will eventually have to give them up. That's never easy.
"I'll be sad of course, for myself. But I'll be very happy for the child. So I just think the combination of being around and being able to care for something I love and still being able to do good for other people, you can't really beat that."
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If you would like more information on the Personal Ponies Project, Sonja would love to talk with you.
Her number is 620-345-8280. |
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