I had the extreme pleasure of growing up on Gardiner Farms. From age five to fifteen l roamed the barns, fields, forests and streams. A summer dream and a winter wonderland.
I still remember the sounds and smells of those barns and paddocks … Getting a cold drink of water from the automatic fountains.
I was there when fire destroyed the brood mare barn, l could see the smoke from my school room window, that freezing cold stopping the firefighters hoses.
James Bay, main stallion in those days … The teaser pony BillyJack, poor fella. I never forgot that pony because we lived in the Moffat house, a huge brick farmhouse now long since torn down and Billyjack had his paddock in our back yard.
