A Moynahan Horse Tale

We hope that the reader enjoys this horse tale that begins one cold January winter night in 1971 at a farmer's auction in Snelgrove, Ontario. 

The Moynahans had not gone to Snelgrove to purchase a horse. In fact, no one in the Moynahan home ever even said "I wish we had a horse" (although a nunnery eagerly recruiting young girls may have played a small part)

On Wednesday January 13, 1971,  E.J. Moynahan purchased a horse and this is their "Moynahan Horse Tale".

The snow storm on that Wednesday night must have scared everyone off of attending the livestock auction and no one in attendance was really bidding on the small quarter horse "gelding" in the ring. 

When the auctioneer yelled "SOLD!" to E.J. Moynahan's bid of $77.50 the look of shock and surprise soon turned to smiles and jubilation. The Moynahans now owned a horse!

Many of Moynahan's fellow firefighters had horses like Jack Braithwaite ( March 8, 1940 - September 22, 2020) who kept his horses  right beside the Thomas L. Kennedy High School football field in Cooksville at his Peak-O-Dawn stables. This was the 1970s and Hurontario St. (Highway 10) did NOT look anything like it does today! 

The Moynahans did not live on a farm but Cooksville still had horses in the 1970s! Miles Lane (the only road into the valley (known today as Central Valley Parkway ) had sheep and horses as well! Having a horse shouldn't be a problem. Should it?

 Where Are You Going To Put Your Horse?

E.J. Moynahan had to pick the horse up from Snelgrove the next day so he arranged for a horse trailer with another fellow firefighter who was also a horseman who worked with standardbred horses ( James "Jimmy" Albert Caunter October 20, 1935 -  May 23, 2018).

The plan was to take the horse to the Creighton home on 1st Line West. That whole area was farm country. The only problem was that the Creighton home had neither a barn nor a fenced-in area for a horse so the horse had to be kept in the garage until a more preferable, permanent solution could be found.

Many years later, the youngest Creighton child (pictured above with Ernest Moynahan Sr. in front of their home on 1st Line West) recalled,

"I will never forget Uncle Ernie showing up at my house with a horse!! I think I was probably about 6 or 7 years old. Best day ever!!"

The temporary garage situation was permanently solved when E.J. Moynahan discovered Westwood Farms (known also as the Coulter Cattle Farm) located just a little further south on 1st Line West. A beautiful black and white barn with lots of paddocks and farm fields and a beautiful stone house that was being rented by the Pollard family (Ray, Evelyn and sons).

It would be perfect but the problem was that the Pollards were renting the house only. The farm fields were rented out in the summer to a Streetsville cattle farmer named Russ Evans who would bring his cows there to graze until fall. If the Moynahans wanted to put the horse there, they would have to talk to the McLaughlin group.

The McLaughlin group was buying up farm land north of Cooksville. Acres and acres of it. They had big plans!

Bruce McLaughlin (1926-2012) had bought all the land north of Burnhamthorpe (beside our old toboggan hill) and there he built and opened the Square One Shopping Centre in 1973.

Bruce McLaughlin had purchased the beautiful Westwood Farm property and E.J. Moynahan thought that the Westwood Farm barn would be the perfect location for his recently purchased horse so an agreement was negotiated and agreed upon and formalized in writing.

 

Blaze Moves Into Westwood Farm Stables

Blaze arrives at Westwood Farm Stables January 1971

It really came in handy having so many firefighter friends who were also expert in horse care. The Moynahans had no equipment, no experience and no knowledge on how to care for a horse. They had a $77 horse and a barn with free board and were very fortunate to have so much help getting halters, feed buckets, blankets, brushes etc. and people who taught them what to do with a hoof pick and how to muck out a stall.

Jimmy Caunter is pictured below putting Blaze through some motions to assess his abilities and determine what previous training he may or may not have had

 

Blaze loved the Westwood Farm paddocks and immediately celebrated his liberation from the garage with a roll in the snow and some playful galloping.

E.J. Moynahan even managed to get a western saddle and bridle right away because everybody wanted to ride Blaze. Uncle Ken Creighton (whose garage had been Blaze's temporary stable) and mother Dawn Moynahan  (pictured below) were some of the first in line.

Jimmy Caunter's son Michael took Blaze through some motions as well.

Now It Was Cindi's Turn

This old photo of Cindi's very first ride on Blaze (even though the photograph was slightly destroyed in storage) is precious. Jimmy Caunter patiently answered Cindi's many, many questions.

 

It would turn out that Blaze wasn't really a "gelding" after all. The Moynahans were tipped off when he started whinnying maniacally when a rider from a neighboring farm rode their mare down 1st Line West past the field where Blaze was grazing. 

E.J. Moynahan called the veterinarian (Dr Hyslop from Dundas and Trafalgar) who determined that Blaze was what was referred to as a "proud cut". For the safety of all the riders, the vet suggested that the Moynahans "get the job done right" so they witnessed their first veterinary castration!

 

Cindi would eventually trade in the western saddle for and english saddle and train Blaze to jump rather than barrel race (like all good quarter horses do). 

 Two Blaze Memories To Share

When Cindi thinks of her time at the Westwood Farm and all her hours riding Blaze, she feels so grateful for E.J. Moynahan's unplanned purchase in January 1971 and felt like the luckiest teenager alive. So many wonderful memories come flooding back to her but she limited herself to two.

In the first memory, poor mother Dawn Moynahan had come to pick Cindi up from the farm and she found Cindi practicing her jumping skills at a neighbouring farm.

While mother Dawn Moynahan was sitting with the car idling, Cindi shouted, "Last jump, I promise" and Blaze flew over the jump but lost his footing on the landing throwing her off and landing on top of Cindi's arm. Her mother jumped out of the car yelling "Are You okay?" to which Cindi replied "I'm fine" (it wasn't the first time she fell off of Blaze and wouldn't be her last)

But as Cindi walked Blaze down 1st Line West back to Westwood Farm, it grew increasingly clear that her arm was broken. Cindi's poor mother drove her to the hospital to get a cast.

In the second memory, Cindi received a call from the Robinson family who had a beautiful home on 1st Line West and Mrs. Robinson called to say that sometimes when she was standing at her kitchen sink, she could see a horse off in the distance in the field behind her home. She asked if Cindi could ride back there and have a look. "Sure", she said.

As soon as Cindi arrived at the Robinson property, she could see the horse in the distance so she and Blaze rode off to investigate. As they got closer, it became apparent that this horse was HUGE! At least 17 hands maybe more and the closer they got, the more agitated he became ... snorting and rearing ... to which Cindi said to Blaze, "We are out of here" but as they headed back to the road the horse followed them.

Cindi was terrified as the uncontrollable horse followed her along 1st Line West all the way back to Westwood Farm with cars flying by in both directions, worried he would cause an accident. Once back at the farm, she managed to get the horse into a small, secure paddock but she was sure, by the size of him, that he could clear the fence with great ease.

The next call was to her father to report that she had brought a stray, uncontrollable horse to the farm, giving it water and hay and not wanting anything else to do with him. Her father took over from there, finding the owners (on a farm on 2nd Line West)and returning the horse to where it belonged.

Blaze - The Champion

 

By the summer of 1972, Blaze was ready to show and entered his first Gymkhana at the Meadowvale Pony Club. 

Cindi was working as a Junior Leader for the Town of Mississauga Summer Playground Program making $175.00 for the summer which she used to pay for the horse trailer to get Blaze to the event and pay the Gymkhana entry fees.

With absolutely no expectations of winning any prizes, Blaze astonished everyone by winning a 1st, 4th and 6th place ribbon in various classes.

Only two of the ribbons still survive (recently found) and they are worn and threadbare and treasured nevertheless. 

Blaze wins three ribbons at the Meadowvale Pony Club July 1972

The horses that Blaze competed against (30 other horses in his Walk, Trot Class that he won 1st Place) were purebred ponies (not part Quarter Horse mixes) worth thousands of dollars and the owners and riders were from a very different class than the proud working class Moynahans of Cooksville.

When Mom and Dad Moynahan showed up to the Gymkhana that day, they were beaming with as much pride as was Cindi and E.J. Moynahan said, "Do you think I should tell them that we bought Blaze for $77 ?"

It wasn't the Grand Championship at the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair, but to teenage Cindi, it felt just as amazing to have those ribbons pinned on Blaze's bridle. Everyone took pride in the part Quarter Horse who had a whole lot of heart and who accomplished so much in so little time.

 Blaze Moves On To His Next Human

It's funny how even almost fifty years after you've said goodbye to an animal you once loved, it's still difficult to talk about that time when they left. 

Cindi didn't really want to know any of the specific details of where Blaze went next and E.J. Moynahan assured her that he went to a good home with a competent young rider at Glen Abby Stables. Cindi hoped that Blaze showed his new human how awesome he was and that this new human treated him with lots of love (and quality oats) in his final years.

We hope you enjoyed reading this Moynahan Horse Tale as much as we enjoyed sharing the story of this amazing horse. There was some kind of magic happening that stormy January night in 1971 that resulted in Blaze coming into the lives and hearts of the Moynahan family.

We will close with a photo of grandfather Ernie Moynahan Sr meeting Blaze with E.J. Moynahan Jr (on the right) and another photo of our dear departed cousin Elizabeth (Moynahan) Burke (1959-2018) riding Blaze with all three of his ribbons in full display. Just look at how proud Blaze (and she) looks. Well done old boy. Well done!