Pony Tails February 2025

PONY TAILS FEBRUARY 2025

A Letter from Alice Hello readers!

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I am feeling filled to the brim with love and admiration for my readers. To show my appreciation, I am back again with another epic issue of the Pony Tails Kids Club digital magazine! I hope you enjoy this new batch of games, stories, facts, and activities: written from the heart by me, Alice.

Spread a little love this Valentine’s Day - don’t forget to give DOUBLE the pats to your precious pony.

Signed,

Alice the Pony

Horse/Pony Breed of the Month: NORWEGIAN FJORD

The Norwegian Fjord Horse, descending from Norway, is a small but mighty breed built for withstanding mountains and extreme cold. They are always dun colored (displaying a golden coat with darker points throughout the mane and body).

Fjords traditionally have a dorsal stripe, which looks like a long strip of dark paint that runs straight down the center of their back from their forelock to their tail.

What breed do you want to see featured in our next issue? Reach out to Alice at ponytails.alice@hcbc.ca and let her know!

Story Feature: From the “I still don’t see why we have to do this,” objected Lauren, who had given up and was folding her failed attempt of a Valentine into a paper airplane. A group of riders were huddled around a table in the viewing room above the indoor arena. They were (trying to) make some crafts for February 14th. So far, it was not going well. There was construction paper, scissors, and markers strewn everywhere. Piles of failed Valentines were crumpled up and littering the floor. The kids were losing hope, as the creative process was proving to be rather difficult.

They all looked up as they heard Coach Steph climbing the stairs. “How’s it going up here?” she called out from below. Everyone turned and looked at each other. “Well...” Kira replied, “I tried to make a heart, but I can’t even tell what shape this is” she stated, holding a blobshaped cutout close to her face and analyzing it. “It’s not going any better for me” Ryan piped in, who had accidentally ripped his paper chain four times now. “Don’t even get me started,” added Lauren, who had moved past paper airplanes and was busying herself folding an origami swan.

Steph chuckled lightheartedly as she reached the top of the steps, taking in the fed-up students and the giant mess they had created. “Oh guys,” she soothed, “I think you’re overthinking this.” She brushed the paper scraps off of her chair and took a seat at the head of the table. “No one is expecting you to become a professional artist overnight. Regardless of what it ends up looking like, I know your friends and family will appreciate receiving a Valentine from you. When you give someone a gift that comes from the heart, you can never go wrong. It really is the thought that matters.”

The riders looked around at each other, taking in Coach Steph’s words. “I guess you’re right,” Kira agreed, “I’m going to focus less on cutting out an evenly shaped heart, and more on writing a nice letter inside.” Coach Steph nodded with approval. “Me too!” exclaimed Lauren.

“And I’m going to fold it up inside this little origami swan!” Her eyes lit up as she began furiously scribbling out a message underneath its paper wing. “That’s so creative!” Ryan remarked. “This next one I’m making is for my mom... I have a polaroid picture of her and I from the day we bought my pony Oliver. I’m going to tape it to the inside of my Valentine for her to have.”

The kids all got back to work with newfound enthusiasm. Not wanting to disturb them, Coach Steph smiled and stood up from her chair, making her way back down to the barn. “Good work you guys. And don’t forget to clean this all up when you’re done... consider that your Valentine to me.”

Happy Valentine’s Day from Alice the Pony and friends!

XOXO

Make Your Own Horsey Valentines!

Show some love for the friends and family in your life with a homemade Valentine! You can print off the templates below, cut them out (with help from an adult), and address them to all of your favorite people.

Hay there Happy V-Day!

Hay there Happy V-Day!

Hay there Happy V-Day!

To:

To:

To:

From:

From:

From:

Hay there Happy V-Day!

Hay there Happy V-Day!

Hay there Happy V-Day!

To:

To:

To:

From:

From:

From:

Hay there Happy V-Day!

Hay there Happy V-Day!

Hay there Happy V-Day!

To:

To:

To:

From:

From:

From:

HORSEY FACTS OF THE MONTH:

FACTS THAT COME FROM THE HEART Heart of Gold The average adult horse heart weighs about 3 and 1/2 kilograms, or 8 pounds... that’s roughly as heavy as a newborn human!

Don’t Skip a Beat A horse’s heart beats between 28-44 times a minute. Foals (baby horses) have a much higher heart rate of 60-110 beats per minute.

Love in Our Veins Adult horses have about 34 litres of blood in their body. That’s a lot of love circulating all around!

January 2025 Coloring Page and Monthly Activity Colouring page: https://hcbc.ca/wp-content/ uploads/2025/01/Pony-Tails-February-Issue-Colouring-Page.pdf

Valentine activity (for printing as one-off): https://hcbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Pony-Tails-FebruaryIssue-Valetine-Activity.pdf

HCBC OFFICIAL PARTNERS