Eight-year-old Amelia is one of Sable Island’s newest fans. She’s a young horse-back rider from Calgary, Alberta (Canada). When her teacher asked her to write a speech about a place she would like to visit one day she had horses on her mind.
Amelia asked her Mom where she could go that had wild horses roaming freely. Her Mom, Alyson, moved to Alberta after growing up and attending university in Nova Scotia. She knew a little about Sable Island and its world-famous horses. So Amelia and her Mom started watching documentaries to learn more.
Then an old friend from Nova Scotia offered her a book to read – “Sable Island” by Bruce Armstrong. Amelia was so excited that her one minute speech became 8-10 minutes. She felt everything was important. Its fascinating history, the drama of its many shipwrecks and, of course, the horses! She finally got it down to 2.5 minutes.
Amelia was very interested in how a group of kids her age lobbied the government many years ago to protect the horses of Sable Island! She didn’t include that in her speech although she does have an interest in politics. Having Amelia as a friend bodes well for the island’s future. And of course she’s looking for a way to get to the island and see its horses in person.
Kudos to Amelia for her research about Sable Island. She even managed to find a ship with her name that wrecked on the island! The Princess Amelia perished on the sandbars in 1797 according to Aaron Mior in his presentation “How Many Vessels Wrecked at Sable Island?” And her passion for the wild horses shines through her whole speech.
Thanks to Amelia’s teacher who took the video so that her Mom could see it. And thanks to Mom Alyson for sharing it with us so we could share it with you!
We love receiving your stories about Sable Island and what it means to you. Send yours to info@sableislandfriends.ca
