By Joel Weiner
Have you ever heard a whinny but not seen saw a horse as you strolled along York Street between Dalhousie and Cumberland? Or come across a miniature pony being exercised on an open patch of ground at the corner? Hard to believe, but there’s a working livery in Lowertown, and it’s been doing business here for nearly a century and a half.
In fact, Cundell Stables at 113 York is one of our city’s oldest companies, having first opened its doors in 1890. Like the city, of course, the enterprise has changed over time. But it’s still going strong, even though the menu of services is somewhat different than it was at the outset.
According to records, the first Cundells arrived here from Ireland in 1834. Most of them were masons in the old country, where they used horses to transport supplies, tools and equipment from job to job. After immigrating to Canada, they stuck to the mason’s trade until William Cundell, a building contractor with an eye for exceptional horses, received an offer he couldn’t refuse: sell a strong, handsome team for much more money than he had paid. When the same thing happened with the next team, Cundell Stables was launched. Its business: buying, breaking, stabling and selling horses.
William was succeeded by his son, Fred, who was born and lived all his life in Lowertown, and only worked in the family firm. The same is true of his heir, John, the third and current owner, who came into the world 70 years ago at the original Ottawa General Hospital on Bruyère Street and has been our neighbour ever since.
Initially, Cundell Stables’ customers included Ottawa’s tramway line, the police and fire departments, city tradesmen and local farmers. But horses soon gave way to electric power and the combustion engine, and everything from streetcars, patrol cars and fire trucks to delivery wagons and agricultural equipment eventually became motorized. As transportation changed, so did Cundell Stables. Its more than 60 horses, once stabled on George Street, are now down to eight, two huge draft horses and six miniature ponies.
Today, relying only on word of mouth, Cundell Stables specializes in horse-drawn tours of the Parliamentary Precinct, hay and sleigh rides around town, pulling floats in parades and other community events. The miniature ponies are for children’s rides at birthday parties or regional fairs.
Since the latter are small, they are trucked to locations as far as an hour away. But the horses, huge blond American Belgians from Ohio, weighing about 900 kilograms each, are too big and heavy for that; instead, they are walked–called “driven” in the trade–to where they have to go, as long as it’s relatively close to Lowertown. Prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Pierre Trudeau took Cundell Stable rides; so did many of our governors-general, mayors, city councilors and famous personalities like Gene Autry and Paul Anka.
Both home for the horses and headquarters for the business are behind the long-time family residence at 113 York Street. A small sign announcing Cundell Stables hangs over the driveway, at the end of which are stalls, as well as several storage buildings for feed, tack and the wagon.
About 1,200 bales of hay are purchased each summer, 400 stored on site and the rest brought in as required. The manure, an inevitable by-product, is delivered regularly to Ottawa garden centres and area farmers for fertilizer. Visitors find the entire facility very clean and surprisingly odor free.
John Cundell’s office is at the back of the house, just a few strides from the stables, and its walls are covered with a photographic history of our city. Among the pictures, just to name a few: scenes of the Market when it still had unpaved streets; animals drinking at the George Street trough (which still stands there today, although dry); a horse-drawn paddy wagon; and John’s father on the reins, pulling the city’s last streetcar. Surveying this array is like stepping back in time.
While Ottawa’s zoning rules can change, Cundell Stables is grandfathered and able to stay where it is. But, as the city evolves, the business may have to change as well. Whatever the future holds, however, there are two more generations of Cundells available to take over the reins, John’s daughter, Tayler, an experienced driver in her own right, and her young son, Koleson.