Artwork from Cindy Is My Name; My First Horse. Photo: Tellwell Publishing
Residents and visitors of Lunenburg are likely all familiar with the horse-drawn buggy’s that offer historical tours of the town and now the origin story of the company behind them is being featured in a children’s book.
Cindy Is My Name; My First Horse was written by Basil Ocikle who is the longtime owner and operator of Trot in Time Buggy Rides Ltd. and he says he’s always wanted to write children’s books.
“I’ve always had so many ideas and I finally started writing them down,” Oickle said. “I wanted to tell the story of how the buggy rides started and at first I tried telling it from my perspective, but I didn’t like the way it sounded so I decided to switch the perspective to my first horse Cindy.”
The book starts with Cindy learning about a new job she’s been assigned to in Lunenburg. As she learns the ropes of her new job pulling a carriage she shares the tale with her friend Tony the Pony.
The book is being published by Tellwell who has yet to issue a release date but Oickle says he’s been told it should be available in the next few weeks.
Oickle says he’s already written four more books to follow his first and he hopes to have more information on them shortly.
The book features Oickle himself and the farmer he got his first horse from all set in the town of Lunenburg, all of which are detailed in scenic pictures.
The book’s completion comes at an interesting time for Trot in Time as Oickle has announced he has sold the business. The new owners intend to continue running the historical tours and Oickle says they are working hard to learn as much as possible about the town. He also says he will be staying on for a year or so to help show the new owners the ropes.
