Native Pony July 2022 (154)

JULY 2022 ISSUE 154

Catch up with the Stars of the Showring

DOUBLE TROUBLE The rare twin foals!

Highlights from

Royal Highland Show

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A word from our editor Dear Reader, The last six weeks have passed in a blur. During that time, there have been some highs and lows on our little home-produced team! I’ve had Covid, a tooth and ear infection, and have closed the car door on my elbow!

I assure you that if you didn’t know this already, there is nothing funny about smacking your funny bone!

On the other hand, Maggie and I have both claimed a HOYS ticket. Mine was riding Stormy Oak Just Divine in the section C ridden class. I’m extra-proud of Diva, not only because it will be her own and her owners Bradley and Cheryl’s first ever trip to HOYS, but because at 131cm she’ll be one of the smallest – if not the smallest in the class – and she’ll be doing it for the girls! She just goes to show that a) dreams can come true; b) you don’t have to buy one that’s within a hair’s breadth of the upper height limit to stand a chance of qualification; and c) you don’t have to ride a stallion to win!

Maggie’s pony, section A Haverford Fauntleroy is also a dinky one in his section, standing under 11 hands high.

But small is sometimes mighty and he absolutely loves his new job storming round the 122cm mountain and moorland working hunter pony tracks. He qualified in third having jumped one of the biggest tracks I have seen all year on one of the hottest days. After a former three clears, a second and a third, it was super to see him get his ticket – I’ve never been so pleased with a third and for the first time ever, I actually jumped up and down in celebration! I am immensely proud of both Rory and the job Maggie has done with him.

Rory has improved with every round except one, when she fell off. It was a real shake to both their confidence, but we went home, scrutinised the video and set to work. I don’t want to dwell on the one real mishap he has had as he is really just a novice pony with very little milage, but I think their story just shows why in this sport, it’s so important to literally and metaphorically get back up after a blow, dust yourself off, take a good hard look at what truly went wrong and move on to the next show. There’s no use dwelling on a poor result or, crucially, resenting those who did better which brings me on to my next point: kindness.

I was really pleased when our columnist, Amy, submitted her contribution for this issue and clearly addressed the amount of negativity there has been on social media of late. Having got to know Amy and her sister Vikki since Maggie has been doing more jumping and starting this job, I have found both sisters to be so helpful and always ready to offer support and

advice. In short, she practices what she preaches and I think her plea for kindness and consideration of others is timely and important. Whilst we’re on the subject of kindness and social media, I did see a picture of Ross Keys shake hands with Stuart Mason after Stuart took the Price Supreme ticket at Royal Norfolk with Kerry Wainwright’s Skellorn Bronze Soldier. It was a refreshing and heart-warming picture. Let’s all – each and every one of us – strive to make our little equestrian community kinder, closer and better together.

- Beth

STORMY OAK JUST DIVINE

MEET OUR COVER STARS ON PAGE 5

Cracker and her twins

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Contents

Features 6.

Fell Foals Defy the Odds

8. Royal Highland Show 18. Meet the judge - Cheryl Scott 26. The Skelwith Stud 56. Vintage Treasure - Rowfantina Old Fashioned

Regulars 11. Ruth on the Hoof 30. Performance Ponies 38. Showring Stars

6 56

45. Exmoor Breed News 47. Dales Breed News 49. New Forest Breed News

11 47 38 Disclaimer: The view and opinions expressed within the magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or Showing World Limited and while every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in the magazine is correct and current at the date of publication, Showing World Limited will not accept any liability. Showing World Limited will not be held responsible for the appearance of photographic material supplied without the necessary consent, copyright and/or photographer’s details. In

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45 addition, Showing World Limited offers no guarantee of publication and reserve the right to edit any reader’s letters, press releases, reports and articles submitted.

Showing World Limited 2022. All rights reserved. No part of Native Pony may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or shared in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to; electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying,

Talking Point: Double Trouble or Two for the Price of One?

By Maggie Simons There is no question that twin foals are rare. In fact, fewer than 9% of pregnant mares carrying twins can nurture both foetuses to term. Cases such as Rowan’s – or rather Cracker’s twin Fell foals! – where both foals are born healthy and are nurtured by the mare are nowhere near the ‘norm’!

There are several reasons for this, and without going into too much scientific detail, here’s just a handful…

In mares that are not scanned early on in pregnancy, twins can often be reabsorbed, or for various reasons, their development will not continue to term. This will happen entirely unbeknown to the owner. A mare’s uterus and placenta are not designed to carry two offspring. Unlike some other mammals, a foal is entirely encapsulated by the placenta (which is how a red bag delivery occurs).

Therefore, in order for the foetus to receive sufficient nutrition during gestation, the whole surface area of the placenta needs to be in contact with the uterine wall. This means that when there are two foals and two placentas, the likelihood is that at least half of each foetus’ placenta will not be in a physical position to absorb nutrients.

Veterinary advice would be to always scan mares and to ‘pinch’ a twin. There are, of course, risks to the mare in any pregnancy, and the risks increase in the case of twins.

First of all, it’s possible that she could develop an infection during the pregnancy if, for example, one foetus becomes unviable. It stands to reason that with two foals to birth, there is also a greater risk of physical and irreparable damage to the mare during delivery, and again, a greater risk of infection post-delivery. The increased risk of neurological damage is a further factor to consider, and another reason why, if known about, it’s safer to ‘pinch’ one foetus.

Nowadays, scanning native mares is becoming increasingly common, especially as more and more of us turn to AI and the various options available to us through science. Some breeders will also choose to be selective with their scanning, for example they will scan mares covered away at stud to ensure pregnancy but may allow nature to be nature when mares are turned out with the stallion at home. If we’re honest, this is the model that we employ with our own Welsh mares at home. If we’re also honest, the possibility of twins through natural conception hadn’t occurred to us, probably just as it hasn’t occurred to many breeders.

However, we are aware that for many of native pony breeders and the Native Pony readers, this is an impossible task and choosing not to scan mares is just another one of the many risks involved with breeding.

Grazing ponies on the mountains and moorlands of the UK is an integral part of the heritage of our breeds and they do an invaluable service to the conservation and biodiversity of these areas. Furthermore, we must ensure that the hardiness these roaming herds possess remains running through the bloodlines we use in our more domesticated settings. Afterall, if they cannot thrive in

their original, native habitat, are they true to type?

However, running mares in their natural and wild habitat obviously poses logistical hurdles to monitoring and scanning every mare 18 days after covering. Afterall, many of these mares will be just like Rowan’s Cracker and won’t even be halter broken. This is before we even begin to take into account the cost of such procedures on so many mares…

Furthermore, should a mare running on the hills carry twins and abort later in pregnancy, this might be entirely beyond the realms of the owner’s knowledge – just as reabsorption might be – as the mare might have moved on from the site of birth by the time the owner sees her, and the gory reality is that a predator may well have disposed of the evidence… It might be more common in these mares than the stats suggest, especially if we consider the possibility of reabsorption. We simply don’t know.

Again, veterinary advice would always be to scan the mare and as a breeder and mare owner, I fully support this message whilst also recognising that this is simply not possible for a myriad reason on many of our native mares.

So, to those mares that successfully carry two foetuses to term and give birth to them safely, just like Cracker, we salute you! info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 5

Fell Foals Defy Odds

By Hannah Turnock

they had their first feed at less than two hours old”.

On a cold and wet early June morning in Cumbria, Fell pony breeder and keen conservationist Rowan Bowman walked round her idyllic Liddel Valley smallholding, eager to check on heavily pregnant Fell pony mare Kinkryhill Cracker. When Rowan reached the paddock, Cracker was flat out and all that could be seen above her deflated belly were two pairs of ears.

“I wailed Cracker’s name,” Rowan recalls, “I was sure she was dead. But she looked up at me and struggled to her feet. A foal was caught in the afterbirth, and she dragged him a couple of feet. Cracker has never been halter-broken, but over time we have developed a way of moving around each other, and she stood whilst I untangled Laddie and took a step forwards when I asked her”. By this point, Rowan’s neighbour, Clifford Williams, who is an experienced Welsh section A breeder, had arrived to see how the mare was getting on.

“Because Cracker had twins, I had to make sure both foal beds were intact,” explained Rowan. “The ground around the foals was very slippery, so on Clifford’s advice, I encouraged Cracker to walk away whilst she birthed the second foal bed and I checked it.” Having done so, Cracker wobbled back to the foals to lick them both. “We stood back and watched,” said Rowan. “Less than an hour later, both foals tottered to their feet and Cracker tucked one on each side of her as though that’s how every mare does it, and

Rowan went home to ring round for advice.

It was assumed that she would have to feed one of the foals. Freya Woods of Penrith based Paragon vets who specialise in equine care vets in Penrith talked Rowan through a checklist to ensure everything – except rarity of the twins themselves – was ‘normal’, and she advised that they ‘observe’.

Both foals were warm and feeding well, and Rowan recalls that they had clearly consumed a lot of colostrum, as it “dribbled over them, and they were licking their lips”.

She made a further appeal on the Fell pony pages on Facebook for advice on twins, and at this point, she finally understood how rare her foals are.

Sadly, the experience people had of twins was neo-natal mortality. However, she received a huge amount of advice and help, with most breeders advising her to only interfere if it was absolutely necessary.

Visiting Cracker and the foals every couple of hours, Rowan continued to observe, and despite her worries one may be rejected, she followed further advice from Freya to only intervene if unavoidable.

Rowan explained: “John and I couldn’t find the filly on that particular check, and we spent a miserable hour wandering round the field looking for her with a bottle each under our jackets to keep the milk warm.

Eventually the other mare, Gem, took pity on us and whinnied for Cracker’s foal; she was sleeping in the rushes with her ‘Aunty Gem’ keeping an eye on her while Cracker made sure the colt had sufficient milk.

Over the next couple of days, we realised

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that Cracker did this quite a lot, hiding one perfectly rush-coloured foal while she attended to the other. It is pure instinct: she knew what to do. As her milk production got into full swing, Cracker went back to feeding both foals at once. She has a really good udder, with large, even teats, which must help the foals latch on.”

The twins, Liddlepark Grace and Liddlepark Lucky Lad are now over a month old and are grazing on the tips of rushes, an excellent source of iron and fibre.

Meanwhile Rowan’s conservation grazing is already making a difference on her small patch of Cumbria. Fifteen months after purchasing her first Fell pony mares, the twins’ mum, Cracker, and Kinkryhill Gem, Rowan’s fields are shaggy and green and can be picked out from across the valley in Scotland. Fresh rushes shelter flowering plants and two pairs of Lapwings are nesting amongst the ponies, as well as a pair of curlews.

“The ponies do not seem to disturb either the ground nesting birds or the hares. They graze very patchily, leaving areas of rushes and creating grassy areas. The microlandscaping of their field creates shifting paths and latrines – like most ponies, Fells all poo in the same place. The grazed areas in amongst the rushes are full of insects, and areas where a thatch is left from last year’s grass are heaving with spiders and grasshoppers. On top of this we have our first crop of three smashing little foals who I hope will go on to help propagate and restore this rare breed to a healthy population. Watching the way in which both Gem and Cracker manage their foals in the tall vegetation shows not only how perfectly they are adapted to living on this pasture, but also how the pasture and the Fell ponies need each other to survive.”

The Native Pony team wish Cracker, Gem and their foals the very best!

A Little Bit of Magic

Native Breeds Festival, Carmarthen

By Beth Simons Photos by Equine Pix “I am on cloud 9! It’s actually a bit unreal, I was not expecting it so I still can’t quite believe it,” said Danielle Everitt of her HOYS-bound Welsh section D and section champion Monahawk Magic [Bond]. “I bought Bond in the cob sales as a four-year-old and haven’t looked back. He was quickly named Bond as he was so cool just like James Bond. Bond loves being out grazing but loves his home comforts, too,” said Danny of her former Royal Welsh ridden winner. Competing from her West Wales home, Danny was determined she would make the show. “When we first heard that there was going to be a HOYS qualifier at the Carmarthen showground, a 40 minute drive from home it was amazing, as I normally have to travel three hours and only ever do around six a year. I was a little unsure how he would be as he had been covering mares for the two week run-up to the show, but I should have known that he wouldn’t let me down. He felt amazing in the go round and to be pulled top was nerve-wracking.” Qualifying for HOYS was a dream made extra special with so many friends and family present, especially given the terrible run-up to HOYS she had in 2019 having secured her first ever ticket. With just a few weeks to go, she broke her leg and was unable to ride until the very last minute, with friends and family keeping him ticking over on her behalf. “I really wanted to qualify him again; I’m hoping for a less stressful run-up to the final and hope to be able to enjoy the whole experience. I’m already busy planning it all and cannot wait for October”.

Monahawk Magic ridden by Danny Everitt mum’s Welsh section B, Weydown Royal Consort [Marv]. Esme and Marv are a new combination this year. He is produced by Katy Marriott-Payne who spotted Marv at a show last year and thought he’d be perfect for nine-year-old Esme. They have enjoyed a fantastic season, qualifying for the RIHS at the BSPS Winter Championships. They also went on to stand reserve champion mini mountain and moorland. “I was deliberating on whether to go at all, but I’m so glad I did now,” said Jemma. “As I was watching them I realised how much their little partnership had blossomed, and they had become the perfect little team. When the judges announced that she won I just burst into tears as Esme has worked so hard for this moment. After a few unlucky years, everything has worked out perfectly, thanks to Katy and her team”. A thrilled Esme was on cloud nine, and even slept in her sash that night!

Claiming a first ever HOYS ticket was Jemma Atkinson’s daughter, Esme, whose dreams of qualification came true in the mountain and moorland first ridden class riding her

Weydown Royal Consort ridden by Esme Atkinson

Also qualifying for the first time was Paula Davies’ New Forest gelding, Cuffnells Golden Rod winning the mountain and moorland working hunter pony not exceeding 133cm class under local rider, Millie Davies.

Millie competes him in open classes whilst Paula’s daughter Tali rides him in the Nursery Stakes and plaited 133cm classes. Paula, who also deliberated whether to attend the show having got back from a family holiday at 2am that morning, was “over the moon”. It was the team’s first HOYS qualifier of the season having been achingly close last season on a few attempts. “Having a qualifier so close to home was absolutely amazing, thank God we went!”

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Fandango Na Dailach shown by Virginia Osborne

HIGHLAND HIGHLIGHTS Native Highlights form the Royal Highland Show Report by Beth Simons, Photography by Sinclair Photograpraphy The Royal Highland welcomed the public back for its 200th show, the first one run with spectators since the pandemic.

Competitors flocked to its Edinburgh home, enjoying the festive atmosphere.

Dr Aylwin Pillai’s Fandango na Dailach delighted his connections when he took the Highland in-hand championship, shown by Aylwin’s sister Virgina Osborne.

The six-year-old stallion was bred by the sisters’ mum, Marguerite Osborne, and is produced at home on the family’s livestock farm of 20 years, Kinclune. Breeding Highlands is woven into the family’s DNA, with Marguerite brought up by breeder James McIntosh before adopting her own Na Dailach prefix. However, they have recently changed their prefix to Kinclune, meaning Fandango is one

of the last Na Dailach ponies. Fandango is the fifth generation of their breeding of on the dam side, going back to Marguerite’s foundation mare, Rosebush of Knocknagael, bought after the department of agriculture ponies were dispersed. “The ponies are very much a family affair and we have been showing or judging at the Highland Show pretty well every year for my whole life,” explained Virginia.

During that time, they won the female, gelding and junior male championships, stood reserve overall Highland and taken the ridden Clydesdale championship.

However, the overall Highland inhand title had eluded them. “The Highland Show main ring really is hallowed ground for us and the Highland is “The Show” to win for Highland Pony breeders. We have always felt that being so good and

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a stallion, Fandango is the most beautiful pony we’ve ever bred, so it was fitting that he was the pony to do it”.

This isn’t Fandango’s first moment in the limelight, as he did appear on Countryfile riding around the 1100 acre estate on the edge of the Cairngorms to check the cattle and sheep, and he’s recently debuted in the ridden ring.

In a twist of fate, the girls decided to stand down from the Sanderson Trophy between the Clydesdale, Shetland and Highland Champion because Marguerite was judging this. “She enjoyed her day, and we were thrilled with our result so were happy to stand down,” explained Virginia. Marguerite chose the Black family’s homebred Collessie Jennifer, overall Clydesdale champion to take the

trophy over Shetland champion, Wells Legend. This was the second time that the Redcastle Brelee Majestic daughter had taken the breed champion, matching her grandmother Ormister Mains Amelie’s record. “She is lovely mare, full of the character of the breed and she moved beautifully,” said Marguerite of her champion. The family were also victorious with two-year-old Collessie Alanna, yearling Collessie Honeysuckle, and second placed Lutterinton won his colt foal class.

In reserve for the Sanderson Cup was one of the smaller of Scotland’s native breeds, the Standard Shetland champion Wells Legend. This was the second time the 12-year-old stallion by Wells Extra Special out of Wells Vita had taken this prestigious championship. Legend is no stranger to the limelight and has enjoyed a fantastic career in hand, winning his class at the Highland Showcase in 2021, and formerly standing champion at both the 2019 Great Yorkshire Show and at the Royal Highland in 2014. He is a paternal half-brother to equally garlanded Wells Reliance, who also has a super track record at the Highland show.

Katie Common didn’t think she could top the 2021 RHS but nevertheless went on to have a fantastic show scoring the Highland ridden championship with Dunedin Mascot. Katie has the 10-yearold Dunedin Marksman gelding on loan from Jane McNaught. Katie, who last won this championship in 2018 with another of Jane’s ponies, said, “He’s just an amazing pony who loves the ring and thinks everybody is there to watch him!”

Taking home the Waxwing trophy for the overall mountain and moorland in hand championship was, quite fittingly, David Blair and Tom Best’s Welsh section B champion, Waxwing Perlena.

It was an entirely appropriate retirement for the Fife based breeders, who have shown at the Highland show since 1970, and have helped behind the scenes for many years – regular competitors will be familiar with seeing David in particular in his capacity as steward in the main ring. A former Ayr County supreme champion, five-year-old Perlena cut an exquisite picture in the championship. She is by the stud’s own prolific stockgetter, Eyarth Beau Geste.

A blowout on the way home could not dampen Leah Cassell and family’s spirits after they had a most memorable show, returning home with three HOYS tickets. “It was definitely a Carlsberg weekend! We celebrated in style and have memories that will last a lifetime,” said Leah. Her sister Hollie McGauley, 15, headed the 153cm show hunter pony and took section reserve riding Master Jack. Next, Hollie’s former junior ride, Pumphill Rasputin [Razz] has swapped flat for fences under Aliya Khan to take the 122cm mountain and moorland working hunter pony class and section championship. Leah and her mother, Lindsay have owned Razz for eight years, and he’s been a prolific winner including topping the junior final at the RIHS and thrice winning at the Royal Highland Show.

He’s qualified for HOYS as a first ridden, junior, open and working hunter pony, proving himself to be extremely versatile. Aliya and Razz had

a promising start to the season winning the novice 122cm working hunter pony at the BSPS Winter Championships, and this was their first attempt at a HOYS track. “He just loves a big stage and jumped a mega round,” said Leah.

“It was definitely an emotional win and he certainly rose to the occasion.”

Hollie works Jack, Razz, and their third ticket-holder, Fell gelding Rundales Trooper [Willie] herself. He was, however ridden by Aliya Khan, who also scored a hattrick of tickets and two section championships.

Her second championship of the week came on the show’s last day having made the most of the opportunity to pull off a super championship show with Clare Connor’s Shetland stallion, Latijn V.d. Helling [Latz]. Claire imported the charming five-year-old from the Lap family’s Helling Stud in the Netherlands when he was a two-year-old. He is by three-times National Champion of Honour, Caz V. Stal Nieuwemoed and out of 1st Premium Evaluated mare Rylanda V.D. Helling. “I imported in December 2019 having flown over to the watch the young stallion evaluations in the hope of purchasing a future stallion for the stud,” said Claire. Aliya leased Latz from Claire in January 2022 and Aliya and her mother have since broken him in herself. Despite originally intending to contend novice classes this year, Latz has taken to showing and has also qualified for the RIHS. A ticket at the Highland show kicked off an excellent week for Steph Peto and her native team. Welsh section C former broodmare mare Cwmmawr Liberty [Libby] qualified in the 133cm working hunter pony class.

Despite giving Steph something of a challenge during breaking and in her early career, Libby has taken to the workers like a duck to water. In her first season, she has qualified for the RIHS, and narrowly missed out on a ridden qualification at Royal Norfolk in second. Later that week, Steph’s super-consistent former HOYS and RIHS winning 143cm worker, New Forest Bisterne Diva went on to collect a return ticket at the NCPA Staffs summer show. This will be Diva’s first visit since 2018. She suffered with laminitis in 2019, and Steph was unsure whether she would ever jump again. “It as been a long road back to full fitness but I’m so proud to have her back out doing what she loves again,” said Steph.

Juliette Tully’s Arawa Sirocco claimed a first HOYS ticket under producer Emma Burrow – formerly Boardman.

Juliet has owned 11-year-old Sirocco since a yearling, but he’s nevertheless in his first season at with Emma and at this level. Julia sent him to Emma in January

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Dunedin Mascot ridden by Katie Common

aiming to realise her lifetime dream of qualifying for HOYS. Emma and Sirocco got off to a great start, winning the novice at the BSPS Winter Championships. He went on to collect an RIHS ticket at North of England Spring and then their HOYS at the Royal Highland Show. “It was so lovely that Juliet was with us to seem him realise her dream - she cried all day!” said Emma, adding, “he’s the kindest most lovely stallion”.

The Brash family had reason to celebrate when Tom Brash’s HOYS 2021 junior mountain and moorland champion Wellbank Gabrielle [Harry] won the junior mountain and moorland working hunter pony class under his granddaughter Lexi Brash. The 13-year-old Welsh section A is co-produced between Tom and his daughter, Diane Brash, who is Lexi’s aunt. This is the second consecutive year for Harry and Lexi to win and qualify for HOYS at the Highland having done so last year for the junior small breeds.

Mia Sarginson and Linsfort Rowan [Rolo] won their first ever HOYS class in the 143cm show hunter pony class. The Sarginson family purchased the 12-year-old Connemara unseen from Ireland. He has participated in a range of disciplines from showing to show jumping and PC mounted games with Mia, and won the plaited pony in-hand final at the 2019 STARS with Mia’s older sister Shannon. Mia and Rolo had already qualified at the Royal Cheshire County show on the previous Wednesday in second place but went on to win a class at the Highland. This is the first year that the Preston-based family have attempted affiliated competition, making their qualification on their third attempt and a subsequent win even more remarkable.

Cwmmawr Liberty

Linsfort Rowan ridden by Mia Sarginson

Latijn V.d. Helling and Aliya Khan with judge Richard Miller Waxwing Perlena shown by Tom Best Wellbank Gabrielle ridden by Lexi Brash

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RUTH ON THE HOOF: GOES TO EXMOOR

BY RUTH CHAMBERLAIN Cheeky Withypool foals info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 11

In May, I did a big sweep of the southern pony breeds (Exmoor, Dartmoor, and New Forest).

My first stop was beautiful Exmoor, and its characterful ponies that I so love. I have wanted to go to Exmoor since helping out with my local Moorland Mousie Trust ponies, and I managed to visit the herds where those boys came from, Anchor and Tippbarlake.

My long-suffering friend Cathryn joined me for the first two legs of this trip, and our first night on Exmoor was magical. We set up camp at a local campsite and set off walking in the general direction of moorland. I think after all these years of visiting ponies I seem to have gained an internal pony-compass as I had a feeling we should head in a certain direction, even though the pony tracks went a different way. Well, after a good walk we caught up a group of young Anchor ponies who proved elusive to find again in the subsequent days. It was a bit too bright and sunny to get some nice photos, so we walked back to our tent and had dinner. I convinced Cathryn that we should go out again for sunset and this time we drove up to where the ponies had been. After avoiding a group of red deer crossing the road, we caught up to the ponies and I got some nice shots of them – I particularly liked the one with the pony grazing the tree.

Yorick - another of the original Moorland Mousie Trust ponies

Tippbarlake ponies on the move

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Lovely mare nicknamed as “Mrs Long Mane” of the Farleywater herd

The following morning, we headed to the Exmoor Pony Centre, where it was great to finally put a face to all the names I know there.

It was great to meet the ponies, see the displays, and Cathryn bought most of the gift shop. It was very special to meet some of the original Moorland Mousie Trust ponies like Abbi and Yorick who are very content with life at the Exmoor Pony Centre. We met Linzi Green, who was absolutely wonderful. She was able to recall every pony that has ever been a part of the Moorland Mousie Trust, and she remembers the boys I know back in Cumbria, and it was great to hear a bit more of their story.

The afternoon was spent with Emma Wallace of the Anchor herd. Emma is an excellent host, and we had a wonderful walk out on the moor to see her breeding mares and to look for a new foal. We found the older foals who were just adorable, but the new foal was being kept away but we managed to track them down – the little foal still looked like she was unfolding, but she was merrily following her mum around. It was so interesting to listen to the Anchor history

One of the Porlock ponies in a wonderfully biodiverse part of exmoor

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Gorgeous Withypool stallion

and Emma’s breeding programme which you can see in the lovely Anchor ponies being bred.

Emma is so enthusiastic about her ponies and the breed in general and I could have chatted to her for days about Exmoor ponies.

The following day we headed to meet Nigel Floyd of the Tippbarlake herd. Nigel was so welcoming and had many great stories about his ponies and keeping them on the moor. He took us out to find some of his ponies, and we came across a few small groups out in quiet part of the moor where his ponies roam. They don’t see as many people as some of the other herds, so were naturally a little more wary of humans, but it was lovely to see them in such a remote place. The Tippbarlake ponies may be some of the more remote and wilder herds of Exmoor ponies, but like any good hill breeder, Nigel knew where to find them (which saved Cathryn and I many hours of walking in hopefully the right direction). Nigel showed us the route the ponies take during the gather, a real spectacle I would love to see. Maria Floyd tells me the gathering is taking place on the 14th of August this year – and anyone is welcome to come along and get up close to these gorgeous ponies.

The first evening with the Anchor ponies at dusk

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Withypool foals at sunset

After lunch we met up with a local photographer, Sarah Hailstone (@ exmoorwithjack), who takes the most wonderful photos of Exmoor. She took us to see the Farleywater herd, and we were treated to a special moment when we caught up to them. The ponies were completely surrounded by a huge herd of red deer – all part of living on Exmoor.

That evening I went on my own to see Withypool ponies. I love the distinctive rich red colour the herd is known for, and I fell in love with the stallion there. The foals were characters and I managed to have a great sunset session with them! I met up with Linzi again the following morning and we went in search of the Porlock ponies. We managed to find them tucked away in a quiet part of the moor where they were relaxing and enjoying the quiet – we did not stay long, but it was great to see the positive impact they had on their surrounding vegetation – it was so biodiverse where we stood. I was sad to leave Exmoor – but I packed up the car and headed for my next stop, Dartmoor.

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 15

Snowy and Promise meet some legends

Snowy Set For Summer At National Stud Kylemore Abbey’s Connemara Ponies are on the road again, this time to take their place among Race horsing greats at the Irish National Stud.

Sr. Karol and Sr. Jeanne with Snowy in Kylemore Abbey before departure

Following the success of last year’s summer placement of a Kylemore Abbey mare and foal in Áras an Uachtarain, Kylemore’s horsebox took to the road once again, this time to the Irish National Stud in County Kildare with Lehid Canal Prince daughter Gray Lass [Snowy] and her Killea Legend colt foal, Peaceful Promise, on board.

As two of Ireland’s leading visitor attractions, both with an equine interest, this partnership will see the west and east coast of the country come together to offer visitors to the National Stud an opportunity to see the beautiful, native Irish pony – the Connemara – alongside racehorse legends such as Beef or Salmon and Hurricane Fly. David Wardell, Tourism Manager at the Irish National Stud said: “The Irish National Stud and Gardens are delighted to welcome the beautiful Gray Lass and her colt foal Peaceful Promise from the iconic visitor’s attraction, Kylemore Abbey. They will be here for the summer months show casing Ireland’s wonderful national breed of Pony.”

Since the introduction of the ‘Peaceful’ Connemara pony herd at Kylemore Abbey in 2019, they have become a key part of the visitor experience with daily feedings, opportunities for visitors to name the new foals online, and a pony trail with interesting, fun signage running along the pony paddock which illustrates why the Connemara Pony is sought after worldwide as both a performance pony and as a trusted family pony.

The large number of visitors, who visit the National 16 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

Stud on an annual basis will be able to learn more about the Connemara pony from interpretive signage, like that found on Kylemore’s Pony Trail. This offers a wonderful opportunity to promote the Connemara breed, both in Ireland and abroad. This is something much appreciated

by Connemara pony lovers, as David Sheedy, President of the Connemara Pony Breeders Society points out: “The Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society is delighted with this wonderful initiative between Kylemore Abbey and The National Stud. We look forward to seeing our Connemara pony take its place amongst some of the most wonderful horses in the world.”

Located in the heart of Connemara on the Wild Atlantic Way, the community of Benedictine nuns, who have

resided at Kylemore since 1920, have a long history stretching back over three hundred and fifty years. Founded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1665, the house was formally made over to the Irish nation in 1682 with the intention of providing an education and religious community for Irish women during times of persecution in Ireland. The community finally left Ypres after the Abbey was destroyed in the early days of World War I, and having at first taken refuge in England and later in Co Wexford, the nuns eventually settled in Kylemore in December 1920.

No doubt, while Snowy and her foal are looking forward to their holiday, they will be greatly missed by the nuns who have grown very fond of the ponies.

Each spring, the nuns keep a watchful eye over the mares as they prepare to foal. One nun who has developed a special relationship with the ponies is Sr. Karol, a music teacher and artist whose paintings of the ponies have been developed into a beautiful range of cards and tea towels, available in the Kylemore Abbey Craft and Design Shop. The colt foal who will travel to Kildare this June was aptly named Peaceful Promise after what has become an annual online competition to get visitors and followers of Kylemore as excited about the spring foals as everyone in Kylemore. Peaceful Promise is a lively foal and will no doubt enthral visitors to the National Stud with his boyish charm and playful disposition.

Peaceful Promise

A delegation from Kylemore Abbey including Sr. Karol and some of the onsite pony experts travelled with the mare and foal to give them a proper send to mark the beginning of a great partnership between pony lovers and two of Ireland’s leading Visitor Attractions.

Conor Coyne, CEO at Kylemore Abbey said: “We are delighted, in Kylemore Abbey, to share our love of the Connemara Pony with our friends at the Irish National Stud and Gardens.

Kylemore Abbey has a long-standing tradition of promoting the best of the West of Ireland and this partnership will bring the national breed of Pony to Ireland’s showcase for all things equine”.

Promise gets excited to meet some new faces

Visitors to Kylemore Abbey can see the Peaceful Connemara pony herd who spend the summer months frolicking with their foals by the Garden Teahouse. Daily pony feedings offer Kylemore’s nearly 560,000 annual visitors the opportunity to get up close to the ponies and learn about the beautiful breed from an expert Connemara pony handler.

For more information on either partner, visit: www.irishnationalstud.ie or www. kylemoreabbey.com

Loading up to travel

Meet the Judge Cheryl Scott Cheryl Scott is a familiar face in native showing circles. We found out what grabs her attention in the ring for all the right reasons!

Where did the interest in ponies start? How did it develop?

What is the first thing you look for as a pony enters the ring?

I have always been in awe of ponies and horses ever since I was a child. My dad enjoyed racing and we lived in Scotland as children, with some lovely Highland ponies bred near us. I started working in a local riding school when I was 11.

In payment, I had a 45 minute lesson, I learnt to ride everything and anything they had there.

As a pony enters the show ring, the first thing I want to see is that it epitomises its breed type. Next it has to have a good walk, over- track and take the bridle forward, looking through its bridle, with its ears “on”. There is a thin line between presence and attitude, I want to see a pony that says, “pick me”.

Has there been a pony that is extra special to you?

Trenwith Rosie Lee is a very special pony for me. I have always admired Welsh cobs. Having owned several in the past 25 years, I was struggling to find a cob that ticked my boxes and moved away from working with the breed, keeping other large breeds for a few years. I messaged a friend, Rob Allen, and he mentioned that he had a unstarted eight year old mare, She ticked all my boxes and she is out of a mare I have always admired, Drogeda She’s A Lady. The moment I met Rosie and saw her walk, I bought her. She is truly my pony of a lifetime. She’s at the start of her ridden career, but she has already exceeded my expectations. She is a trier and very kind; that combination is very rare.

When did you start judging? Which panels are you on?

I started judging more than 10 years ago. I started with the NCPA mountain and moorland panel. I am now on BSPS, TSR, UK Ponies & Horses, (both flat and working hunter) and I am on my final probationary year for the NPS.

What are your pet hates when judging?

I hate ponies that are over-bitted and under-ridden; they have to work from behind. I don’t like to see a pony grabbing the ground and pulling itself along. I want to see rhythm, flow, balance and ponies that cover the ground. They have to move as the breed standard describes. I like a flowing, forward-thinking show; not a “startstop” show.

What do you most enjoy judging, e.g. natives, non-natives, in-hand, ridden, open, novice, minis…?

I enjoy judging novice ridden ponies.

Watching a novice pony progress and mature in its work and frame is so nice to see. If the pony goes well, the rider is happy and the placing irrelevant.

What makes you happy as a judge?

I like to see people working with their ponies, having a solid, trusting relationship. It’s a partnership. You can see the happy combinations.

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Cheryl with her brother at Hallamshire Show

If you’re judging, do you prefer to set a show or allow competitors to decide on their own show?

I like a competitor to perform their own show. I often ask a competitor to show me a good walk at the start and the end and to do a show that shows off their pony’s movement.

Do you like using marks or would you rather be without them?

I personally enjoy judging using marks.

You can give your mark and then concentrate on the next pony. The go around is important and I do take it into account when I give my marks. It would be impossible without marks to judge Workers, and for me, if you judge with a co-judge and the class is large, you need marks. It gives the competitors feedback on the different elements of their performance too.

Do you approach judging different classes in different ways, e.g. judging a novice vs an open class?

When judging a novice class, I like to see a pony ridden quietly, allowing the pony to balance itself up and down

through the transitions. I don’t like to see a rider rush or push a pony out of its natural gait. I like to see open ponies ridden from behind, from the leg to the hand, never running, but asked to cover more ground than a novice and to gallop, if the ring allows. The downward transitions need to be ridden correctly and not abruptly.

How do we encourage more young people to aspire to be on judging panels?

I would advise anyone thinking of starting on the judging ladder, to go to studs, meet breeders, and talk to judges whose approach you admire. Also, help out at shows and steward; it’s the best way to see the inside of the ring from the ground. I think it is important to ask yourself why you want to become a judge. I am a strong believer that you perform best as a judge when you are judging something you have done and mastered yourself. For example, I used to hunt and show jump so, I understand riding and seeing a stride, and I draw on this experience when judging a working hunter class.

With Kebroyd Jet Rosie on her first time out in May

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 19

Amilas Slumberdown handled by Michelle Prentice

Cottrell Riverdance ridden by Millie Bowles

Desarbre Sparrow Hawk ridden by Lucia Cable Muddycreek Milford ridden by Leah Edgar

Natives Shine at SEIB Search for a Star SEIB Search for a Star 2022 May 22nd 2022. Bury Farm Report by Jenny Viner There was an exceptional turnout at Bury Farm for the second SEIB Search for a Star and Racehorse to Riding Horse qualifier of 2022 with more than 200 entries forward across the seventeen classes including a super bunch of natives!

First up, was the working pony class, which saw the runners-up from the first qualifier, Leah Edgar and her New Forest pony Muddycreek Milford, go one better to take top spot. Leah’s mum, Michelle Egdar explained that they bought the five-year-old last September. “After they came second at their first SFAS qualifier, we had to come back,” said Michelle. “Milford is an absolute treasure. They will do everything over the summer, including cross country”.

The first SFAS Your Horse Live qualifying class of the day, the mountain and moorland, saw Kirsty Lewis and her partner Ashton Eyre’s Fell pony Highstell Alpha take the win. Kirsty explained that farrier Ashton had been given Alpha as he’d always had a soft spot for him. “We have also competed in BSPS classes and go out jumping and on sponsored rides too,” said Kirsty. “We don’t have a school so he doesn’t get ridden much in the winter. It’s a real team effort with plenty of early mornings and late evenings!”

Millie Bowles, 19, her mother Selina’s 25-year-old, Welsh Section B, Cottrell Riverdance [Ronnie] followed up their 2021 SFAS double victories with a win in the open veteran class. The pair won the in-hand veteran and amateur ridden veteran Search for a Star final in 2021. A former games pony, Ronnie came to the Bowles’ at 18 years-old for a quieter life. Selina said: “Millie and Ronnie really enjoyed the qualifier, and Ronnie simply loves being in the ring with others – he is showing no signs of slowing down! Millie is so lucky she never outgrew him”.

Plenty of entries came forward in the new SFAS Pony Club classes, and once again,

natives came to the fore! In the lead rein class, six-year-old Emily Hiscox and her mother Heather Hiscox’s pony, Thistledown Elpaso [Elivs] won first place. Elvis has been owned by the Hiscoxs and ridden by Emily for four years. Heather said: “This is our first SFAS show and it couldn’t have gone better, we are delighted! Emily and Elvis do everything together – Emily would ride Elvis all day, every day if she could.

They have done farm rides, tetrathlon, shows and pony club camp together.”

North Warwickshire Pony Club member Emily and Elvis won the Pretty Polly championship at the RIHS. Puckeridge Hunt branch member Lucia Cable, 9, and her mother Victoria’s section B Desabre Sparrow Hawk won the Pony Club first ridden class. Victoria said: “The moment we heard there would be a Pony Club SFAS championship, we knew we had to give it a go. Sparrow Hawk is the best pony, he is quality, bombproof and won’t let you down. They also compete in hunter trials, camp, dressage and tetrathlon”.

Their 2022 goals were to qualify for SFAS and qualify for the RIHS, and they have achieved both having also qualified for the Pretty Polly final.

Helena Kitchener and her mother, Naomi Kitchener’s Connemara pony, Cavan Mick won the Open Pony Club SFAS qualifier.

Naomi said: “Helena and Mickey have also had great success recently in Tetrathlon for the Southern England team at the Pony Club International Regional Pony Club Tetrathlon competition. Helena is a member of the Mid Surry branch of the Pony Club.

Welsh part-bred, Ryehall Petit Ami [Alan] and his owner and handler, Lisa Hayyez won the in-hand plaited pony class on their first attempt. A thrilled Lisa said: “Alan was owned by a friend and she wanted to sell him, I fell in love with him. I got him on loan last September and now have just

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Cavan Mick ridden by Helena Kitchener

bought him. I’m still in shock that we won and have qualified!” Lisa has been showing for 43 years, and got her first taste of success in the ring when showing Percheron horses with her father at the county shows aged five. She plans in time to produce Alan for first ridden and lead rein showing, and feels that the SFAS experience is “just great for him to help get out and about.”

Michelle Prentice and her good friend’s Jo Stewart’s Welsh section A, Amilas Slumberdown won the in-hand mountain and moorland. Michelle said: “Amilas Slumberdown was gelded late as a 10-yearold, I backed him then too and fell in love with him. Jo has owned him since he was a yearling. We are so far unbeaten in-hand in our three shows we have been to this year.

We will do some mountain and moorland classes and Equifest in the run up to Your Horse Live.”

For all Search for a Star and Racehorse to Riding Horse information, including further dates and how to enter, please see www.seib.co.uk/competitions.

Northern Stars at SEIB Search for a Star’s Return to Scotland

Lachlann of Croila Croft ridden by Judith Hogg

Netherton Equestrian Centre, Perthshire 11- 12th June Report by Jenny Viner SEIB Search for a Star and Racehorse to Riding Horse headed to Scotland for the first time in over 20 years for both a Search for a Star workshop and show, having received countless requests for them to return north of the border for the first time since 1996.

Senior Search for a Star judge, Mr Richard Ramsay said: “The atmosphere at Netherton was simply fantastic. We had many competitors that are new to the series and they were genuinely grateful for the opportunity.

The competitors that came to the workshop on the preceding day, listened, took note and we saw many improvements on the Sunday.”

A variety of ponies, including plaited, mountain and moorland and traditional came forward for the working pony class at Netherton. Judge Hannah Horton commented: “All the competitors had done their homework and it was a lovely class to judge.” Eleanor Crate’s homebred Welsh section B pony, Dunaskin Gimlie won the class with his rider Dana Simpson, 16. Gimlie has been ridden by Dana for three seasons.

Dana, an aspiring veterinary nurse said she would also “love to try to get a HOYS ticket in the workers with him”, having been on the Scottish pony showjumping team for the last three years.

Fittingly, a Highland pony won the mountain and moorland class. This was gundog trainer Judith Hogg’s five-year-old, Lachlann of Croila Croft. Remarkably, it’s a comeback tale for both. Judith broke her back out hunting seven years ago and it has taken until now for her to recover and regain her confidence.

Meanwhile, Judith feared she would lose Lachlan to colic last winter, when he was hospitalized for six days. Judith, who has owned Lachlan since he was two, explained that he is also “broken to the hill and does the traditional work he was bred for and carries the deer down”. This summer, they will

continue to show before he returns to the hill to work in the winter.

Rosedust Class Act took runner up spot, kickstarting a very successful day for his rider, Aaliyah Watson. The pair went on to also win the open Pony Club SFAS qualifier for Your Horse Live. The Welsh section B is owned by Aaliyah’s mother, Karen Watson, and has been with the family for three years. Deveron Pony Club member Aaliyah explained that the pair attended the 2021 RIHS for the Pretty Polly championship and won the best condition prize. Later in the day, Aaliyah won the inhand plaited pony class with her new pony, Romano Small Talk. Aaliyah said: “She is only four, so we are going to take it slowly and I’m so pleased we brought her today to compete in the in-hand class. She is just broken in and it will be great as she gets more established and we plan to compete in ridden classes.”

Ianna Grant, 5, from Fortrose near Inverness won the Pony Club lead rein class with her mother, Mary-Jo Grant’s Welsh section A pony, Thistledown Honkey Tonk. Ianna is a member of Ross-Shire Pony Club and the pair have competed up to county level in leadrein classes. Mary-Jo said: “Honkey Tonk and Ianna do everything, they will also be going to the Pony Club show and camp, they have competed in side-saddle, too. He is also broken to driving so when the children outgrow him he still has a job to do.” The Grant’s live on the Black Isle north of Inverness.

Thistledown Honkey Tonk ridden by Ianna Grant and led by Mary-Jo Grant

Nerwyn Leonardo ridden by Annabel Fraser

Another Welsh section A triumphed in the Pony Club first ridden class. Nerwyn Leonardo was ridden to the win by his tenyear-old jockey, Annabel Fraser. Annabel’s mother, Sarah Fraser has owned Leonardo for ten years. “My sister lives near Edinburgh so we came up from Cumbria and stayed last night there. We are all so excited!” Annabel is a member of the Cumberland Farmers Hunt North Pony Club branch.

Dunaskin

by Dana Simpson info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022Gamlie Issue | ridden The Native Pony | 21

The NPS Dressage Supreme Finals 2022: A view from the saddle The finals were held at the Bury Farm Equestrian Centre in Leighton Buzzard near to Luton; a super venue with so many arenas, I actually lost count!

I arrived at the venue around 8am to feed and muck out Marco. Lots of lorries and trailers were starting to turn up ready for a day of dressage. I met up with fellow teammates who were figuring out which arenas they were in and watching competitors just beginning their tests. It was a jam-packed day with lots of different breeds, pure and part-bred competing!

After figuring out which arenas I was meant to be in, it was time to get ready, nerves kicking in as I got my hat and boots on. Thankfully, I had super-groom ’Mother’ with me so I knew that my pony would be turned out to perfection, thank goodness. After getting on I headed to the warmup with fellow teammates Amy Boaler and Kirsty Davies who were both riding in the same section as we all have Connemaras. Our other teammate Rebecca Wright was competing her veteran in the prelim in another arena.

Warming up was a bit buzzy with Marco deciding that he wanted to show off his medium trots. Oops. We had a break while Amy and Kirsty completed their prelim tests in the big indoor. My nerves were starting to kick in by now with my stomach in flip-flop mode, I had to go into the arena with my game face on. This was it and time to show the judge we meant business. Marco took it all in and produced a really rideable test with only one blip which was completely my fault as I relaxed and then panicked so he dropped out of canter. I did come out with a big grin.

Next was our novice test. A few weeks before we had a run through of this test at the Eastern Area Native Pony Dressage Gala which didn’t go to plan for us. I was quite nervous going into this arena as it was slightly shorter at the M, C & H end due to an arena change but I shouldn’t have worried. Marco was again super rideable with great trot work and canter transitions.

I came out feeling amazed at the difference in him from the previous week. Even Mother was grinning from ear to ear!

Now was the waiting game while the NPS team sorted results, I popped Marco away with a nice bowl of mash so he could relax before travelling home and headed to the café for a well-earned coffee and sausage roll. Yes, I recommend the sausage rolls there, just like Greggs but better.

Kirsty came bounding through the door to say results for the prelim were out, and obviously I speedily walked to see. We had placed third with a decent score which I was over the moon about but even better, Kirsty had claimed second and Amy had claimed fourth all in the same section with Rebecca getting placed in her section, which was amazing for the team standings.

The novice results were still being calculated so I started to pack the lorry away and get ready to head home, I was just putting Marco’s travel gear on when Julia came bouncing down the stable blocked with a giant grin and told me that I wasn’t going home yet. Now it did take me a few seconds to process what Julia had just said and then it hit me: my pony had won the novice Connemara section and we were through to the ride-off to music for the supreme title. Now I will admit I did sit on the floor of the stable block crying happy tears and clinging to Amy before realisation set in that I hadn’t prepared for a ride-off to music. Thankfully, Julia came to my rescue with music. We sat in her lorry and listened to the CD with Julia telling me which music for walk, trot and canter. Kirsty and Mum went to get Marco ready again. Even with him lying down they rolled him up and he was still clean. I quickly phoned my partner to let him know what had just happened, and shaking, I tied my tie and put my jacket on ready to face the music, literally.

Now I’ve never ridden a test to music let alone a freestyle, I had the music in my head while warming up after only listening to it once. We got to hear everyone before us and their music. From Toy Story to Dolly Parton, the music was brilliant.

Then it was our turn. My stomach now twisting with nerves, I rode in. After a few minutes I heard the starting buzzer: time for the music. I get up to the end of the arena and put my hand up, feeling just like Charlotte Dujardin the music started. Walking down the centre line in time with the music we halted and saluted.

Then off into an up-beat trot, to the Floral Dance, we began. I went round the arena winging and praying to keep in time with the beat of the band music. Off into canter at C, we passed the judge where Marco thought the judge wanted to see his heels – naughty pony – but we carried on across the diagonal with me giggling at his antics for him to pop in a lovely flying change. It’s not required at this level, though, and this just set my giggles off even more. We still managed to complete the freestyle even with a hand break turn to the centre line just in time with the last beat of music. Salute. The biggest smile was across my face as we departed from the arena. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be in with the top lot competing a freestyle to music.

The presentation of placings was quite fun. Lots of ponies lined up with riders eagerly awaiting results. To my surprise we were called in ninth place out of 15 ponies which was utterly amazing. Marco did think the prize giving was his excuse to have a quick nap while I watched on. I could see my Mum and Kirsty laughing as Marco’s head got lower. We got presented with a gorgeous rosette and dressing gown with class champion written on the back which was fantastic. It was now time to head home but I was still sitting on cloud 9 with my mega pony.

We were quite lucky this year to make three teams: two prelims and one novice.

Our team names are always quite fun and adapt to our breed! Prelim team A, Box Of Chox, consisted of Barana Castle (Georgie Rooney), Easter Sparrow (Kirsty Davies), Tyan Razzmatazz (Amy Boaler) and Buster Boy (Rebecca Wright) coming fourth. Prelim team, The Only Way Is Native, consisted of Elaphine Declan (Julia Woods), Popsters Masterclass (Emma-Jane Smith), Turloughrevagh Boy (Michele McCarthy) and Waxwing Pocket Money (Rocky Leah) coming second and our novice team, We Will Rock You consisted of Barana Castle (Georgie Rooney), Easter Sparrow (Kirsty Davies), Elaphine Declan (Julia Woods) and Buster Boy (Rebecca Wright) also coming second. All our teams did amazingly well throughout the day with placings across the board and three of our team riders got into the ride off to music with Barana Castle (Georgie Rooney) coming ninth, Popsters Masterclass (Emma-Jane Smith) coming fourth and Waxwing Pocket Money (Rocky Leahy) coming first, taking the overall supreme title.

By Georgie Rooney

Westwick Polly

Perfect Polly The Dales Pony Society Festival Show June 25th at Camden Equestrian Centre, York The Dales Pony Society Festival show saw David Eccles’ Westwick prefix once again come to the fore.

Westwick Polly strutted her way to a win in the senior mare class followed by Westwick Daisy who stood second. Daisy had her colt foal at foot, and he also proved a winner, taking home the best foal rosette. Both mares subsequently went on to take championship spots followed by supreme and reserve overall champion.

Westwick Daisy

David’s daughter, Emma Eccles is now showing her true heritage following in the footsteps of her father, producing and showing the Dales ponies despite being busy with exams. She’s also busy with breaking and schooling ponies at home with her dad. “She has a good eye for a pony and is a natural around them,” said David.

Judge for the day Brian Williams added, “My champion was an exceptionally correct mover with great quality in all joints, she covered the ground well with her hocks flexed well underneath her body with tremendous drive, and was presented very well by her handler” Photos by Amy Griffith Photography info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 23

A Good Goer: The Dales Trot

By Grace Snowdon

When people talk about the Dales Pony, it is inevitable that the pony’s ability to trot will be mentioned. Afterall, many of the most notable Dales ponies are remembered for their trotting ability alone.

On numerous occasions the question, ‘why do they have to move?’ arises, along with unfounded view that the Dales trot is uncomfortable to ride and that it’s not important in a ridden pony.

So why do Dales Ponies move and why is it so important that we strive to preserve this much-admired trait?

The Dales Pony is descended from some of the most sought after and highly respected trotting ‘roadsters’ of their time: the Comets.

Much has been made of the Dales pony being ‘pit’ or ‘pack’ ponies in recent years which is not strictly true. When the lead industry declined, carrier pony teams were sold at auction. Hill farmers picked up these useful, but coarse, ‘Scotch’ ponies.

These ponies lacked quality, which was introduced through the use if the Roadster, giving the offspring more quality and produced ponies that were better adapted to the needs of the time, and ultimately, more valuable. This was a period where trotting was a favourite sport across the whole of the world, and the introduction of the ‘Comet’ blood saw the development of the famous Dales trot.

Comet Talbot was the grandsire of one of the most highly respected Dales stallions, Teesdale Comet, who was well known and much admired for his ability to trot, as well as his half-brother Daddy’s Lad, both sired

by Comet II (by Comet Talbot). Daddy’s Lad was so well thought of he was exported to Argentina.

By this point the Dales pony was famous as a trotting breed and a far cry from the Carrier/Jagger Galloway’s of the years before which were described as ‘rough legged’ - something the Dales pony most definitely is not!

The Dales pony was purposely and successfully adapted by the Dales men to trot, so the Dales pony became much sought after for its strength and speed, trotting long distances in excess of 20mph and giving the appearance of being on wheels. They were commonly known as ‘goers’, as they still are today, something

The highly impressive stallion Comet Talbot appeared in the north, from Wales, in the 1860’s. Comet Talbot, also confusingly known as Young Comet, was foaled in Wales and was from the very best of trotting blood. He was awarded ‘The Fastest Trotting Roadster Stallion’ in 1876 as a 24-year-old, some feat! Comet Talbot was famous for his numerous successes in trotting races and won extremely large prizes, even as an aged stallion.

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that Dales-men have maintained to the present day with careful breeding.

In recent years, the term ‘stepper’ has crept into descriptions of Dales ponies.

The phrase ‘stepper’ is a more modern term associated with the Stepping Cob, a cob usually with Dales in its heritage somewhere, demonstrating how wonderful Dales ponies were as a valued cross to put quality and movement onto cobs.

Nevertheless, the modern Stepping Cob’s movement with the animal stepping too high in front is not the same as that of a correct Dales’ movement. The Dales Pony is not a cob, and historically, it has never been a ‘stepper’.

A well moving Dales pony is said to raise the hocks has high as the knee, moving forward and under, with the hind foot landing before the front to create the drive and speed the wonderful breed is known for. The movement is not solely about the

Brian Moore, former DPS Chairman, driving Brymoor Mimi - The insipration for the DPS Logo

Whitworth Jock

front going as high as possible. The best movers are said to give a stylish ‘flick’ of the hock. The movement is akin to the old trotting movement of the Comets.

The Dales trot is well balanced, energetic, speedy and rhythmical showing an ‘all fours’ action. A heavy stepping up and down movement going nowhere has always been frowned upon and may be the result of heavy shoes or outcrossing, either to a heavy breed or to a Hackney. A good ‘goer’ - and a good Dales - does not need to be shod to display the distinctive movement, they are instead shod for

Daloumie Foxy Lady

work or in modern times, to present this traditionally working breed for the show ring.

A good Dales Judge will see through a heavy shoe and many old Dales-men were against the shoeing of youngsters to emphasise movement, including George Hodgson. When they first ride a Dales pony with good movement any riders will be surprised by how much power a Dales pony can have, how much ‘bigger’ they feel to ride, and how comfortable the Dales trot is to ride.

It is always worth noting, that just because the Dales pony is bred to trot, they can, and do canter, it’s just traditionally they weren’t required to. It’s also worth remembering that the Dales pony is also known for its exceptionally free and ground covering walk, something that is largely forgotten.

Together with their correct and quality, workmanlike conformation and spirited attitude to work, their ground covering paces make Dales ponies ideal mounts in all situations and are as sought after as ever.

Gordon Barron driving Harry Barron’s Heather Mixture III

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 25

Arabella Launder Collins riding Section A pony Skelwith Sunflower (Sunwillow Zermatt x Crossbrook Guynor)

The Skelwith stud Questions for Liz and Emma Launder

also their versatility, recognising that they had much more to offer than just their inhand showing capacity. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Skelwith stud of Welsh ponies and cobs is based in Llanerfyl near Welshpool.

Readers familiar with the Lake District might find the prefix incongruous with the Welsh location as the Skelwith prefix is a nod to its Lakes roots and its official formation in 1981.

The Launder family who are at the heart of the stud also have a successful farming operation and mum Elizabeth – Liz – and her daughter Emma have a passion for sport and osteopathy, forging careers in these fields. Most recently, they have embarked on a new venture, and we caught up with Liz and Emma to find out a little more…

I was already involved with breeding sports horses and ponies with a specific interest in jumping so I sort of mixed them together, but I never really took to the Welsh section D crosses, preferring a bit of section A or section B or. I tend to keep the sports horses a mix of Selle Francais, Holstein, BWB or Hanoverian.

NATIVE PONY: Liz, where does the interest in the Welsh breeds come from?

Did it come before or after the sports horse interest?

Liz Launder: I did my Masters degree at Aberystwyth University at the time the Llanarth stud had just been given to the University. I was lucky enough to work and spend time at the stud with Len Bigley and Mark Northam during the famous Llanarth Flying Comet era. I fell immediately in love with the cobs and was captured not only by their beauty, personality and movement, but

Emma: I know this is a question directed more towards mum but I’m going to answer as well! The cobs are mesmerising; their charm and versatility draws you in and their eye shows you their kindness. I’d say I’m obsessed really. Having said that, although I’ve always liked them, I wasn’t really interested in riding the cobs and was more in to sports ponies until I didn’t have a ride for team show jumping. I was about 13 or 14 years old, and I had to ride Skelwith Rockets Pearl (Pwllceffyl Rocket X Furthermoors Pearl) one of Mum’s best mares. It was a three-phase competition and I was the only one to go triple clear. That was the day my obsession evolved and Mum lost her ride as I wasn’t handing her back!

NP: Liz, you’ve also had an interesting

26 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

career in osteopathy. Your specialisms are sports injury and poor performance, tell us a bit more about that.

Liz: I have always worked attached to a veterinary practice so as a therapist, I have benefitted from very close association with a clinic, and therefore diagnostic practices and constant changes in understanding and attitude.

When I first started my pain/behaviour rehabilitation centre in 1981, vets did not believe horses suffered with back pain or that behaviour could be pain-related, so I had to push against this ethos which was hard work.

Fortunately, we have come a long way from there.

NP: Emma, what’s made you follow a similar path?

Emma: I’ve always needed the help of an osteopath as I have a curve in my spine. I love science, health and the mechanics of the body and I love making people feel better.

I can’t really explain what made me follow Mum other than it is what I was born to do; this profession as with most, never stops evolving, and you never stop learning. I’m always intrigued, and physically seeing that people improve is a huge buzz.

NP: Any career highlights…?

Liz: Helping an owner who had horses on the Brazilian show jumping team and travelling to Belgium and Brazil to treat the horses was definitely a highlight, and working with Dermot Lennon was an absolute privilege. Rachel, my elder daughter also benefited from these connections spending, time with both Rodriguez Pessoa and Dermot.

NP: Has what you have seen through work influenced your breeding choices?

Liz: Definitely. The job has definitely influenced my breeding policy. I’ve learnt to prove the mares or the mare line, and temperament for the job, rideability, the quality of the canter are high on my list. I’ve also learnt not to breed from horses who go lame unless from accidental injury and to ttay away from a straight hind leg. I also study the longevity of the stallions in terms of performance and avoid any metabolic diseases for example EMS, PSSM and so on like the plague!

NP: What have been your breeding highlights, particularly with the Welsh breeds?

Liz: Probably winning the Area 25 NPS working hunter pony championship with Skelwith Rockets Queen of Oaks who we used to call our diesel pony because she won money at BS which often paid the diesel!

Also producing Skelwith Adonis, a large Welsh part-bred by RFS Socrates out of Skelwith Gyfylchau Cyntaf to a BEF gold premium twice and to win the Royal Welsh show, stand champion youngstock and reserve overall with my son Matt showing him.

Another highlight must be winning the SHGB performance championship for potential show jumpers, eventers or working hunters with Skelwith

Elizabeth Launder on Pwllceffyl Rocket (Tirinion Shooting Star X Arth Gracious Maid)

Bella the therapy pig Junior stallion Rhydeilian Morning Thunder is currently in dressage training

Rachel Launder riding champion working hunter pony Gorfelyn Persian Monarch

Diamond Lord, and seeing Skelwith Diamond Lady jump at Bolesworth last year as well as watching her mother win internationally and having the national anthem play for her. Skelwith Diamond Lady also recently jumped in the world rankings, which is a huge achievement for a little stud in mid Wales.

There have been many other highs, too, - too many to mention!

NP: Tell us about the new venture…

Emma: Throughout the pandemic, I worked for the NHS alongside running my own business. Since the pandemic, the number of people I see who have returned home from hospital needing rehabilitation has trebled. They are stuck at home with nowhere to go out to, no social interaction, and therefore their desire to comply is minimal. Compliance is the biggest issue for a therapist as it often feels like 90% of people do not accept the advice you give! But, when you put an animal in the mix, there’s a desire to get up and move about. What I have also found is that if you give people a purpose, they are more likely to feel less helpless and hopeless, which is so common after a life changing injury or illness. So, my partner and I have set up a therapy farm to be used as a form of physio and mental health therapy. It provides a purpose to get people active enough to cope with everyday life and hopefully aspire them to continue with their rehabilitation whilst combatting loneliness, and having cute animals about makes me so, so happy.

NP: What role will the ponies play?

Emma: The ponies are a massive part of this new venture as I already bring house-bound clients to the farm to see them, and the horses are so gentle with them. I have a lady who I do “exercise days” with, and on days when she’s anxious, I bring her to see the horses and it’s almost as if her dementia disappears.

This leads me to why I think this service is needed...

I have already explained the issue with compliance, but people don’t really want to sit in a room and do boring exercises. I want to make rehabilitation fun, especially for people with life-limiting conditions. I am very passionate about the fact that I truly believe we all deserve the right to decent physical therapy, and it shouldn’t just be people who are more affluent or live in a built-up area. We live in the most beautiful part of the world, and when the sun shines, it just fills you with happiness, so I wanted to share that with people. My sister had an accident in 2018, and research shows that horses and horse riding are a very important recovery component. This was so true for my sister: all she wanted to do was get back on board and ride, which she did. This was very much a realisation that animals are so important when it comes to improving motivation and goal setting.

Skelwith Adonis (RFS Socrates X Skelwith GyfylchauCyntaf) champion WPB at the 2019 RWWAS aged 2, shown by Matthew Launder

Blakehill Master at Moreton ODE

Janine Peterson I’ve always had such an affinity with New Forest ponies. Connemaras were always out of our price range when I was growing up! The Foresters were deemed the poor relation in some ways when I was younger, however I feel the balance is much more even these days, with a lot more performance New Forest ponies really showing what the breed are made of.

Tantany Torch was bought for £800 as an unbroken three-year-old when I was 13.

He did have sweet-itch and later picked up windsucking as a habit. He was a big pony

by Vernons Toyboy. At five, he competed in the open PC horse trials team and took on 1m10 in the jumping phases. He was supremely talented, but he was very sharp,

Tantany Torch at three

as often is the case! He represented PC at open level at five consecutive area qualifiers with me, until I felt too heavy for him so I advertised him. I wanted an FEI event home for him as knew he would go all the way, so I was quite fussy when people called and a home in Devon were the first to view him. He was nine by this time and I advertised him for £12k, which was a massive amount, but ponies like Charlie do not grow on trees! The first viewing absolutely loved him as expected, despite him jumping his prospective rider clean off when she was trying him!

Consequently, I’ve never wanted to produce ponies to that level again, because it takes a long time and obviously you there’s some wear and tear getting there.

To do all that and find the vetting goes badly even though the pony is out there doing the job, is really frustrating and soul destroying! Hence why Roo (Willoway Amigo) will never be sold. I don’t want him poked and prodded to find fault; he’s perfect to me and I hate the whole subjectivity of a vetting. I start to imagine what the pony must be thinking about it all and that makes me sad.

He sadly failed the vet with sidebone and so we decided they would lease him for a year.

He had always been a good sound pony for me, so I thought they should see for themselves, plus I was starting a job with William Fox-Pitt the next day and I was banking on Charlie going!!

I saw a good post the other day that said a vetting should be merely an investigation to see what’s needed to keep the horse or pony on the road, not to try to find fault or beat the price down, which I thought sounded very sensible.

Tantany Torch did go on to FEI event with Danni. He was one of the only ponies at the time with permission to jump Intermediate classes by BE. He also won the 153cm plaited working hunter pony class at the RIHS and was champion! A mega pony that was written off by the vet that vetted him!

We’ve had a break from showing after a very busy month, so we’ve been eventing again! Teddy has stepped back up to BE100 and after a fantastic run at Launceston coming 7th, he’s picked up an area qualification to try for Badminton at this level as well as BE90!

Dex had a great run at Moreton unaffiliated

Lanhinch Teddy at Launceston BE

Blakehill Master at Launceston BE80

80cm ODE, a super 21 dressage and clear SJ left him in a really strong position…however I got far too carried away out on the XC enjoying myself, jumping one of the 90 fences accidentally instead of the 80! He was cruising so well, I forgot he’s just a youngster!

Tantay Touch at 5, storming round the BE Novice at Somerley Park representing West Hants branch of the PC

Roo had a bit of a breather after Badminton, he’s now feeling fresh and ready to pick up the work ready for his two area festivals he’s qualified for at

BE90.

Now the ground has gone so hard we are taking a break from competing and spending time doing some lovely long hacks and some swimming in the sea!

These natives really do turn their hooves to anything which makes it so easy to keep things varied. I’ve got a couple of super Connemaras in to sell and a lovely Perone New Forest pony to break, so things are really busy here In Dorset. I’m loving life!

Horsegate Golden Rain (Huw)

I thought it might be fun to include a picture and some words about a native from my past, that had a big impact on me... so this month I’ll introduce Horsegate Golden Rain.

Horsegate Golden Rain (Huw)

Huw to his friends, we bought him as a recently cut 3yo. Huw was by Pendock Peregrine out of Horsegate Golden Spray. A lovely old fashioned section B with lots of bone (often lacking in the modern day section B’s sadly I feel) - he would have been more prolific in a more serious home, but we did a bit of everything with him. Highlights were winning a huge Welsh B class at The New Forest Show, he was also 2nd in the direct Olympia Qualifier there one year, 2nd at Ponies UK in a class of over 50 Welsh B’s. He went to PC, did workers, came in the house if the door was open! He was a huge character, extremely

naughty and taught me a great deal about ponies being fab levellers! Huw was well known for being pulled in top at a big show, only to come out to do his show and grind to a halt mid performance in need of a wee... but after a minute or so and no wee materialising, on I would encourage him on, only to crawl around the rest of the show with his legs crossed!!

We had a really rubbish trailer at the time with a small hole in the ramp, so we would have to walk up on an angle to miss it! Mum and I dreamt of going to Olympia with Huw and our rubbish trailer, unloading our golden treasure at a quirky angle to miss the hole...but we never quite got there! He was an incredible pony though, if you could get him to wee before his class!!

P E R F O R M A N C E

PO N I E S At Native Pony, we have been incredibly impressed by reports of native ponies competing successfully in performance disciplines.

Racing Summer Nights 10-year-old Angus Dixon has been pony racing this season on his speedy 12-year-old home produced Section B mare, Hepplewood Summer Nights. Most of their races have been 138cm open races, and despite being lots smaller than most of the other ponies, Angus and Summer have had some good results, achieving four fourth places in six races with fields of around ten ponies. At the recent Pony Club Raceday at Kelso Racecourse, they finally had the chance to compete in a 128cm open race, and were a fantastic second.

Photos by kind permission of Lorna Fleming Photography

Angus Dixon Vikki and Harley

Harley Stays The Distance Vikki Barnes has owned 12-year-old 14.1 New Forest pony Harley since he was a three-year-old. The pair have found a love of endurance riding together.

Vikki explained: “We started Endurance riding (long distance competitive riding) with EGB 2 years before Covid. Although I now know that natives are very successful in endurance, the most prominent horse breed in the sport is the Arab, so I didn’t think we’d have much chance progressing beyond the pleasure rides, especially as I don’t have a huge amount of time to train, between a job and children! Little did I know that

Harley would love endurance and after a few years of training and competing between 20k and 30k, we’d come home with a Grade 1 with an average of 9.6km p/hour and second place overall in the 20k class at the South Downs ride on July the third. The grading system in Graded Endurance Rides is designed to reward horse fitness and good horsemanship and based on speed and finishing heart rate. I’d encourage anyone who has horse who enjoys hacking to have a go!” Visit https://egb.myclubhouse.co.uk/ for more information on how to get involved.

Rude Boy Rocks!

Ten years ago, equine physiotherapist Philippa James bought two-year-old Welsh section C colt, Tambrook Rude Boy [Rocky] from his breeders Britt and Nick Snelling. “We had him castrated and carefully broke him in,” she explained. He was brought along slowly and has enjoyed competing in dressage, show jumping, working hunter pony and arena eventing. Amongst his many successes, Rocky has been champion section C working hunter pony at the Welsh National show twice, and this year he was overall section points champion at the Welsh Performance show. Philippa said: “He really is the perfect pony, always happy and easy to do in every way. He has a winter break each year at my parents’ Sianwood Stud where he is turned out with the stallion Waxwing Penny Whistle for a couple of months and when fit again, he comes with me to Lambourn. He is quite a celebrity there and loves to lead the young racehorses on the canter track and show them how to behave. Over the last two seasons, Rocky has been competing in the Cotswold Cup eventing series. He is always the smallest in his section and is a brilliant advert for the versatility of the Welsh ponies. Last year he won his section at Barbury Horse trials, beating all the horses, and this was definitely one of the best days of my life. Rocky is a very special pony and I feel so lucky to have found him.”

HORSES VS

HUMANS

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Ever heard someone tell you that pets are like your owners?

Maggie Simons tacks down the truth of the matter, and runs through the differences between us humans and our horses…

It doesn’t come as a surprise to many of us that a horse’s heart is quite extraordinary. Weighing a massive 8-10 lbs, it’s 16 times the weight of an average human heart, pumping 35 litres of blood per minute at rest. Not only this, but when a horse is galloping, its heart can beat up to 240 times per minute, whereas at rest it can go down to 28 beats per minute. Humans, on the other hand, have a far narrower range of beats per minute: 60 at rest to 170 at exercise.

We’ve all heard the old adage that a horse needs to eat for 23 hours a day, and yes, some of our greedy natives would love to, but here is the real reason: a horse, unlike a human, doesn’t have a gall bladder to regulate the release of digestive fluids. Therefore, a horse’s digestive tract is continually releasing these fluids. As a result, if the horse doesn’t have anything to digest, this fluid will start to digest the digestive tract itself. In turn, this can lead to the development of ulcers.

On the other hand, a horse does still have a functioning appendix. It’s used in the digestion of grass and hay, a process which creates a lot of heat.

So, the appendix is essentially an internal hot water bottle for the horse.

If you’re already starting to think the horse is remarkable, their eyes have almost a 360° field of vision, their only blind spots are directly under their noses and directly behind them. They also have a built-in pair of sunglasses.

Have you ever wondered why your horse may pass something 100 times on one rein and then behave as if they’ve never seen it before on the other rein? Well, the truth of the matter is, even if the right eye saw it the first time around, the connective tissue between the two lobes of their brain is so underdeveloped that, chances are, the left eye won’t know anything about what the right eye has seen. A human’s corpus callosum, on the other hand, is very well developed, making it hard to even contemplate one eye seeing something and not letting the other eye know!

Although their legs look all bunched up when they first emerge, a foal’s leg will very rarely change in length through their lives. The foal’s birth size is also entirely dependent upon the size of the mare’s uterus.

Have you ever despaired at how sprightly your horse is at a show when you’ve struggled to catch an hour of sleep through the murmurs of lorry parties all night? A horse can survive on as little as 20 minutes REM – or deep – sleep, whereas humans need 90 minutes, which may require 7-8 hours of sleeping to achieve. They can also sleep standing up, thanks to the ‘stay apparatus’, a collection of ligaments, tendons and muscles, allowing their legs to lock and for them to enter a phase of exaggerated relaxation or light sleep while standing up.

From the head down there are both differences and similarities in humans and their steeds, and the feet are no exception. Having derived from 5-digit ancestors, the horse’s feet have evolved for speed in escaping predators, predominantly using just the one middle toe/finger. This so-called toe will also grow in relation to the weight of the horse, where as in humans there is no know correlation between weight and toe length. A horse’s feet will continue to grow until they are six years old (roughly 33 in human years), but a human’s foot will stop growing, as the growth plates fuse, aged 18-20. In contrast, the hoof of a horse will lose water continually and a good soak will help restore this loss, where as the human foot will often become drier if soaked unless some form of skin softener is used. They do both, however, crucially need their feet for shock absorbency and stability in movement and life.

So next time someone tells you that pets are like their owners, you can tell them that, actually, they’re not! At least, not physically…

The horse’s eye does not recognise the colour red or any related colours on the spectrum, instead these are all see as shades of green. But, they can see in far lower levels of light than humans. Who knows?

Those demons in the dark corners of the school may be real after all, we just can’t see them!

When it comes to ears, horses beat us humans’ hands down once again, having 16 muscles allowing them to turn 180° verses a meagre three muscles in the virtually static human ear.

A horse’s mouth isn’t without its differences either, possessing more teeth than humans and interestingly, only the males will have canine teeth.

The teeth can also be used to age a horse, but they can’t burp, vomit or breathe through their mouths.

When it comes to foals and foaling, everything happens at speed. A foal should be born within 20 minutes of the onset of labour, and within two hours, the foal will be standing and feeding. After only ten days or so, foals will start to eat a little bit of grass or hay, in comparison to babies who are only introduced to hard feed at five months old. info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 33

Three Old Fashioned grandchildren. L to R - Orlando-Bloom, Old Romantic, Our Vintage. Photo courtesy of Rosie Filmer

Vintage Treasure – Rowfantina Old Fashioned The majority of breeders have, when they start, a goal to which they aspire and the Rowfantina Stud has since its creation aimed to breed ponies that are true to type with the temperament to make outstanding children’s riding ponies. At the recent Hickstead Derby Meeting, Rowfantina ponies dominated the mini classes with wins and high placings in both the leading rein and first ridden Horse of the Year Show qualifying classes.

There is often a pony in a stud’s history that has a significant impact on its development and Rowfantina Old Fashioned certainly fulfils this criterion through her own successes and the success of her progeny as producers of outstanding performance ponies.

Today the Rowfantina Stud is focused mainly on breeding Welsh section As as well as hunter ponies. It is associated with Mandy Burchell-Small and her son, Oliver Burchell, who produces and shows a variety of ponies belonging to themselves and to clients alongside his wife, Jo. The stud was founded by

Mandy’s mother Jean Shemilt who had originated from Devon; she had enjoyed a varied equestrian life including being a leading lady Point to Point rider in the South East.

Her next step was to establish a successful showing yard producing horses and ponies and she herself rode at both HOYS and RIHS. Her long association with Welsh ponies was initiated by a chance meeting with Mrs Rimington Wilson who lived in the area and was seeking the assistance of someone who could help her set up a stud to breed Welsh Section A’s at her farm in Sussex.

The South East was home to some top studs so Jean set up meetings with Alison Mountain (Twyford) and some visits to influential studs to help them decide on what type was most favoured for the newly formed “Rowfant” stud. The bloodlines selected were primarily Coed Coch, Twyford and Revel and these are the lines that are predominant at Rowfantina today. The new stud soon established itself as a force to be reckoned with, winning major awards at shows across the UK

34 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

and the stock bred were sought by discerning exhibitors and breeders.

Following the death of Mrs Rimington Wilson, Jean decided to breed her own ponies, with much of the stock descended from Rowfant and the new stud was christened “Rowfantina”! In the late 1970’s the decision was made to move to the USA and Jean with several of her ponies emigrated with Mandy travelling between countries to offer her support.

Among the ponies taken were Coed Coch Pernod and Rowfant Peanut who formed a nucleus and the success of the stud continued with ponies winning in hand and under saddle in the USA. In 1988 a filly was foaled that was to have a tremendous impact on the stud, a very long way from her roots at Coed Coch in Wales. She was by Coed Coch Pernod who was a son of Coed Coch Bari and Coed Coch Peri. Pernod had been gifted on his dam, Peri, to Mrs Mountain following the Coed Coch dispersal sale and she kindly agreed to part with him. Her dam Rowfantina

Onette, again by record breaking Bari, had been bought at the dispersal sale in utero with her mother Coed Coch Oening. The filly was named Rowfantina Old Fashioned with a rather less than romantic nickname of “Fatty”!

Old Fashioned became a tremendous ambassador for the Welsh breeds in the USA with some impressive successes to her name despite starting off as a bit of an “ugly duckling”. She was put in foal and produced some quality stock which were to follow in her footsteps, including Rowfantina Apollo.

As often happens just when everything seems to be going well, news reaches you that is to change your life completely!

Jean had to re-evaluate her future when she received the news that her husband had tragically died in an aeroplane crash. Following a period of adjustment, Jean decided that what she wanted most was to be closer to her family and plans were made for her return to the UK. The return plan included her very favourite ponies, an elderly Coed Coch Pernod and

Rowfantina On My Honour ridden by James Burchell

Rowfantina Orlando Bloom ridden by James Burchell and Rowfantina Hideaway Harry ridden by Emily Cooper led by Katie White

his highly successful daughter Rowfantina Old Fashioned at the top of the list. The future held excitement as Jean’s greatest wish was for “Fatty” to become a ridden pony for her grandchildren! The ponies arrived home and joined Mandy in Sussex in December 1998, with Jean tying up loose ends and following in 1999. The race was on to create a leading rein pony for the forthcoming season and it is testament to her temperament that at eleven years of age she was able to combine in hand showing with the ridden job with equal success. 1999 was successful but it was also a time for learning and gaining experience so that a polished performance could be guaranteed.

2000 was the year that would put Rowfantina Old Fashioned firmly in the history books. The team was now firmly established with Jean at its head, Mandy the leader and Owen (Jean’s grandson) the rider. What a formidable team they made. At the South of England Show the decision was made to show her in hand on the first day and she was crowned Champion Welsh Section A. The following day she returned as a leading rein pony and was awarded the mountain and moorland mini ridden championship, an amazing achievement for a much-travelled pony on now home turf! Further successes were to follow on the way to her final show of the year, the Horse of the Year Show.

She was now twelve years of age and there were concerns about how she would cope in the busy atmosphere. As she had done throughout her life “Fatty” entered the ring and performed beautifully for the team, Jean’s dreams were to become a reality when the crown of Champion Mini Mountain and Moorland Pony of the Year was lifted by

Old Fashioned, Mandy and Owen.

Having made everyone’s dreams come true it was decided that Old Fashioned should return to the broodmare paddock and the chosen stallion was Roseisle Pandytudyr. The journey was made to Heniarth and although she didn’t get in foal the first year, she was declared in foal in 2002 producing a lovely filly, Rowfantina Old Times in 2003.

Rowfantina Ottoman a lovely colt by Pandytudyr followed in 2004 and then “Fatty” decided that complete retirement was the order of the day!

Rowfantina Orlando-Bloom ridden by James Burchell

Although in the UK Rowfantina Old Fashioned only produced two foals, the legacy she has left is impressive, her grandchildren and great grandchildren continue to impress judges and their temperament has enabled them to achieve the highest

accolades across the country.

Mandy and her mother had a goal and that was to breed quality ridden ponies that were true to type and were suitable for children to ride and enjoy!

Undoubtedly “Fatty” has enabled them to achieve that goal.

Rowfantina Old Fashioned ridden by Owen Burchell and led by Mandy Burchell-Small

The plan was for Old Times to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a ridden pony but a field accident was to put an end to that idea and she was put in foal. As a brood mare she has excelled and her stock has gone on to shine in the ridden arena. Probably her two most prolific winners have been Rowfantina Old Romantic

by Broekland Allesandro and Rowfantina Orlando Bloom also

by Allesandro. Old Romantic has been well placed at HOYS, RIHS and Olympia while Orlando-Bloom ridden by Mandy’s grandson James has already triumphed at the Royal International Horse Show with a first and mountain and moorland mini supreme champion. There are still some further siblings to carry on the family tradition with Rowfantina On My Honour being the latest to claim a HOYS ticket..

Meanwhile Ottoman has been doing a sterling job siring some lovely stock that have carried on in Old Fashioned’s footsteps with his progeny qualifying for all the major championships. The latest offspring to achieve success has been the delightful chestnut gelding Nynwoods Fashionable who qualified for HOYS at the first attempt.

Rowfantina Old Fashioned winning in hand shown by Mandy Burchell-Small

An update from Amy Smith

Making the most of another second!

Where is this year going?

Can you believe we are nearly at the end of July and the Royal International Horse Show starts in just over a week?! As the saying goes, ‘time flies’, and it really does!

Talking of time flying, two weeks ago we celebrated Lachlan’s first birthday and Myles turned eight years old three days later! I had this ‘bright spark’ idea to have a joint birthday party at home with a hot tub and lots of kids around but by the time 6pm came round, it turned into an adult’s party where the adults were silly, not the children!

I am very well known for my honesty and the honest truth is, I’m probably having one of the worst seasons I’ve had in a very long time. I’ve had a lot of lengthy conversations with myself about my ability, whether I’ve peaked, and whether it’s time to give up. I’ve had a good chat with myself now and I’m in a much more positive place, but I wanted to share my feelings with people as I know people from the outside only see the exterior and not what really goes on on the inside.

Earlier this year I sold Cool Jack who was my own Connemara stallion back to Ireland to a lovely family and a young rider who will have plenty of years left on him. The decision wasn’t made lightly and he wasn’t really for sale, but when you have responsibilities and mouths to feed, especially with the current climate, I felt it was the most sensible decision to make even if it did break my heart.

As far as my team of working hunter ponies are concerned, I only really

When all you want is the Aldi hat...!

have Laburnum Richard [Pedro] who is a proper open pony and the others are just novices - either pure novices or ones making the transition up into open tracks - but I’ve been very lucky over the years to have constant open ponies and now it is time for me to start rebuilding, hopefully the next bunch of superstars.

I did recently have a win on Pedro up at the Royal Highland Show which was quite an emotional win.

John came up with me along with some friends and the kids and Pedro had been jumping some awesome rounds just missing his ticket on a few occasions. I don’t know what it is about the Royal Highland Show, but it always feels so grand to win a class up there.

Yet again, as it happens year after year as the season progresses there’s a lot of negativity surrounding showing, judges. It’s a really difficult situation because as things are with energy and fuel prices, I understand people are wanting to get the most out of their money and all they are asking is to be judged fairly. Please remember that as annoyed or upset as you maybe by some of the decisions and results made, the most important thing is to be kind and mindful of other people’s feelings.

I’m going to end my column today by wishing everybody the best of luck for the remainder of the season and just remember to enjoy yourselves!

Showring Stars Brilliant Ballafadda Paddy Abigail Staff and nineyear-old Connemara pony Ballafadda Paddy attended Leicestershire County Show enjoying a superb day despite the wet, miserable weather.

Paddy topped the open New Forest and Connemara class before going on to stand open mountain and moorland champion and supreme mountain and moorland.

“We had a lovely day with friendly organisers and fellow competitors at a show I hope will grow over time as the

going was great and very spacious,” said Abigail. The former RIHS contender narrowly missed out on his HOYS pre-pandemic, but has since restarted his campaign for this year with strong placings. “He’s just a lovely pony to have around, whether it’s hacking or in the ring.

He gives such a good ride every time out and and enjoy ourselves so much, which to me is the most important thing as at end of the day, it’s a hobby for me.

Ballafadda Paddy Marksman of Mendick

Amber Thorpe and Marksman of Mendick Amber and her own Highland stallion Marksman of Mendick have had a brilliant start to his showing career. At Area 15, where he is pictured, the pair won the NPS Picton and reserve champion, NPS 6-year-old Dargaval class and section champion, and

Carwyn Claims Supreme Ashley Peers Dawson and six-year-old Welsh cob stallion Erwfforch Carwyn have now won four of four outings together, including standing supreme at the Clwyd WPCA show and gaining both a silver and bronze medal. Carwyn is

by Perthhog John Terry out of Tysilio Lili Lon, who is by the famous stallion Gwenllan Deio.

Ashley explained that he was shown only once as a threeyear-old with his breeders gaining a bronze medal and has some beautiful foals on the ground. “He is a super stallion with amazing manners and personality; I can’t wate for our future together,” said Ashley.

38 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

Erwfforch Carwyn

later went on to collect the NPS Silver Medal ridden championship, the NPS Area 15 members supreme. They have most recently been champion novice at Midland Counties at Arena Uk.

Jumping To It Steph Peto and her native team had a good week, securing two HOYS tickets within two weeks. The first came courtesy of Cwmmawr Liberty [Libby] when she took the 133cm working hunter pony class at the Royal Highland Show.

Steph’s super-consistent former HOYS and RIHS winning 143cm worker, New Forest Bisterne Diva went on to collect Steph’s second of the week, taking a return ticket to the NEC final at the NCPA Staffs summer show. This will be Diva’s first visit since 2018.

She suffered with laminitis in 2019, and Steph was unsure whether she would ever jump again. “It as been a long road back to full fitness but I’m so proud to have her back out doing what she loves again,” said Steph.

(Photo by Amy Griffiths Photography)

Bisterne Diva

A Diamond Dales Christy Seaman’s Griseburn Orla has had a phenomenal spring. The three-yearold Dales filly attended Welshmoor of the Year Show where she is photographed and had a fantastic day. She shone throughout to be supreme mountain and moorland, supreme open,

and overall supreme. This follows successes at Derbyshire Festival and the Derbyshire Dales show, NPS Area 20, Royal Windsor Horse show and Royal Norfolk. She is shown by Philip Ward Burton, who meets Christy and Orla at shows.

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 39

Flash in Fashion!

Nynwoods Fashionable [Flash] proved bang on trend to take the supreme accolade at the BSPS Wales Spring Show for owner Donna Tilbury under her daughter, Esther Tilbury. The pair won the RIHS mountain and moorland qualifier and mini champion en route to the supreme, led by Flash’s producer Carl Owen.

Donna bought Flash directly from his breeder, Terry Wall in November 2021. “He was my 40th birthday present to myself! He was unbroken and had been castrated just a month beforehand,” said

Donna, who broke him herself before he was sent to Carl to produce for the season. They had a super debut at the NCPA Spring Spectacular, being mini open mountain and moorland champions and have gone from strength to strength.

They have since claimed a first ever HOYS ticket winning a super-strong class at Cheshire County Show on their first attempt, making Esther’s dreams of qualifying come true!

(Photo by Jade Bissmire)

Nynwoods Fashionable ridden by Esther Tilbury and led by Carl Owen

Harmony on Song at Royal Cheshire County

Simon Bigley with Llanarth Harmony

The Bigley family, whose past tally of qualifications for the in-hand final at HOYS is nothing short of impressive, added another to their tally at Cheshire. This time, it was Catryn Bigley’s homebred Welsh section B mare, Llanarth Harmony’s turn to head to the NEC. By Breeton Dai, this young mare is out of Stockham Georgina.

Harmony was youngstock champion and reserve overall

Lad Leaps to Tricolour!

Charlotte Tuck and her mother, Lulu Hillyard’s Jamie’s Lad were on fine form to take the exceeding 143cm mountain and moorland working hunter pony class and section championship at Royal Bath and West Show. Charlotte and the 10-year-old Connemara gelding are no strangers to success, having stood a commendable fourth at HOYS last year.

(Photo by Jays Photos)

Jamie’s Lad riden by Charlotte Tuck

at Cheshire in 2019, and this was her debut appearance as a mare. Unfortunately, Catryn diced with disaster just two days before, and an altercation with the quad bike at home meant that she struggled physically, and entrusted showing Harmony in the overall supreme to her brother, Simon.

(Photo by EquinePix)

Gemma Sparkles Julie Evans’ Welsh section D mare, Haighmoor Gemma, looked a picture to stand reserve supreme at Royal Cheshire County Show, handled by Ceri-Ann Bennet.

Gemma is out of Royal Welsh supreme champion and Cuddy Supreme finalist Haighmoor Glain, and is by HOYS ridden champion, Menai Sparkling

Imperial. Having bred two foals, she was purchased by Maggie Simons to pursue a ridden career which included standing reserve supreme ridden at Lampeter Stallion Show before she returned home to Julie’s Powys base last autumn to resume her career as a brood mare.

(Photo by EquinePix)

Ceri Ann Bennet with Haighmoor Gemma

Youth triumphs

Dunkery Shrike ridden by Lowenna Payne

By Celeste Gall One of the youngest competitors in the NPS open mountain and moorland classes at the Royal Cornwall Show, 12-year-old Lowenna Payne, secured the championship with a blistering gallop on her family’s 19-year-old Exmoor gelding Dunkery Shrike.

Lowenna was going up against her mother Jenna in the championship, who had headed the Welsh section D class on their own and Becky Bragg’s Blaengwen Lampard.

However it was Sue Smith and the RIHS-bound Fell winner Skennerskeurgh Harvey who took the reserve and the Silver medal.

Lowenna, a member of the Cury Hunt Pony Club, regularly attends rallies with Shrike and has taken championships on the flat and in working hunter classes this season, as well as achieving a placing at their first British Riding Clubs hunter trail. Previously ridden by her mother Jenna, who competed him successfully in British Dressage as well, Shrike is a real all-rounder and family pony. “This is our first county show championship under saddle and we couldn’t be more delighted. He is such a special pony to us and such a fantastic ambassador for the breed and to have achieved this on home turf just makes it even more magical,” said Jenna.

(Photo by Jays Photos)

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 41

Sharptor Kinsman and David Hodge with judge Stephanie Hill

A Royal Victory at Royal Bath and West

By Celeste Gall David Hodge had his first taste of victory in the Price Family supreme at Royal Cornwall with homebred standard Shetland stallion Sharptor Kinsman. Owned by David and Julian Walters, the six-year-old is the second Sharptor-bred pony to qualify for the coveted final, following in the footsteps of the stud’s illustrious mare Sharptor Trinity.

Kinsman has both foals and yearlings on the ground already and in March he competed at the National stallion show in Glasgow, standing Shetland breed champion and reserve overall supreme. “David showed Kinsman at the stallion show and they have a good rapport. We are thrilled to have qualified again and in such good company and on home soil,” said Launceston-born

Julian, who watched from within the ring leading their miniature Shetland champion Halstock Annie.

Judge Stephanie Hill had an arduous task narrowing down the 15 champions forward to her final five, which included the Welsh section A champion Thistledown Ellen Dugh; the Welsh section C champion Synod Miss Judy and the riding pony breeding champion

Moor Hall Peter Pan, as well as Sharptor Kinsman and the overall reserve supreme, the Dartmoor stallion Moortown Crusader. Owned and shown

by David Jordan, the 14-yearold bay stallion is a previous HOYS in-hand finalist.

(Photo by Jays Photos)

Jubilee Bounty for Balmoral Beauty To add to her jubilee celebrations, Her Majesty the Queen’s Balmoral Leia added a Bath and West breed championship and the NPS Silver Medal championship to her tally. The Highland mare is produced by Lizzie Briant

and shown by Henry Hird.

Leia catapulted herself into the limelight when she secured the overall mountain and moorland championship at Royal Windsor this year, much to the delight of the crowd.

(Photo by Jays Photos)

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Balmoral Leia shown by Henry Hird

Bravo For Bravado!

Having never previously ridden at the RIHS or HOYS, 12-year-old Ollie Rowlands has found himself with a ticket to each within a week! Ollie won the 122cm mountain and moorland working hunter pony qualifier at Derbyshire with his mum, Fiona Aston’s Delami Bravado [Benny].

Fiona purchased seven-yearold Benny two years ago from Hannah Turnock when she was pregnant with her young son. Ollie and Benny’s partnership has flourished, and although they were champion working hunter pony at STARS last autumn, this is their first season attempting open tracks, meaning it was

an even sweeter surprise for the family. “It was totally unexpected as they have so little mileage at that level,” said Fiona, “and to go champion was the icing on the cake! The classes were huge, with over twenty entries in each section so to stand champion as well was amazing. We were the last ones on the show ground and left the ring at 7pm but it was definitely worth the wait!

Luckily, Derbyshire Festival is our nearest qualifier so we didn’t have a long journey home afterwards. It literally was one of those days you dream about!”

(Photo by Equinational) Ollie Rowlands and Delami Bravado

Two for Tango!

At BSPS Wales Spring Show, the Pretty Polly mini championship was taken by Scarlet Sharp and on her grandmother, Megan Halsall’s Broadspring Tango.

Scarlet and Shetland gelding Tango topped the PP first ridden class.

The pair are former visitors to the RIHS, and focus predominantly on showing, although they also enjoy Pony Club, jumping and beach rides. The family have owned Tango since a yearling, and Scarlet’s

mum and uncle rode him before her. Scarlet, who turned 9 years old a few days later, shares her birthday with 18-yearold Tango, and the mini championship was the icing on the cake, as they had already won the RIHS Dartmoor, Exmoor and Shetland class and stood open RIHS mountain and moorland champions earlier that morning!

(Photo by Jade Bissmire)

Drybarrows Dynasty David Thompson’s homebred four-year-old Fell stallion Drybarrows Dynasty had a superb day at NPS Area 5 with both of his handlers, Sasha Knowles and Tom Pearson. He kickstarted a run of luck by winning the UKPH mountain and moorland gold medal in hand championship with Broadspring Tango ridden by Scarlet Sharp

Sasha. He then had a swap of handler and Tom showed him to claim the NPS/ Pottofields National championship tricolour. Dynasty finished the day by claiming the NPS Silver Medal and NPS British Isles championships.

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 43

44 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

Cadlan Beaumont

EXMOOR

ROUNDUP Compiled by Sue Burger Dai and Ruth Thomas who own the Coedywern Stud met as veterinary students at the Royal ”Dick” Veterinary School in Edinburgh where they both became involved with the college’s herd of Exmoors. This led them to form a herd of their own and they registered their first foal in 1970. Their passion for the ponies led them into researching bloodlines and they have been instrumental in securing the future of a number of the rarer lines within the breed and their herd still contains several representatives of those lines.

They moved to their farm, Coedywern, near Brecon, Powys in 1994 and started using the Coedywern prefix the following year. The annual stud open day, held on the last Saturday in June, has a become a highlight of the year for the Welsh Exmoor Pony community and attracts folk from over the border in England too! As well as some beautiful ponies to see, Welsh area member and EPS trustee Stephanie Poulter and husband Alan always bring a good selection of Friends Of Exmoor Ponies goodies for people to buy as well as running a raffle. Ruth is a keen gardener and there is a plant stall as well as a donation cake stall. The proceeds from sales usually go to support the Welsh Exmoor Show, held on the last Saturday in July at the Brecon Showground.

This year Dai and Ruth very generously donated the proceeds of £115 from the day to the Exmoor Pony Society’s Gene Bank Project. The aim of the gene bank

Coedywern open day 22 project is to preserve genetic material from a number of ponies as insurance for the future of the breed should anything happen that has a negative impact.

Twenty-four members and friends attended the day including EPS chairman Nigel Hill, making his first visit to Coedywern. New pony owners and enthusiasts were also made welcome.

The day started with a tour of the ponies near the house at the bottom of the hill which included mares and foals. Dai gave a short and very informative talk on some conformation points specific to Exmoor ponies and we managed to dodge the worst of the showers and thunderstorms! Most popular were, of course, the two foals; a strapping colt, nicknamed Monster, by Champion stallion Coedywern Nimrod out of Rosemoth, a representative of one of the rarest bloodlines, and the much younger and daintier filly by the Thomas’s senior homebred stallion, 27-year-old Coedywern Zulu out of Coedywern Ursula who returned to the stud last year after a stint

helping to establish a new conservation grazing herd in Carmarthenshire.

After lunch, outgoing president Margaret Partridge-Keane presented Dai and Ruth with the President’s Award for outstanding service to the EPS, then it was up the hill to see the rest of the herd. Those who felt they needed a work out climbed the steep hill to see Coedywern Nimrod and his mares in their field with a stunning 360 degree view of the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains. Everyone else was driven to the top by Dai. The youngest of the stud’s stallions, Coedywern Willow Warbler, who passed his stallion inspection at last year’s open day is currently on loan to Adam Henson at the Cotswold Farm Park. His first crop of foals will be on the ground next year.

Everyone just about managed to stay dry and it was unanimously declared a very successful day.

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 45

DARTMOOR ROUNDUP

Dunmere Dartmoor Stud Dunmere stud have introduced a full brother for Dunmere Playful [Toby]. By supreme champion Dunmere Glayvar, he is out of Cayberry Sugarplum, and was born on May 20th and has been registered as Dunmere Jubilant [Geffrey]. Another of Glayvar’s offspring, Dunmere Astra Nova [Eric] is having a fabulous season under saddle and breeder Jo Green is really enjoying following his progress with Helen Clubley and Frankie Clubley, 6. “He is lightly shown and at only six himself, he looks after Frankie so well,” said Jo. Eric has open ridden and junior small breeds tickets under Lexi Barfield, and has qualified for the RIHS in the mountain and moorland lead rein class with Frankie.

The pair have also been mini champion at BSPS Areas 15 and 16, Staffordshire County Show and Midland Counties where they picked up a HOYS ticket.

Frankie used to ride another very successful Dunmere pony, Dunmere Charlock owned by Kerinda Bhogal. Jo explained she also has two more purebreds and a third partbred yet to arrive.

Hannah Crisp has had some fun with Dunmere Aberfeldy [Glen] whom she bought as an unbroken four-year-old and broke in herself along with three-year-old Emily, who enjoys taking Glen to PC and aims to show on the lead later in the season. Jo explained: “Hannah has never done any serious showing before and last year she mentioned having a go at a show or two. Glen had been shown as a youngster with success, so with a bit of help from me she took him to three shows in 2021. They were second at Bath and West, first at Devon County and gained many rosettes at the breed show”.

PC with Glen April 2022

So proud of Eric 46 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

DALES

ROUNDUP Compiled by Lucy Darvill and Kate Waite The Great British Summer has been kind so far this year. This has meant that lots of owners, riders and ponies have been able to make the most of the longer and much warmer days!

Fulford Micky and his jockey, Georgie Lewis-Roberts will be attending the Royal International Horse Show later this month after collecting their ticket for the mountain and moorland amateur final on their first attempt at the Staffordshire County Show.

Tina Moro’s six-year-old mare, Lowhouses Clover, ridden by Katie Duxbury ensured their place at the Horse of the Year Show final winning the Dales ridden qualifier at the Royal Cheshire Country Show.

Kingmaker Jupiter and Michelle Low have been enjoying their time together.

At only their second show together the pair stood ‘overall morning champion’. Michelle was over the moon, saying, “I’ve waited a long time for him and I’m so proud, he’s the softest, gentlest boy and takes everything in his stride, I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Away from the show ring but showing the versatility and stamina of the Dales Pony was Pip Mead and her own Roandale Archie, who

together completed 75miles in six days around the North Yorkshire Moors!

Dales Pony Festival Saturday, 25th of May saw the Dales Pony Society Festival show take place at Camden Equestrian Centre, York, a new venue for the show.

There was a fun atmosphere and it was lovely to see new competitors taking part. Area 2 members had a picnic and there was ‘cake’ which seems to be a theme for the area.

Castle Hill Crystal, owned by Sharon Holding and ridden

by Anna Metcalfe booked their ticket to the Horse of the Year, a strong class which saw 12 ponies come forward.

David Eccles’s Westwick Polly took Overall in-hand champion with Rene Bradley’s Westwick Daisy taking reserve champion. It wouldn’t be a Dales show without the traditional ridden classes and Robyn Leaf’s Manorian Marley took the traditional ridden champion with Tina Moro’s Lowhouses Clova Reserve.

Robyn Leaf’s Manorian Marley showed the versatility of the breed by then taking the working hunter pony championship with Kirsty Collinson’s Gullivers Man O’War taking reserve.

Roandale Archie Fulford Mickey

Kingmaker Jupiter Lowhouses Clover

Dales Pony of the Year Classes The following are the remaining shows holding qualifying classes for “The Dales Pony of the Year”final which will be held at the NCPA Norther Spectacular, Northallerton Equestrian Centre on 1 October 2022.

•

DPS Summer show - Ridden Champions & Reserves from Traditional & Ridden classes

•

Weardale Show – Winner of Traditional Ridden class

•

Durham County Show – Winner of Traditional Ridden class info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 47

CONNEMARA ROUNDUP

BCPS South West Area Connemara Pony Show The South West Area of the British Connemara pony Society held their annual show on Sunday 19th June 2022 at Kings Sedgemoor Equestrian Centre.

This proved to be a wonderful venue, close to the M5 with great facilities and plenty of parking. A week prior to the event we were struggling for entries, but a late flurry brought forward a good turnout of beautiful ponies. The quality and quantity of young stock was the best for many years and gave our judge Mr Martin Jones some very competitive classes to judge.

The Yearling Class was won by Corringdon Billionnaire Boy, owned by Vicki Roger’s, who behaved beautifully and just pipped Lucy Jeffries Westside Rabbit into second place. A hotly contested twoyear-old won by Loxleigh Game Plan who went on to take reserve champion as he did as a yearling last year.

Hilltop Hero won the three-year-old class for Zoe Moore-Williams with the fouryear-old and over going to Joy Wymans beautiful stallion Hazeltock Cruise, who went on to win the championship.

The novice over-height/ part-bred class went to Lucy Jeffrey’s lovely over-height pony Lucky Decade. For the first time in a number of years we had a mare and foal in the over four years old class. Corabbey Lily Belle won the trophy for the best broodmare with her delightful foal, Tivoli Sea Holly by Glencarrig Tempest.

Ridden Champions

Sonya Fitch-Peyton. The best junior rider went to Tallula Kelly and Ashwater Ain’t Misbehaving in sixth place.

The open ridden winner was Lookout Laura’s Flash with Robyn Butler, who was again up against some beautiful ponies. The open over-height/ part-bred was won by Holnest Macalla and Izzy Loveday. Izzy had stepped in to ride Macalla at the last minute and had a very successful day.

Champion ridden went to The Grey Swallow with reserve going to Lookout Laura’s Flash.

After lunch we had the jumping classes starting with the 2ft Nursery Stakes for novice ponies. Although small in height, it contained lots of questions in the form of small wooden fillers that needed positive riding. We only had two clear rounds resulting in a win for Auswell Aherne and Sharon Ragget, closely followed by our youngest rider Rebecca Curtis and Fanad Breeze who jumped a cracking round to beat all the adults.

The Novice 2’3 - 2’6 working hunter pony class was won by The Grey Swallow and Sonya Fitch-Peyton, not only dies this pony go beautifully on the flat it has a real pop of a jump.

The open class was very close on points with the eventual winner being Riverside Daffodil and Renee Nichols.

The in-hand championship was a feast for the eyes and very hard to pick a winner.

Our eventual Champion was the stallion Hazelrocj Cruise with reserve going to the two-year-old Loxleigh Game Plan.

The performance pony classes which were qualifiers for the final at the breed show.

Lookout Laura’s Flash and Robyn Butler had another win in the novice class with Holnest Macalla and Izzy Loveday taking the Intermediate.

The biggest class of the day was the novice ridden class which was worthy of any county show or championship. Our winner was The Grey Swallow ridden by

The championship for the performance classes was won by Riverside Daffodil with The Grey Swallow in reserve, completing a very good enjoyable day. We also ran

48 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

open dressage classes in the morning, there were some super tests and impressive marks. Intro went to a lovely coloured cob BIG MAC and Jacque Down. Prelim 2 was won by Blackthorn Pirate King and Sonya Fitch- Peyton, and the last section, the Novice 39 was won by Holnest Frodo Baggins and Izzy Loveday, again a lastminute ride for her.

We would very much like to thank our sponsors, judges, stewards and helpers on the day without whom we would not be able to run. Special mention to our super rosette girl Skye who kept all the rosettes and trophies organised and in the ring on time. At the end of a successful day, we were able to donate £100.00 to the Devon Air Ambulance.

Worker Champions

NEW FOREST ROUNDUP Junior News Gemma Hobbs writes: “This is my pony Haywards Ruby Redfort who I’ve recently just brought back from Germany! She was bred and born in the new forest, by my grandparents. Mandy and Pete Pigley, but was sold to Germany as a foal. In June this year we heard that she was looking for a new home and I went over to Germany to try her. We immediately clicked and I knew that she would be coming home! She has been here a few weeks now and on Sunday she did her first working hunter class and won! I’m so proud of her as I’ve only been riding her for a week, and she took to it like a pro. She also came third in the overall new forest In hand out of 17 entries.

She’s by Mallardswood Full Monty (himself a successful WHP at the highest level) and is out of Haywards Duchess.”

Stud News Mandy and Alan Key’s, Midlands based Kauri Stud has been experiencing a good deal of success this season. Mandy writes: Here is the list of our ponies’ most recent in hand successes. Our Forest bred mare Portmore Delphinium was champion mountain and moorland at NCPA Staffs.

Not to be out done our home bred ponies have also been flying the flag for the breed locally: the gelding Kauri Oakenshield was Champion at Feckenham Horse Show, our young mare Kauri Elara stood Champion M&M at Kenilworth Agricultural Show and Kauri Evenstar won her class at the Three Counties Show.

Blue Lights Champion Owner/rider Claire Hazeldine and her New Forest mare Brock Bliss [Brocky]

went to the Blue Lights Horse Show at Bishop Burton College representing Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service… our second time competing in uniform and she was a true professional from start to finish: 1st Prelim 14, 1st Prelim 12, 1st Combined Training & Champion Protective Services Award. The show is run in memory of PC Nicola Hughes who was killed while on active duty and is a pensive reminder of how dangerous our jobs as emergency service workers can be. We are so proud of little Brocky…to think we bought her as a late unbroken 5 year old makes days like this even more special and the best thing is, there is so much more to come. She may be very small and very round, but she has the heart of a lion and takes her role of “Uniformed Pony” very seriously…and she looks pretty spectacular plaited!” Brock Bliss is by Lovelyhill Cranborne Heights out of Brock Blessing (by Rushmoor Playwright).

She was bred by Simon and Shirley Young, and is now owned by Claire Hazeldine and Sarah Rooks.

Haywards Ruby Redfort

Kauri Elara

Breed Show 2022 A reminder that the schedule is now out and that entries close on the 1st August for the New Forest Pony Breed Show 2022. The Performance and Stallion Show will be held on the 27th August and the In Hand Classes (mares, geldings and youngstock) on the 29th August, at New Park, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, SO42 7QH. There are classes to suit everyone from a HOYS New Forest qualifying class and NPS Qualifiers for Novice WHP, Open WHP, WHP Training Stakes, Open Ridden, Junior Ridden, Ridden and In-Hand and PartBred In-Hand, to Children’s Fancy Dress and Gymkhana games. Some classes may be entered on the day. For more details, the schedule and entry form visit: https://www. newforestpony.com/ Haywards Ruby Redfort

Brock Bliss (photo by Craig Ellis)

Portmore Delphinium

info@showingworldonline.co.uk | June 2022 Issue | The Native Pony | 49

Lunesdale Burnt Sugar with Lily Gaulton

FELL

ROUNDUP

South Cumbria Show Report 2022

In hand champion Lunesdale Burnt Sugar and Reserve Greenholme OMG

Report by Claire Simpson A seven-year-old mare described as ‘oozing type’ took the supreme championship at the South Cumbria Fell Pony show at the end of May. In hand judge Andrew Thorpe explained that Bert Morland’s Lunesdale Brown Sugar had caught his eye form the outset and had then stood out all day.

Emily Wilson’s lovely two-year-old colt, Greenholme OMG, took the reserve championship in hand and looks like one to watch for the future.

Reserve supreme and the ridden champion was Townend Elfin, who had taken both the traditional ridden and open mare ridden classes with Kate Wilson. Ridden judge, Colin Turner, described his champion as ‘a lovely forward going, typey pony with good action, who looked active and alert and appeared to be very well schooled.’

Colin was also impressed with his reserve ridden champion, Carrock Elsa, ridden by Imogen Cockbain,14; another lovely typey mare with a good active walk and a particularly good junior ridden pony. Imogen and Elsa also won the Junior ridden championship and the class for Young Handlers.

year-old Greenholme Juliette; Sarah Cockelty took the veteran ridden class with seventeen-year-old Bowthorne June; and Anet Safandova took the class for open ridden stallions/geldings with ten-year-old Bracklinn Sam. In the in-hand ring Caroline Sharpe won the yearling class with Greenholme Party Girl and Emily Wilson took the two year old class with Greenholme OMG. Bethany Cousins won the class for three year olds with Dalewin Willow. Bob Beaty won the class for stallions/ geldings in hand with the four-yearold Stennerskeugh Nicholas; and the sixteen-year-old Bybeck Gracie took the veteran class for Katie Curwen.

Many thanks to the Metcalfe/ Robinson family and their merry band of helpers who have created a superfriendly show with classes for all, including a fun dog show with a class to suit all the canine visitors… and the mega raffle, with so many super-duper prizes that it has become an event and attraction in itself!

Deepghyll Lucky Touch and Izzy Ridding

Ridden champion Townend Elfin and reserve Carrock Elsa with judge Colin Turner

Carrock Elsa and Imogen Cockbain

Deepghyll Lucky Touch and Izzy Ridding, 15, had an excellent day, taking the junior reserve ridden championship; the class for intermediate working hunters and then the overall working hunter championship. Greenholme Dillon and Anet Safandova, winners of the open WHP class took reserve. Flo Goodbrand-Lloyd won the novice WHP with Hades Hill Perry.

The flat novice ridden class went to Amanda Bridges and her seven-

50 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

Working hunter champion Deepghyll Lucky Touch and Reserve Greenholme Dillon with judge Alex Robinson

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Ridden, In-hand and an introduction to showing for Pony Club members of all ages.

seib.co.uk/competitions

SEIB judges will be on hand to help and mentor competitors. There are also two weekenders planned for 2022, which include a day of training and preparation.

SEARCH FOR A STAR PONY CLUB YOUR HORSE LIVE CHAMPIONSHIP We are proud to announce that we have joined with the Pony Club to offer a Lead Rein and First Ridden Championship for children 10 and under.

In addition, there will be an open class for the older children that will judge horses and ponies as suitable for all round Pony Club activities, conformation, way of going and temperament will also be important (no jumping).

These classes are open to any child or young person who is a member of the Pony Club and any type of horse or pony that is athletic enough to be an all-rounder but correct enough to be a show horse.

There will be extra awards for the best riders.

THE ALL NEW SEIB SEARCH FOR A STAR WEEKENDER Taking place in both Scotland and England, competitors will have the opportunity to come the day before the competitions and learn from the judges. They will be helped with way of going, turnout, trot-up and taught how to stand the horse or pony up for the judges.

SEIB HORSE OF THE YEAR SHOW SEARCH FOR A STAR Amateur only ridden classes for Working Horse, Working Pony, Show Hunters, Riding Horse and Hacks, Show and Maxi Cobs, Traditional Gypsy Cobs (all colours).

Qualify for Horse of the Year Show.

SEIB RACEHORSE TO RIDING HORSE Open ridden class that qualifies for Horse of the Year Show.

SEIB YOUR HORSE LIVE RIDDEN SEARCH FOR A STAR Amateur ridden classes for Mountain and Moorlands and Part-bred Traditional Gypsy Cobs. Qualify for Your Horse Live. The winning Part-Bred Traditional will also receive a wild card to the Traditional of the Year Show (TOYS).

Open ridden class for Veterans any horse or pony aged 16 or over irrespective of experience and any rider professional or amateur. We are searching for an older star that will qualify for Your Horse Live.

SEIB YOUR HORSE LIVE IN-HAND SEARCH FOR A STAR

Competition Dates 2022 QUALIFIERS: 24th April 2022 at Vale View Equestrian Centre, Vale View Equestrian, Old Dalby, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE14 3LX. 22nd May 2022 at Bury Farm Equestrian Village, New Bury, Farm, Mill Road, Slapton, Buckinghamshire LU7 9BT. 11th & 12th June 2022 at Netherton Equestrian Centre, Netherton Farm, Aberargie, Perthshire, PH2 9NE, Perth, Scotland.

Search for a Star Weekender including training, competition on Sunday 12th June.

23rd & 24th July 2022 during SEIB Trailblazers Championships at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry CV8 2LZ. Search for a Star Weekender, competition on 24th July (Stabling will be available via a link that will be published in due course).

15th July 2022 at the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Championships at Hartpury College, Hartpury GL19 3BE (RDA Riders Only).

7th August 2022 at Science Supplements Onley Grounds Equestrian Centre, Willoughby, Rugby CV23 8AJ. 13th August 2022 NAF Five Star International Horse Trials, Hartpury College, Hartpury GL19 3BE. (SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse only).

4th September 2022 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, Burghley House, Burghley Park, Stamford PE9 3JY. (SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse only).

Classes for amateur handlers with horses and ponies in these sections: Veteran, Mountain and Moorland, Traditional and Native Types, Plaited Horses and hogged Show Cobs and Plaited Ponies. Qualify for Your Horse Live.

SEIB SEARCH FOR A STAR RDA CHAMPIONSHIP Only open to members of an RDA Group. Prizes for Best Rider, Best Horse or Pony and Best Combination.

SCAN HERE TO VISIT COMPETITION HUB

To enter online or for more information please visit: www.seib.co.uk/competitions or email: competitions@seib.co.uk

South Essex House, North Road, South Ockendon Essex RM15 5BE. SEIB Insurance Brokers Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

HORSE & PONY · HORSEBOX & TRAILER · LIVERY YARDS · BUSINESS · HOME · RIDING SCHOOL & MUCH MORE 52 | The Native Pony | June 2022 Issue | info@showingworldonline.co.uk

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