|
|
|
As a little girl I always wanted a grey mountain pony with red rugs, what I got was a bay new Forest! I had a very long wait to get that elusive grey mountain pony but she was worth waiting for! Between 'March' (the bay New Forest) and 'Pickle' my first section A there was a whole succession of ponies, then horses, and then ponies again mostly the bad and the ugly but a few of the good too. All of them taught me very many valuable lessons including how to fall off well! Although all very special there are a few who will always leave an impression: March, the original and the best, Sunny, my first 'proper' jumping pony, Oscar the jumping pony who was too terrified to jump and as a result the one who introduced me to the showing world. My first introduction the the Welsh Mountain Pony breed was a little dun mare called Bradeney Ninette by Criban Old Masterpiece. A friend bought her from Northampton sales and I first saw her shivering and soaking wet in a paddock in Yelvertoft, she came home with me that day. She never belonged to me she was just on loan but through her I began to learn about showing section A's. When 'Nanny' returned home and A levels in full swing meaning the ridden horses had to go on hold I began to look for a Mountain Pony of my own to play with and to keep 'Titch' a dark grey New Forest pony youngster, the result of a weak moment and the Beaulieu Road Sales, company.
The Pickle and Sal show was a sorry affair, I had enlisted help from a friend to get him into show condition but Pickle just wouldn't put the weight on, he looked so awful at his first show, Leicester County, that a card from his breeder Sharon was quick to follow, packed full of helpful advice it made me determined not to let Pickle down again. So after some set backs, including Pickle getting kicked in the head by my 16.3 Irish Sports Horse, a scar he still carries, over the next two years we got it together and Pickle started to do well, judges started dishing out the helpful advice and things started to go from strength to strength.
Pickle winning Three Counties as 3yo From the day we collected him the thought of gelding Pickle never came up again, so now with me and University and no where near by to keep a 3yo colt, I started looking for help to get him ready to show. Once again his breeder Sharon came up trumps and suggested Pickle was sent to Barry Shepherd, Vervale, who had just returned from a stint at the 'Heniarth' stud, to be produced and shown. I didn't appreciate just how well Pickle did that year, I had no idea of the scale of the RWAS, the importance of Three Counties or the standard of competition at Northleach, all I knew what he kept coming home with top three places, and he now needed a wife! His first wife was Castlemead Imogen purchased from 'Nanny's owner, who had purchased her from Bockmer stud, at last I had my grey welsh mountain pony! She was joined shortly afterwards by Bockmer Belinda, Imogen's daughter. Unbeknown to us Pickle celebrated his return home from Vervale by a Houdini moment covering both mares before returning back to his paddock.
Pickles Houdini moment remai Fayre oaks 2001 saw the addition of the next of the foundation mares Marsh Coral (by Revel Jeeves). I can vividly recall seeing her daughter Southwaite Carrie beating Blackhill Picalo, in the Championship at South of England show, (Barry showed Nantlais Samswn Bach there for us and I don't recall at all how he did) and although I had never seen Coral herself, based on Carrie alone I decided Coral had to come and live here. When I first met her, having already bought her, she greeted me by trying to bite me then swinging around and trying to kick me. Apart from that split second I have never regretted her purchase.
and under saddle
|
|
Send mail to webmaster with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
In October 1994, an advert in the 'Horse and Hound' saw us going for a short
trip to the Norash Stud in Aylesbury, The ad had a picture of a very flashy
chestnut foal and read " Welsh sec A chestnut colt foal by Champion
Knodishall Beaufort, 1st Lampeter, 1st Glanusk, 2nd Royal Welsh ....". For what I knew
about Section A's the chestnut colt foal could have had 3 legs and 2 heads he
was coming home with me. Luckily the people that had visited 'Norash' between
Thursday when the ad came out and when we got there on Saturday has picked every
other colt but the Chestnut one. That foal was 
Herts County show 1998, saw another chance conversation and a trip back to,
Vervale few days later to see a 'nice grey filly foal', again I can't say I
saw much more than a little chestnut foal with a very pretty dam but I still
bought her before I left. That foal was called 
ned undetected until the following summer Belinda
started to look pregnant, her previous owner asked if she could buy her back and
Pickle's first foal, a grey colt called Cedars Ilexalba was born in August 1998.
In September I went on holiday and sent the ponies back to Vervale whilst I was
away for the week. When I returned I was greeted with 'Pickle' baby no 2
and the first 'Amilas' foal, 
In 2002 a weanling called Sunwillow Jubilee joined us. Bought specifically to
show, I hoped he would do OK in the show ring and didn't really intend to keep
him on as a stallion but things never go quite to plan do they? As a yearling
Jubilee managed to do a bit better than 'OK', winning all except one show and
that 'one' was the Royal Welsh were he stood second. At the same time worked his
way into a permanent position in my now rapidly growing herd. Of course now
having another boy to breed from we needed more girls and they duly arrived as
did the homebred foals resulting in the numbers of ponies increasing at a rapid
rate.
