Today also saw Staines Melody setting off to her new home. Its always sad to see ponies go and even more so when its one of the rocks the stud is founded on but I'm sure she will be happy in her new role. I wish her new family all the very best with her. 

04/11/06 - Congratulations to Sam, Glanhayl stud, on a very successful day at Home Counties Association including 1st and Reserve Youngstock Champion with Amilas Chikara. Thanks for letting me show her too!  

23/10/06 - Winter woolies and go faster stripes! With the summer season now well and truly over for the year its time for the ponies and their humans to have some fun. 

22/09/06 - Congratulations to Alexandra Hinchly and Amilas Ty Gwyn on a successful outing to the Scottish Masters yesterday. 

Amilas Mazurka & Amilas Confetti (with baby bro Fudge)

Norash Peek a Boo

Yaverland Treasure

Amilas Cornelius

03/09/06 - Congratulations to Sam Morsley of the Glanhayl stud winning a very strong yearling filly class with Amilas Chikara under one of the most knowledgeable judges of Welsh Mountain Ponies. Wishing you continued success with her.

15-19/08/06

Congratulations a successful week Spud, consistently placed in M&M first ridden and open ridden and especially for your PINK sash (so nerr Helen!!!).

07/08/06 - Staines Melody and a now grey 'Stinky' returned home today having been away to go to a couple of shows. Many thanks to Barry and Tori for looking after them so well. 

06/08/06 - I Hobbled (many thanks to my taxi!) to the National Welsh Championship Show today to watch Kara shown by her new mummy, she looked fantastic, went really well and had a solid result in a big and strong class which is a brilliant start for them. Good Luck for the future. 

24/07/06 - 27/07/06 Royal Welsh Show - Had a lovely, if HOT, week at the RWAS show, it was nice to see a bit more of the show and not have to suffer the nervous sick feeling shakes and pressure of last year.  On Monday Shybont Pop Idol was dropped in at the deep end at only her 3rd show tagging along for a  jolly and managed a very credible 8th in the Coloured 2&3yo class from 31 entries with 27 of those forward. Her rosette will join those of Squid (1st 2005, 2nd 2003) and Pickle (3rd 1997) with equal status. On Tuesday Phil and Sandra Pragnell kindly asked me to show their Section A barren mare Sardis Del Rosa so another early start but what a little star of a pony, unfortunately Rosa and I lost our competition with Phil as he was one place ahead of us  with Abbey but a great result for Salceyderw to have both their mares in the top 20 and I really enjoyed showing her so a HUGE Thank you to Sandra a Phil for letting me do so. 

17/07/06 - Kara (A. Chikara) A. Chutney and Squid (Sunwillow Jubilee) have gone to their respective new homes this weekend. Wishing the best of luck to their new families and I hope they behave themselves. 

There are still ponies looking for a new family on the for sale page

19/06/06 - I have added some new photos of 'Stinky' to his page here.

05/06/06 - Sorry for the lack of updates, this in not because I have forgotten or been too busy, its because we don't actually have any news! To say I am lacking in motivation to show the ponies is an understatement but they don't seem too worried about the situation. 

20/05/06 - Foal Number two (and the last of the year) arrived in the early hours of this morning (8 days early and on a show morning). A grey colt out of Staines Melody and by Heniarth Quinnell. Line bred to Twyford Magpie and like Squid, a grandson of the legendary Sunwillow Quest, early indications are this boy has a rosey future. I am too tired to think of 'M' names just now so he has been given the pet name 'Stinky' as his dam is known as Smel. 

Thank you to everyone who made this foal possible and extra thanks to Richard and Meirion for their perseverance and Rhodé of Vennebos Stud in Holland, Quinnell's owner. 

02/05/06 - FOAL!!!!!!!!!!! and this time its mine FINALLY!! Three weeks late, but healthy and beautiful Coral has a chestnut colt at 2.30pm in the afternoon. I think I have decided to call him Amilas Cornelius, Fudge for home (HP fans you'll get the connection). Due a really odd series of events I just happened to walk in our front door and check the CCTV at exactly the point she decided to come into her stable in labour to foal so got to watch the whole thing from start to finish.

01/05/06 -  I also had some news from Amilas Ty Gwyn's humans to say she had a 1st and 2nd today in her two first ridden classes at Garstang. Congratulations Spuddie, Bekx and of course Lili. 

14/04/06-  I have had a very exciting couple of weeks buying a very special mare, she will hopefully get to a few shows and have some beautiful foals. Than you to Jo for selling her to us and Helen and Andy for all their help in 'mission impossible!

06/04/06 - My foal page seems to have an increased number of visitors in the last week, perhaps like me you are hoping to see a foal there. At the moment nothing much is happening, I would guess Coral will be at least another couple of weeks before we have any hope of a baby. It is in there and active little (actually not so little) thing it is too but it seems to be in no hurry to join us at all which unusual for a Coral foal. So we sit .....and wait.......and wait........ At least by the time night checks begin it might be warmer! 

26/03/06 - First Show of the year. Yay, Spring has finally sprung and the show season got to a positive start. Both ponies were a bit overawed by the occasion but since it was Kara's first show, her first time traveling further than a mile, and, Bovril's first show since he was 6 weeks old I was really thrilled with both of them (results here). A huge thank you to Emma of the Garside stud for having Bovril looking so well, some work has certainly gone into him since he left here last September, but its wonderful to have the new, more mature, Bovril home again. Thank you also to Caroline for being both groom and photographer today and Nikki for hanging on to Bovril and Kara whilst I was in the ring with the other one.

18/03/06 - Is Spring ever going to arrive? Although it still feels like January and the grass is so far refusing to grow, show season is nearly here so hopefully the posts on here will become more frequent and interesting.

Corals stomach is now about 3 inches off the ground, she has a short while still to go, but the excitement at the thought of a new baby, and the worry of all the things that could go wrong is starting to set in.  I just hope spring arrives before the first of the foals.

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch over the last few months, especially the current owners of my old ponies and the old owners of my current ponies. It has also been great to hear from so many people who share an interest in the same bloodlines from all over the world and a massive thank you for the wonderful gift I received from Sweden.

05/03/06 - The rocking horse lost her rockers! 

04/02/2006 - Yippee the ponies winter coats have started falling out and the time to the first show can be counted in weeks not months so spring must be on its way. With the daytime temperature struggling to get above freezing, summer still feels like a long way off yet. According to the news we are experiencing the driest winter for a very long time, so why is my paddock a sea of mud?

Thank you to 'Spuddie' for the photo of Lili in her new 'go faster' hair do, the first clip in her life. Brrrrr its a bit cold to be bald but I am assured she is wearing more rugs than is strictly necessary for a mountain pony, even a bald one! Keep spoiling her Alex!

04/01/2006 - Quick update. The broodmares are looking really well and their bumps are now showing. All look well in foal but one of them has fooled me before and has not been tested this time, so I'm not counting my chickens (or foals) before they are hatched. 

It's also the time of the year to take stock and make plans for the year ahead. The biggest problem in being a small stud is staying that way, not helped by mares who keep having fillies (Ok now watch 2006 be the year of the colt hat trick) so this year I am going to be forced to part with some fillies (not the mares). I'm not 100% sure which yet, at the moment it's unlikely to be the homebred ones, but the final decision will be made in March when the weather gets a bit better and those that are going will be advertised on the for sale page then. If you have an interest in something in particular then feel free to get in touch by e-mail