Helpful herbs

Shirley Whithers of Amanzimtoti writes:
I just wanted to say "WOW" to your magazine, SA Horseman. I found it had a lot of useful information in it.

You had a documentary on how helpful herbs are in a horses life. Well I got my new baby, Tea-Time Treat, on the 16th of December 2009 and had a bash at giving him Novella's happy horse (which have the herbs: Rosehip and Fenugreek and many more in the supplement). Didn't think much of it until I read your document that had the different herbs and what it does for the horses with it saying a healthy horse starts from the inside out. Tea was also very similar to the pictures you had of the horse before herbs and then after herbs what the horse's condition improved to.

At the yard I am at, everyone was saying how good Tea is looking and how dark he got. After reading your one magazine I quite confidently said that they must get hold of the SA Horseman as it is such a hands on and helpful magazine. I really think you need to distribute more of these magazines. I live in Amanzimtoti, Durban and have never come across the magazine in Durban.

WELL DONE to SA Horseman! Keep up the good work, and looking forward to lots of happy reading with my magazines.

The real secret of the Welsh Pony

Welsh Mountain Ponies sheltering under a tree

F J van der Merwe writes:
I particularly enjoyed the recent article on Izak Hofmeyr's interview with Sue Cook titled, The Secret of the "Welshie" but I must say I find these sentimental dimunitive terms like "Nooitie" absolutely disparaging and unacceptable. I prefer Welsh Mountain Pony and nooitgedachter.

I enjoyed the well-written article for a number of reasons, but especially for the knowledgeable way in which the history and development of the breed in the Republic was set out by the secretary of the Welsh Pony and Cob Society of South Africa. I have been an admirer of these beautiful little horses since first setting eye on Mrs Lasbrey of Constantia’s imported stallion Coed Coch Seryddwr at the Rosebank Show in the 1950's. He was beauty and elegance personified. The tail carriage and head were pure Arab.

Many years later I twice had the good fortune to visit Wales and to see the Welsh Mountain (wild) herds in the hills and on farms. The breeders, especially those showing off their Cobs in hand and harness, reminded me so much of the Boland Hackney and Vlaam breeders with their handlers at the wonderful Rosebank and Goodwood Shows.

To see and photograph the herds of mares and foals grazing on the hills of the Brecon Beacons and Carmarthen in the late 1970's and and in 2003, was a thrilling experience for somebody who has always been interested in the history and development of breeds in their countries of origin.

Without fear of contradiction, I would say that the British Isles is the ancestral home of more distinct breeds of cattle, horses, sheep and pigs than any other country. From the Shetland Pony in the north to the Dartmoor in the south there are at least eight pony breeds which originally derived from the native Celtic horses recorded in history since Roman times more than 2 000 years ago. In my opinion the Welsh Mountain Pony is the most beautiful of them all and has the best abilities and temperament for the variety of uses suited to its size.

The human factor

There are of course many factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of a successful breed. Not least of them is the human factor. The love and dedication, the vision and powers of observation, the knowledge of genetics and nutrition are all vital human factors. But if I have to pinpoint one single secret of the Welsh Mountain Pony, I would say it is the concentration of Arabian blood introduced long ago by farsighted people.

It is said, but there is no hard evidence of course, that the Roman legions between 55 BC and 410 AD brought horses from the Caspian area to Britain. The small Caspian is in many respects no less than a miniature Arab and as the Romans were particularly impressed by the good qualities of the horses from Wales in those times, it is speculated that Caspians were already at that time introduced as breed improvers.

However, let us rather look at historically recorded more recent Arabian introductions between the 1850s and early 1900s. Dyoll Starlight of the well-known Grove Stud is often regarded as the foundation sire of the modern Section A Welsh Mountain Pony. He was born in 1894 out of a perfectly proportioned small grey mare, whose lineage went back to the Crashay Bailey Arab who was turned out with the hill pony mares in the Brecon Beacons in about 1850.

Starlight was described by Lady Wentworth as one of those marvels of excellence and prepotency which was able to establish a breed. Of Starlight's sons Bleddfa Shooting Star had perhaps the largest influence on the modern Section A ponies. His son, Grove Sprightly was seven times grand champion in Wales between 1932 and 1939 and his progeny included famous names like Vardra Charm, Coed Coch Glyndwr, Coed Coch Pryd and the 1951-1962 nine times winner Coed Coch Madog who lived until the grand old age of 31 in 1978.
"red mountain". In Afrikaans it would probably have been "Rooiberg Stoet"). Apart from the Starlight blood the Coed Coch ponies were also substantially strengthened with Arabian blood through two other half-Arabian foundation sires Tan-y-Bwlch Penwyn and T-y-B Berwyn who were used on Welsh Pony mares in the 1930's.

The real secret

I believe one can therefore state fairly safely that the elegant beauty and lovely temperament of the Welsh Mountain Pony, in comparison to the other British pony breeds, were derived largely from the Arabian genes which became fixed in the population after the Section A Studbook was closed in 1950 and that this is the real secret of the breed.

A last, but no less important, success factor that should be mentioned is the marketing of the annual output of hundreds of well-bred ponies from the hills. The annual autumn sales held in Wales play an important role in bringing sellers and buyers (from over the world) together, but also in the sense that there is a floor price set by the Continental horse-meat market and that sub-standard horses are removed from the farms to make way for the next year's crop. The latter is a very controversial topic, but in the modern agricultural economy a floor price and a clean removal of surplus stock is one of the secrets of success.