Rare breeds...why?!

[tristar]

machno carwyn, might be spelt wrong! champion of europe, show jumping pure bred WELSH COB bought straight of the farm in wales does`nt get any more high performance than that.!

most decent euro competed pony stallions don`t need to return to gb they are available by ai.

 

[ester]

It is interesting he came off the farm as he is very sports pony in type/light.

 

[PorkChop]

We have some breeding Highland mares close to us, all three in foal, one just been born this week I can't believe there are so few breeding mares recorded. They have their own stallion who always tries to impress my horse when we ride past

I would love a Welsh D, but whenever I am looking I can't find one big enough!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I would love a Welsh D, but whenever I am looking I can't find one big enough!

how big do you want it? Do you know Meikle in D&G? or there's Maesmynach in Wales.

 

[tristar]

although carwyn is sec d he has welsh b also.

and he is a fit competition pony, not something you see very often sadly.


in fact he is called the best pony in europe and probably the world.

so gone out there and shown the world just what a british native is made of, so sad they have to go abroad to do it., and on here all you seem to hear is `what a nice allrounder they can be` Machno carwyn best in the world!

 

[ester]

I am looking at structure not fitness, I can do fit welsh . His sire has a massive shoulder! The added B does make sense though, I had missed the bottom line of his pedigree thinking I recognised the rest of it. He seems to have thrown a fair few smaller than himself too so I wonder if that is why.
The disparity in type has always interested me, owning a not long legged fit in a square box one . I've often referred to him as old fashioned but actually if you go back the difference in types has been there a long time.

 

[PorkChop]

how big do you want it? Do you know Meikle in D&G? or there's Maesmynach in Wales.

I was looking for something 15.3hh plus, complicated by the fact that I wanted a mare. All of the breeders I contacted had their four year old plus mares in foal, never mind whether they were over height or not!

Not got space for one at the moment

 

[SO1]

The New Forest Pony society does have a performance and grading scheme in dressage and show jumping.

http://www.newforestpony.com/pg_dressagejumping.php.

Competition wise if you are a small adult who does not want to ride a horse then there are more options if you have a native pony than if you have a non native. There are lot of age restrictions on showing and working hunter classes that mean an adult would not be able to compete in these classes on a pony unless it is a native pony. I wanted a pony due to being a small adult and wanted to be able to compete and a native pony gave me the most choices of classes, my new forest is not just a show pony, he is versatile, for example he recently got placed in a Le Trec competition.

have to agree with supsup to a degree here, before I ended up with a sec D by accident, I'd never have considered a pure bred native for sport.... I happen to have ended up with a particularly athletic one but they are few and far between in my discipline, at the higher levels.

I think some kind of performance testing would be a positive step as I would also not consider showing to be reflective of athletic ability or capacity for higher level training I wouldn't be that interested in a rare breed native for the sake of owning a member of a dwindling gene pool, but if they had some kind of proven ability for sport then it becomes more attractive. I'm not sure why this would have to involve foreign judges?!

 

[eriskaypony]

If you want to join the Cleveland Bay Horse Society you have to be 'approved' by the Council, this can take up to three months. If you opt to join at the Great Yorkshire Show, you won't be 'approved' until September.

Dr. Andy Dell PhD who was given an award by the RBST, presented by HRH the Prince of Wales, for his genetic study of the Cleveland Bay, has been refused membership of CBHS - members are outraged.

When breed numbers are critical there is a great danger of inbreeding. Dr. Dell's study has helped those of who breed Cleveland Bays, to select appropriate stallions for our mares. Each year he produces tables which enable us to make a choice. He does this in his own time and free of charge.

Becoming a breed society member may not be the way forward.

Andy presented his genetic work to the AGM of the Eriskay Pony Society this weekend past. He has produced his SPARKS tables for the Eriskays and the breed society are working with him and the RBST to actively use them to identify and encourage desirable breeding.

 

[DanceswithCows]

I love rare breeds and it was a long held ambition to one day be able to do something about numbers. I assumed it wouldn't happen for a while as I can't afford stables and dedicated land for it all. Thanks to my burgeoning career in conservation grazing however I was able to sneakily fasttrack - enter the Exmoor! I needed a pony that would not detract from farm activities in cost or labour: if they can truly look after themselves, they have 500acres and counting to play in.

So I was able to give 5 mares from exmoor a home and they are just about to be joined by stallion Helmantor Hannibal. I was a bit worried about having a stallion but he's been super chilled and no bother at all. I likely won't breed again for a while, the fillies will stay here as replacements for the older mares, the stallion is off to Germany after fulfilling his duties here, and I would like to keep a pair of geldings to train for driving for myself.

I think driving's really underappreciated and could help natives - one of the reasons I can't indulge my love of suffolks, hackneys and CBs is because I can't transport them (no B+E and not the budget to run a big 4x4/horsebox), and because hacking's a bit pants here and boring on your own, if I can't transport it's not really worth my bothering! Meanwhile, little ponies require much less in the way of resources but as an adult you can still get your fix of speed and competition in driving, even if your knees aren't up to riding, you can't keep your weight down etc. Jumping makes a lot of people nervous - scurry etc. are just like doing a jumping round but without the actual jumps Being small and agile with a good burst of speed is a plus, so natives are ideal for it. At home, driving is more social than riding in many ways - you can load up complete novices with a picnic and have a nice day together, unlike trying to find someone to ride with....

 

[tristar]

DanceswithCows, that`s brilliant!

 

[Rollin]

Andy presented his genetic work to the AGM of the Eriskay Pony Society this weekend past. He has produced his SPARKS tables for the Eriskays and the breed society are working with him and the RBST to actively use them to identify and encourage desirable breeding.

Isn't he a wonderfully motivating asset to any rare breed society? We purchased our CB stallion - because we liked him but also because he was a good SPARKS mate for our mares. For his own filly foals we already have frozen semen for appropriate SPARKS stallions.

One of the first CB mares we purchased was 'in-bred' as the result of an accidental covering. I would not change anything as we love her to bits BUT she proved difficult and 'expensive' to put in foal four cycles of AI, empty, four cycles natural covering empty. We had almost given up when we decided to give it one last try with our Shagya stallion - result. In those days we did not understand the importance of the SPARKS programme.

There is a lot of controversy in CBHS as to the value of compliant matings. I know how easy it has been to put my 'non inbred' mares in foal so I hope new breeders of Cleveland Bays are not so bowled over by the latest smart filly that they ignore the future breeding prospects for that filly. Andy Dell has said if no one breed SPARKS compliant foals it will be eventually be the end of the breed. This work is really important.

 

[Rollin]

Dances with Cows - I bought my first horse for ride and drive and was sure he was a part-bred CB, that started my passion for the breed. Driving is a great leisure pass-time when you your joints tell you it is time to hand up your riding boots.

 

[texascbs]

Fun discussion. I have two purebred mares and one partbred colt. Purebred Cleveland Bays are great but take a lot of work as they mature later.

 

[DanceswithCows]

That Andy guy does indeed sound like an asset, I'd snap him up! I'm relying on those in the know about exmoor lines to tell me what makes a good mating for mine and we seem to have found a good fairly unrelated match for them this time round.

Driving IS great if you are in any way unable to ride, but I think it'd be good to promote it to young people, especially boys because there was debate a while back about how to tempt boys into horses and I think the perfect solution is to stick wheels on and basically chariot race we don't want to make it out to be the poor relation of riding iyswim?