Welsh D - dressage

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amanda1788

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I have a just turned 5 welsh D X dartmoor gelding. He is very green and am doing schooling and lots of hacking with him, to get him use to going forward. The thing is I really would like to in the future do some dressage and maybe some jumping, I dont mind the time it will take to get him there, as I am taking ti slow and he is coming on really nicely. But has anyone got this type/breed of horse that does a lot of dressage? How do they get on? As he is very ploddy so am not sure he would suit the dressage shows or not. So would appreciate anyones opinions. Thanks
 
I'm surprised he is ploddy - Welshies are usually dead sharp.

I do affiliated dressage on my lovely cobby. We've gone from prelim to elementary over the last four years or so. With a more talented rider than me I'm sure he would be at advanced medium by now.

I find the biggest issues with welshies are short necks and dodgy walks. But in general they are fab and can do all the movements - mine was passaging all the way around his hack this morning!
 
My old welsh D Fly was a fab dressage pony, not at all ploddy though he could swing on a sixpence, your head would be one way and body the other
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He did really well though, started off with lots of bucking as a baby in the arena and my friend used to read the tests as 'A' enter at working buck
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However, he did get better and chilled, a little
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Ended up doing elementry
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actually most cobs are generally ploddy, especaially geldings. The odd one might be a bit fresh in company. They are generally good learners but not so quick mentally as TB's etc. You'l get there in the end, and you can do everything with him. As thats the good thing about cobs, they are fab allrunders!:)
 
totally agree with numbercruncher and the others except Helenhorse- mine doesn't fit that description at all, but he is often referred to as a freak of nature (meant in the nicest possible way)!
 
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I'm surprised he is ploddy - Welshies are usually dead sharp.

I do affiliated dressage on my lovely cobby. We've gone from prelim to elementary over the last four years or so. With a more talented rider than me I'm sure he would be at advanced medium by now.


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I would definitely agree with the sharp comment- mine can be very sharp but it's a good thing
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Also has a very trainable brain but he likes to assert his authority sometimes and do things on his terms.
My trainer thinks he'd get to Medium without too much trouble. We do affiliated novice at the moment but are getting there slowly.
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[ QUOTE ]
actually most cobs are generally ploddy, especaially geldings. The odd one might be a bit fresh in company. They are generally good learners but not so quick mentally as TB's etc. You'l get there in the end, and you can do everything with him. As thats the good thing about cobs, they are fab allrunders!:)

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Disagree with this comment. Most of the Welsh D's I've met have been sharp and a lot more clever than TB's. Like most ponies they are quick to learn and cheeky.
 
My old welsh D was schooling Medium at home, sadly we never made it to competitions as I lost him to colic just as I got transport
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he, like most Welsh Ds I have known, was sharp as a tack and had fabulous natural movement which made collection very easy for him. Teaching him Piaffe took one 20 min lesson and that was it... was told he would have went far if we had been given the opportunity to compete....

Never known a ploddy Welsh D - my 2 TBs are much more laid back than any D I have met!
 
i've never known a ploddy welsh cob either - i somehow doubt that comes into the breed description. they're the least ploddy type of horse i know! my two are way sharper than my friend's ex-racer.

my old boy on the left in my signature got to Medium and possibly could have gone further if I'd got him before the age of 15. He got 81 BD points and went to the regionals 3 times and was 4th at the Area Festival Finals. Top score at Novice of 70% affiliated. He was London&South East dressage to music champion and went to the RC nationals twice. He was incredibly quick to learn. We did all that with me only riding once a fortnight due to vet school.

My new youngster is hopefully going to step into his shoes. Currently working up to Prelim level, but sharp as a pin - much more spooky than the old one and far too nosy for his own good - he's not competed yet, but he has an amazing walk for any horse, let alone a Welshie and definitely capable of 8's, whereas Dan only ever got 6's and it's worth double marks - he's gonna be a good'un!
 
Maybe he's got more dartmoor temprament? or the best is yet to come, at that age more "interesting" times could be ahead! Helenhorse, there are cobs and then there's welsh cobs!!!
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I've had a typical example of both. There most truthful comment I ever heard about Welsh Ds was "the true Welsh Dragon" - think it was someone on here.

Anyhow - F does a bit of prelim and has the potential to go quite far in dressage, so yes, welsh Ds definately can do dressage!
 
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