Welsh section D experiences?

[Equine_Dream]

And good luck getting rugs to fit the little s@#ts 😏 but they are worth it! 😁

 

[SpringArising]

What were they like when you tried them??

I bought the first one unseen so couldn't comment on that for him. By the time it came to sell him I was absolutely devastated as I had had so much fun with him, especially jumping which was his forté. He just did a lot of very questionable things in the first year or so and spent more time on two legs than four, both on the ground and ridden...

My second one was far more challenging because he was unpredictable rather than hot. One day he'd be a dope on a rope, act like an old pro, and the next he'd piss off when you tried to mount, spook at his own shadow, bolt home if he saw a funny looking stone and have a general death wish. After a year of trying everything (and a full vet work up) I'd had enough of eating dirt and being injured by him and sold him to a pro.

Saying all this, there's a Sec D at my yard who's the nicest and easiest pony I've ever met.

 

[Highflinger]

All the above. Mine sounds exactly like yours "welshcobmad" ! Would be interested in yours breeding. My boy is 28 - had him for 19 years and he is wonderful - turns his hoof to anything but only when he is in the right frame of mind! As soon as I look at him in the morning I can tell whether he is chilled, spooky, bargy, opinionated, cuddly - or all at once!! He has a wonderful personality but I do need to be very firm and consistent as give him an inch and he will take 10 miles.
Although of course every horse is an individual I would say you need to be experienced and confident with strict boundaries to get the best out of a typical Welsh cob but at their best they are unbeatable.

 

[Nari]

Mine is just a hack - he's always had a strong dislike of jumping (if it looks like it will fall down go through it, if it looks like it won't then climb it) & really cannot see a lot of point in schooling - but he's probably the best hack I've ever ridden. He can look a bit hot at times & will point things out if bored BUT he'll go past absolutely anything if he's told it's fine, can be relied on in any company & is as safe as they come. He can be a bit impatient if I want to stop and talk, but he never does anything unpleasant about it. He can be a bit of a drama queen to be around, largely because he thinks the world should revolve around him, but there's never any malice in him & if he starts trying to be tough a cross look soon has him back in line. He can be bargey though, so sometimes a dually is useful for a few days. He doesn't need a particularly good rider but I don't think he'd cope well with a nervous one because they'd scare him.

Loving, funny, sensitive, wanting reassurance & a bit inclined to test boundaries. I always think of a quote I saw "welsh cobs - one hoof on world domination & the other on the panic button!"

 

[R2D2]

They are certainly not for me, but my 62 year old Mum has one, who is also a chestnut mare, and adores her. The pony is a law unto herself. In her younger days she would jump anything you put her at, but only at a gallop, ask her to go at a sensible pace and she'd stop. At 26 she can still be an absolute PITA, but she somehow manages to be safe with it. I swear if another horse behaved how she did Mum would be terrified, but she will sit to her bucking down the road, or jogging sideways, and laugh at it. I don't entirely get it, but she certainly has something special.

 

[ester]

My girl is almost identical to this to be honest.

My experience is that if you enjoy speed and a fiery temperament then you'll really like them. If you like your rides more by-the-book and adjustable then you won't be so keen.

haha you've not met Frank, he has perfected the afternoon amble!

 

[DabDab]

Mine is just a hack - he's always had a strong dislike of jumping (if it looks like it will fall down go through it, if it looks like it won't then climb it) & really cannot see a lot of point in schooling - but he's probably the best hack I've ever ridden. He can look a bit hot at times & will point things out if bored BUT he'll go past absolutely anything if he's told it's fine, can be relied on in any company & is as safe as they come. He can be a bit impatient if I want to stop and talk, but he never does anything unpleasant about it. He can be a bit of a drama queen to be around, largely because he thinks the world should revolve around him, but there's never any malice in him & if he starts trying to be tough a cross look soon has him back in line. He can be bargey though, so sometimes a dually is useful for a few days. He doesn't need a particularly good rider but I don't think he'd cope well with a nervous one because they'd scare him.

Loving, funny, sensitive, wanting reassurance & a bit inclined to test boundaries. I always think of a quote I saw "welsh cobs - one hoof on world domination & the other on the panic button!"

Haha, I like that quote. They can flip in a nano second between "I am a fearless warrior horse and know literally everything" and "oh my God don't leave me, I think I'm going to die"

 

[ester]

I did tell mum to start long reining him out because this gives you the perfect opportunity to point out to him how stupid he looks spooking at a funny leaf without worrying about staying on top

Which also brings up the 'ability to actually kill you = fine, no ability to kill you = terrifying' handbook that most seem to follow. That does mean they are pretty good in a crisis too though!

 

[Templebar]

Which also brings up the 'ability to actually kill you = fine, no ability to kill you = terrifying' handbook that most seem to follow. That does mean they are pretty good in a crisis too though!

This in spades, give my mare a job and she was fantastic, but a nightmare to hack, she would just suddenly plant not anything else. But it was at different coloured tarmac, flowers, drains, sheep etc but a pheasant fly out under her nose fine, traffic on a busy road fine. Her aversion to flowers did mean she spooked silly at fence dressing and there was one venue we stopped competing at as i could never get her round.

All welshes i have known are very much like how people tell you to treat mares. Get them to think its their idea and all will be well. Have one on side and they will beat the world and be your best friend in the process.

I have always recommended nervous people to avoid them on the whole.

 

[ester]

Frank just does it to make his own entertainment I think, only ever an issue on the quiet lanes, take him down the A38 and good as gold, even when the boys at the hand carwash neigh at him....

 

[Equine_Dream]

This in spades, give my mare a job and she was fantastic, but a nightmare to hack, she would just suddenly plant not anything else. But it was at different coloured tarmac, flowers, drains, sheep etc but a pheasant fly out under her nose fine, traffic on a busy road fine. Her aversion to flowers did mean she spooked silly at fence dressing and there was one venue we stopped competing at as i could never get her round.

All welshes i have known are very much like how people tell you to treat mares. Get them to think its their idea and all will be well. Have one on side and they will beat the world and be your best friend in the process.

I have always recommended nervous people to avoid them on the whole.

Very well put! I also completely agree with this. My mare will stroll past an artic lorry with the air breaks going full pelt (No joke this did actually happen out hacking one day). However a sheep, on a mountain, IN WALES!!!!!! = NO WAY. Bare in mind she was bred in Llanelli surrounded by mountain sides covered in sheep 😂

 

[miss_c]

I have a welsh cob who many have said must have D in him

Welsh Cob = Section D, they are one and the same...

 

[Annagain]

Mine was most opinionated, stubborn, arrogant, bolshy, cocky, excitable horse you could ever meet. He would walk over you rather than round you and spent more time on two legs than any other horse I know, just through sheer excitement - if he couldn't go forward he'd have to go up, but was always in total control, never went too far. He could be a nightmare to load, catch, and lead - basically he'd do what he wanted and you had to hope it was what you wanted too!

He was also incredibly talented, brave, genuine, stoic, loyal, trustworthy and the safest horse I've ever ridden. Perfect in traffic, even after being hit by a van; never did anything to try to get me off (normally if I ended up on the floor it was because he had too - not through rearing, just freak accidents) and I had total faith in his ability to get me to the other side of a fence no matter what it was. His zest for life was incredible. Even at the end (colic) he was trying to pretend he was ok and not to worry me.

My friend owned his dam and she was just the same as him but his full sister was an RDA pony. He got all the crazy genes I think.

I've never trusted another horse like I trusted him and still miss him every day 13 years after losing him.

 

[miss_c]

I currently own two (one for the second time!) and have had others.

I find they will give you the absolute world if they want to, but you have to get them to think it's their idea. They tend to either be rather unflappable or a bit spooky & neurotic from my experience - G is the first and I rode her at RWHS with Chilean riders cantering past her with huge flags. Fanfare is more the second - she'll panic then think rather than the other way around.

Definitely agree with other posters that they are incredibly intelligent and you cannot give them a millimetre or they will take many many miles!

 

[Tiddlypom]

I did declare after owning a section D and two TB/section D's that my next horse must not contain any welsh blood whatsoever at all... Though I do miss the welsh zaniness, funnily enough, but not the welsh panic button .

 

[blitznbobs]

Mine was most opinionated, stubborn, arrogant, bolshy, cocky, excitable horse you could ever meet. He would walk over you rather than round you and spent more time on two legs than any other horse I know, just through sheer excitement - if he couldn't go forward he'd have to go up, but was always in total control, never went too far. He could be a nightmare to load, catch, and lead - basically he'd do what he wanted and you had to hope it was what you wanted too!

He was also incredibly talented, brave, genuine, stoic, loyal, trustworthy and the safest horse I've ever ridden. Perfect in traffic, even after being hit by a van; never did anything to try to get me off (normally if I ended up on the floor it was because he had too - not through rearing, just freak accidents) and I had total faith in his ability to get me to the other side of a fence no matter what it was. His zest for life was incredible. Even at the end (colic) he was trying to pretend he was ok and not to worry me.

My friend owned his dam and she was just the same as him but his full sister was an RDA pony. He got all the crazy genes I think.

I've never trusted another horse like I trusted him and still miss him every day 13 years after losing him.

tis true my horse of a life time was a D... they are an acquired taste but once you've acquired its hard to forget. My special boy died 21 years ago and I still think about him almost every day... hes the only horse I have photos of in my house .

 

[Myloubylou]

I wouldn’t like to generalise. I have 2, one is a gentle soul who I have spent many years hacking the country, doing bits of everything. My new one is very bright and with it impatient & quite rude. She is pretty young and new to me but think she will always have a sparkier temperment than my first D

 

[Myloubylou]

I did declare after owning a section D and two TB/section D's that my next horse must not contain any welsh blood whatsoever at all... Though I do miss the welsh zaniness, funnily enough, but not the welsh panic button .

Mine definitely has that - walk over railway crossing for the first time no problem, noise of foot slipping out of stirrup terrifying

 

[cindars]

Everyone at our yard had a Welsh cob at sometime due to a very good friend who bred them.I always had Arabs or part bred.When my last Arab got too much said friend offered me her lovely brood mare broken to ride and drive.So I have come full circle and have Dolly a kind loving mare who hacks out but doesn't do jumping love her to bits and she has given me back my confidence.

 

[{97702}]

Ah nostalgia lol - the first horse I ever owned was a Section D that I bought as a 5 year old. He had been shown before I had him, so he was used to going out and about.....I fell off him when I was trying him, we were trying a canter down the grass verge (private road on a farm) and a sheep stuck it’s head through the fence and he shot sideways 😂

I still vividly remember the seminal moment out hacking where he was trying it on, and for the first time I got slightly exasperated! I gave him a smack with the whip and growled at him ‘you WILL go on!’ - cue him walking forward like a dream, never had any problems out hacking after that 😊 He could be incredibly challenging but he was totally fab!!!

When I sold him I told the woman who bought him over and over again that if you gave him an inch he would take a mile, you HAD to be firm, clear and fair with him. She let him walk all over her and sold him on to a dealer 6 months later (obviously I only found out about this months later, no-one at the yard told me as they knew how upset I’d be) He went to a lovely hunting home with two teenage boys, which would have been perfect for him 😊

I’d have another in a flash, particularly now I am older and.... well I was going to say wiser, but probably more experienced would be more accurate! Fab little ponies 😊

 

[Annagain]

I'm a bit bit tall (and heavy these days, sadly) for all but the biggest of Welshies now but I desperately want another when the time comes. I ended up on a friend's for 20 minutes out hacking when he was misbehaving for her and she had a bit of a meltdown. The second my bum hit the saddle I felt like I'd come home. It's been 13 years since i lost my boy but smething about it felt so familiar. My two are both 16.3 /17hh hunter types at the moment and carry me easily so no incentive for the diet but when the time comes I'll be on it!

 

[ester]

I did declare after owning a section D and two TB/section D's that my next horse must not contain any welsh blood whatsoever at all... Though I do miss the welsh zaniness, funnily enough, but not the welsh panic button .

nikib specifically said she wanted one with no welsh in it when she was looking, I just snuck it in without her noticiing


re foot out of stirrup (I've not worked out multiquotes yet it seems...) velcro when riding, spends life surrounded by velcro without issue but undo the velcro tab on your coat, world ending.

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

Having currently got one of the hysterical versions of them I wouldn't be going near them again!

Part of it could be linked with the fact with a previous owner he was probably mistreated as he is headshy so That probably hasn't helped the situation.

He doesn't have a bad bone in his body, even when he's in what I call f***witt mode I never feel like he's about to kick my head in its never nasty but my word it can be infuriating!!!

Like other people have said it's the random innocuous things that are out to kill them. Notably hair on the floor that has come off his legs (that you've spent the last half hour sidling sideways as having your legs trimmed is the most terrifying ordeal ever yet then suddenly stand like a model citizen before sidling again!) The hair will kill him. As will the mud on the road. He once would have made a perfect clip for a road safety advert showing how quickly horses can move as he froze then teleported sideways at alarming speed at what looked an empty road to anyone following him- the cause of this- a flattened poo I kid you not!! Yet a pile of tyres that had been dumped and I thought we would have problems with he strolled past without a care giving a lead to my friends horse even who was really scared!

He isn't allowed to be tied up on the yard any more as he will stand there nicely then look at the floor and suddenly leap back, breaking the string. This is often proceeded by splayed legs and snorting, one of the other liveries commented it's like he's trying to find something to scare himself with. Yet hung up my hat outside his stable the other day with some apples in thinking he wouldn't touch them went to poo pick and got back to him with his head in the hat munching one of the apples!

He does have nice movement, this is often displayed through a super high stepping trot as he dashes away across the field when you're trying to catch him. He treats catching as a game he will often look like he's coming willingly you go to get hold of the headcollar and away he goes incredibly incredibly infuriating especially if you had plans of a nice hack! He once refused to be caught for a week then one morning stood by the gate calling as if he'd been forgotten and how dare people do that to him. One Xmas day was especially memorable everyone else had been brought in he kept doing a runner and would then stand and stare at you from the corner of the field, but no way were you getting near him, managed to get him into a smaller field by leaving the gate open however went to close it and he whipped round and legged it back into the big field thought that's it he's lit up he will be staying out alone in the cold no chance of getting near him only for him to start calling as if he'd been forgotten and waiting to come in. If he's not in the frame of mind to come in he will ignore you completely even if you shake his treat ball etc.

He won't be clipped without iv sedation, I love clipping and would love one of these horses that will stand asleep untied while you do it!

Very intelligent almost too much so for his own good, knows various school movements but you have to keep him guessing, if doing changes he will often think he knows best and try and predict what we are doing and end up getting his legs in a pickle in the process. Very adjustable canter, finds the pole exercise where you add or remove strides easy. Has mastered all lickit holders even the apparently hardest one and loves his treat ball (funny how they aren't scary)

Those lovely cosy looking combo rugs are the work of the devil as they have Velcro on the neck so he cannot possibly wear them yet will look out out and miserable and stand in the corner if it's raining in the winter!

He's referred to as "the special one: by yo as he's so random.

So no I wouldn't be getting another d as he can be so incredibly infuriating at times you just wish he would act normal and things would be so much easier to do.

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

Funnily my old instructor used to say often when Welshies have their ears pricked forward they curve in slightly, giving the look of devils horns and I can definitely see that on mine!!

Does anyone else's do the most horrendous Dragon snort when spooking at the floor?

Interestingly when he jumped (had a cracking stop on him, noticed if a jump has changed, fillers were terrifying) probably partly me predicting he would react, he rarely had a pole, we didn't compete due to the filler and box aversion but have jumped over 1m on him, think he could have gone higher with someone more confident, found spreads pretty easy.

There used to be xc jumps in the fences at the yard, at first he refused to even take off probably because of the fact they were in the fence but when he got the idea he flew round them having a great time unfortunately only had a short time once he got the idea before the fences were re done and no xc jumps.

Inadvertently jumped a 2'3" to 2'6" hunt jump on him when just hacking, 2 people I was hacking with couldn't stop at the gate and theirs jumped the jump both of them hit it hard, I thought why not theyve both jumped it so I'll give it a go, checked him and he jumped it beautifully, knees properly tucked up, I do regret not being brave enough to take him hunting but he won't travel so would have had to hack to the meet then had images of him being scared of a jump, stopping I come off then him refusing to be caught in the massive fields!!

He loves a gallop and can definitely shift!

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

This in spades, give my mare a job and she was fantastic, but a nightmare to hack, she would just suddenly plant not anything else. But it was at different coloured tarmac, flowers, drains, sheep etc but a pheasant fly out under her nose fine, traffic on a busy road fine. Her aversion to flowers did mean she spooked silly at fence dressing and there was one venue we stopped competing at as i could never get her round.

All welshes i have known are very much like how people tell you to treat mares. Get them to think its their idea and all will be well. Have one on side and they will beat the world and be your best friend in the process.

I have always recommended nervous people to avoid them on the whole.

How funny about the different coloured tarmac being so scary to them mine's exactly the same causing several jolting stops and snorting, there was a trickle of water over the road the other day, cue freezing and bulging eyes, yet I used to ride him into the middle of the pond at the yard and he'd be chest deep, no hesitation what so ever.

Think what someone said about things meant to kill them being fine but innocuous innocent things are out to kill them is completely accurate

 

[MagicMelon]

I dont think they generally make good first ponies as I do think most need confident handling and riding to get the best out of them or they can take the pee. Obviously depends on the horse, many arent like that but all the ones I know of are and the Welsh D I had was definately like this. He was very challenging when he was young but once I got a relationship with him (you had to earn his respect!) he was incredible. They have massive personalities, he's the one horse Ive had who had so much character, he's also the one horse Ive always regretted selling despite his challenging ways! I love D's, they're flashy and make you feel special riding them. As long as you're experienced and confident Id say go for it! I'd definately have another.

 

[scats]

Ive had two welsh part breds. One was welsh D/TB and Millie is welsh D/ISH. Her breeding on the welsh side is very good.
I find them quite spooky and reactive and they can go from chilled to hyper in a micro-second. Took Millie around our farm tracks yesterday and she had been as good as gold, if a little switched off (never a good sign!), until we turned one corner and she started this weird high pitched squealing and started walking like she had a pair of wet knickers on. I know her well enough to know she won’t explode, but when she gets like that, she’s prone to ridiculous over the top spook reactions. Fortunately I find her quite hilarious!

 

[{97702}]

I'm now frantically messaging all my friends who remember my section D so they can tell me how awful he was, I really could consider another one after this thread

 

[catkin]

re foot out of stirrup (I've not worked out multiquotes yet it seems...) velcro when riding, spends life surrounded by velcro without issue but undo the velcro tab on your coat, world ending.

Yep.
But of course any velcro on brushing boots or hi-viz wraps MUST be undone - by pony of course.
velcro pockets on human clothing are fair game too for pony noses.

 

[OldNag]

I had one who was amazing.... would definitely have another.