What does ‘typical Welshie’ mean to you?

[Katie92]

I’m seeing the phrase ‘typical Welsh / Welshie’ more and more these days on ads selling welsh ponies. I know what it means to me (cheeky, possibly spooky/sharp, opinionated & food oriented!) but would be interested to know other people’s thoughts!

Or do you think it’s just a phrase being used as an excuse for a pony’s undesirable behaviour, regardless of the breed?

No Welshie slander from me, they’re some of the best ponies & cobs I’ve ever ridden

 

[SEL]

Flashy with a decent helping of bonkers

Love them.

 

[Abacus]

I agree that the description you have here is probably what most people mean. Of course really behind that are the real ‘breed’ characteristics: clever, easily bored, bright enough to find their way out of bare fields or into feed rooms or to spook or play up if bored or dissatisfied with something. I’ve never gone out to buy one but having accidentally had a few, they have been brilliant and not at all tricky when well managed.

 

[reynold]

Another who thinks welshies are great but they're not for 'mugs' in the politest sense of the word. They need discipline and boundaries or they can behave like feral children.

I've bred sports ponies from Welsh stock and my current WHW rescue is a welshie who when she came 3 years ago was all of the above but is now lovely to handle and just a bit sharp (she is a non-ridden companion)

I think some of the ads wording are to weed out the possible buyers that would not cope with a proper welshie

 

[Britestar]

Fire breathing dragon!
And yes I ride one.

 

[Sandstone1]

Can be sharp, do not suffer fools gladly, beautiful and bonkers. However if you click with them they are the best!

 

[conniegirl]

Highly intelligent, lovely little dragons disguised as ponies!!

i love mine, he is absolutely amazing. Incredibly intelligent, almost unflappable, if he spooks its generally because he is bored and you aren’t paying attention.
He is safe enough for my toddler to ride, interesting and challenging enough for me. An angel to handle with a sweet face that lets him get away with murder!

generally when its put on adverts i tend to think someone has been mollycoddling the pony and it is out of hand. You have to be strict but fair with welshies as if you give them an inch they will rule the world but if you are unreasonable they can dig their heels in like no other pony!

 

[Peglo]

I’ve also seen that on quite a few ads. If I’m honest I find it slightly off putting but I likely shouldn’t.
I usually take it to mean sharp which likely isn’t the true meaning at all.

 

[Gallop_Away]

Sensitive, flashy, opinionated, will pass a tractor as if it is nothing, but will spook at a rock that looks slightly "off", too intelligent for their own good, personalities as big as their hearts, and a sense of humour to boot.

From the proud owner of two beautiful Welsh dragons

 

[Boots*McGruber]

Intelligent, busy, full of character and with plenty of opinions

 

[rabatsa]

I agree with what other posters have said. However on an add I take it to mean rude and bad mannered.

 

[Boulty]

Idiotic spookmonster?

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Intelligent, busy, full of character and with plenty of opinions

Idiotic spookmonster?

Having owned one for 5 years, yep. Both of these!

Bombproof in traffic, yet terrified of a new grooming brush. I remember when he cut his leg, I had to blind fold him to bandage it because he was totally terrified of anything white (white bandage!)

He was fab in every way apart from to catch. So many funny memories with him though!

 

[pastit]

I spent the first 3 months saying No! to mine, then he was brilliant, such good fun. My lasting memory was him prancing round the field with my coat held firmly in his teeth. If a horse could laugh...

 

[conniegirl]

will pass a tractor as if it is nothing, but will spook at a rock that looks slightly "off"

This!!!
mine once happily cantered down a track with tractors spraying either side of him, but then we turned a corner and there was a daffodil that had flowered, the spook was spectacular (but never going to unseat me) had the farmer in hysterics (he was my YO’s husband!)

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I love them have ridden a few and worked with them alot of them are very much like Arab's I find as they can be opinionated, spooky, flashy and don't tolerate fools gladly either

 

[Glitter's fun]

On an ad., it means "this pony has got the better of me, only buy it if you want a lot of corrective work to do" .

Generally it means intelligent, very easily bored, brave, kind and gentle but combined with a wicked sense of humour, not a good choice for a beginner or someone unassertive, deeply loyal if you press the right buttons.

Edited to add - this may be old information. I haven't owned one of the new fine boned, more delicately built versions. Does a different temperament come with the new breeding?

 

[Annagain]

All of the above!
Mine was stubborn, opinionated, arrogant, stupidly excitable bordering on screw loose, and occasionally ill-mannered. He was also totally bombproof (in 14 years he never spooked, not even once), talented, fiercely loyal, utterly trustworthy and had the heart of a lion. He is the only horse I've ever had total faith in.

 

[Jenko109]

I find this one difficult to answer.

I have only known a handful of welshies. Three of the more older stamp with less exaggerated features and movement. All three were generally nice natured, safe, sensible horses. One of these is in the field with my horse and is an absolute poppet. I'm very keen on him.

Then I've known three of the newer, more exagerated types. Of which all three were unhinged in one way or another, two had nasty rearing habits and one used to tank off back for home if he felt like it. I didnt know the horses or owners well enough to judge if this was poor management or if these animals were a genuine liability.

If someone uses the term 'typical welsh' then I assume its deranged in some way....

 

[millikins]

I'm not much of a fan I'm afraid. I think you can find some very nice B's and C's but the A's and D's seem to be being bred solely for the in hand showing scene with no thought given to a useful and productive ridden career.

 

[wills_91]

I am not a Welsh fan, its not them its me though I appear to sit on them and bring out the bonkers side, I have electric knickers . Loved it when I was younger but I'm not brave enough for it now.

When I see that on ad advert I automatically assume the pony in question is probably a little s**t & in a home where they don't understand the breed.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

My very first horse was half Welsh C and he was the kindest most placid unflappable horse on the planet. That is until you asked him to go through a puddle In 10 years I never ever won that battle, not even with hose practice. Didn’t matter how deep, how shallow, how large, running, static or just in his way he refused point blank to go through water. Given just how incredibly mature and safe he was from day one I always forgave him.

 

[SadKen]

They do not inhabit the same universe as me. They see things that aren’t there. Then they run away. As fast as possible. They don’t care whether you are there or not when they stop.

I remember Welshies when I was a kid weren’t like that. The section Ds were 14.2 sensible creatures which could turn a hand to anything and did adult RC quite a bit. The other sections were generally the same but As came in two types: steady and kind with potential to nip for LR and kids, whizzy for gymkhana and jumping. The second type usually evolved to become the first. Bs were beautiful kids showing ponies and nobody could afford one yet everyone wanted one. We had hardly any Cs where I live (NE Wales) but generally they were a chunkier second pony for kids who liked jumping. And all of them were rideable, pretty and fun. It was 40 years ago but I don’t recall any of them being irrational lunatics who reacted and ran off first, and never asked questions later.

 

[Boughtabay]

ATVs of the horse world and tough as nails. Most welsh aren’t in enough work to stop them being loons. they can and will do anything you ask if you’ve proven reliable enough for them to trust your judgement.

 

[maya2008]

As a child, I mostly encountered Welsh B ponies and they were all speedy, slightly nuts and loved to jump. The one Welsh A I knew then was like the two we have now - really sweet, kind and safe. So I think maybe it depends on the type of Welsh as to what that would mean!

 

[MagicMelon]

Flashy with a decent helping of bonkers

Love them.

This! The Welsh D I had was very flashy but yes totally bonkers, but absolutely adored him!

 

[Boots*McGruber]

This!!!
mine once happily cantered down a track with tractors spraying either side of him, but then we turned a corner and there was a daffodil that had flowered, the spook was spectacular (but never going to unseat me) had the farmer in hysterics (he was my YO’s husband!)

Mine is also frightened of daffodils! Explained to him that it was his national flower but he didn’t seem to care

 

[WelshHoarder]

As everyone has already said but in a nutshell, sassy dragons with a heart of gold. The feral children analogy is perfect

Old C, Pippin, who we lost a couple of years ago, was the most amazing kids pony, but she was 26 when we got her, and 30 when she died. Although rock-steady and the most wonderful confidence-giver, you did occasionally see flashes of the pony she was when younger. And right up until the day we lost her she was still full of sass, and perfectly capable of “the dragon” when she felt the situation warranted it. Absolutely the boss in the field, in spite of everyone else being significantly bigger than her 13hh (the 16.3 TB worshipped the ground she walked on)

Young C, Blaze, is very much still a dragon pony. She’s typical in that like a lot of other Welsh stories I've heard, she’ll spook, impressively, at a leaf, the poo fork having been moved 6 inches across in a lesson, or something else similarly daft, but be rock solid at anything you’d actually expect her to be scared of! She’s a sensitive soul, and very much a one family pony - very, very loving with us, but we’re definitely “her” humans - anyone she doesn’t know she’s much more aloof with. And if she feels you’re not committed to what you’re asking her to do, be it agility, poles, or jumping, she’ll take the mickey, and she definitely takes a lot of confidence from her rider. If you’re confident with her, riding or handling, I suspect she’d walk through fire for you.

Baby Penny is very much pure-bred D for Dragon! Like Blaze, but on steroids. Loud noises, cars, anything “traditionally” scary, she’ll ignore. Anything silly, she’ll snort and plant. Again, she’s a sensitive little thing however, and needs to be handled confidently, but not harshly otherwise she shuts down.

Both of them are far more sensitive than the TB, who quite frequently stands in the field looking completely bemused with their antics.

But to be honest, although they’re not for the faint hearted, I wouldn’t swap them for the world. There’s not a malicious bone in either of them, and the dragon moments are funny rather than scary. They certainly have a sense of humour, but definitely need their boundaries. Once you win them over, they’re yours, heart and soul.

Here’s when Penny met scary blue plastic last weekend - nothing nasty, just a very impressive snort and plant (for a good 5 minutes!), before walking over it quite happily. In contrast, IDx Satin just went “ok then” and got on with the job:

 

[Boots*McGruber]

They do not inhabit the same universe as me. They see things that aren’t there. Then they run away. As fast as possible. They don’t care whether you are there or not when they stop.

I remember Welshies when I was a kid weren’t like that. The section Ds were 14.2 sensible creatures which could turn a hand to anything and did adult RC quite a bit. The other sections were generally the same but As came in two types: steady and kind with potential to nip for LR and kids, whizzy for gymkhana and jumping. The second type usually evolved to become the first. Bs were beautiful kids showing ponies and nobody could afford one yet everyone wanted one. We had hardly any Cs where I live (NE Wales) but generally they were a chunkier second pony for kids who liked jumping. And all of them were rideable, pretty and fun. It was 40 years ago but I don’t recall any of them being irrational lunatics who reacted and ran off first, and never asked questions later.

I wonder if they got more work and less grass in the past? I had a Welsh X and my mum wouldn’t let me give him a day off so he was ridden every day without fail. He was as good as gold most of the time but with a bit of sparkle. He didn’t go out on super green grass though, it was a bit more scrubby then.

 

[Gallop_Away]

Mine is also frightened of daffodils! Explained to him that it was his national flower but he didn’t seem to care

I see your daffodils and raise you with... SHEEP.

Yes my section D mare, born and bred in Wales, lived in Wales all her life, and has liveried at 2 working sheep farms is afraid of sheep. But not when they are close by you understand. She can see what the sneaky gits are up to when they are close, it's the ones in the distance she has a huge mistrust for. You just never know what the fluffy buggers are plotting from far away.....

Such things require immediate response of growing from 15hh to 18hh in a millisecond, and the occasional Welsh roar/snort. That puts the little baaaas*ards in their place.....