Welsh Ponies In Their Blood

This article is from the October 2019 Horse Deals magazine.

The Welsh Pony and Cob Society was established in the UK in 1901 and at Melbourne Royal Show in 1969 a group of Welsh Pony enthusiasts gathered in a locker and formed the Welsh Pony and Cob Society of Australia and this year they are celebrating their 50th anniversary. Many good ideas emanated from the Melbourne Show lockers and the Welsh Society is certainly up there with the best of them.
There are many involved with the Welsh Society who could easily fulfil the criteria of ‘Equestrian Legend’, but we have chosen to speak to five of the remaining original members who were present in that locker at Melbourne 50 years ago. All are legends, as it takes courage and determination, not to mention love of the Welsh Pony, to do more than talk about it and go on to create the Society that thrives today on the strength of an outstanding product.

The Welsh Pony is an ancient breed and existed in Wales before 1600BC. They are the tree from which most modern pony breeds shoot. Thought to have developed from the prehistoric Celtic pony, they developed into a hardy breed due to their tough environment. They have been in demand for centuries as workers, as they were considered trustworthy, with a good disposition, even temperament, friendly character, but also spirited with great endurance. At a time when horsepower was needed, they were sought after and that demand has continued to the present day. The stated characteristics are not lost today, nor is their great beauty and movement which endears them to anyone who sees them. For modern equestrian activity, be it dressage, jumping, showing, hunting or hacking, you can’t go past the pony that puts the PONY into the other breeds.

Suellen Deane - Llanfairbryn Stud
“I had ponies and Thoroughbreds from childhood but was always captivated by photos of Welsh Mountain Ponies that I saw in books on the breeds like the Observers Book and I was determined that I would one day own some. Because of the scarcity of purebred Welsh Mountain Ponies in those days, and the cost of them, it was not until I was in my early twenties that I was able to source a two-year-old filly at the Fairway Stud of George and Margaret Lewis at Coldstream. It was when I was purchasing that filly that both Mr Lewis and Fairway Stud manager, Norma Boock, talked to me about the urgent need to establish a Welsh Pony and Pony Cob Society in Australia and asked if I would join them in achieving that aim. From the very outset I was involved and served on the Committee of Management for 23 years in various capacities including Chairman and President. That little filly started me on an incredible journey which has continued for 51 years and I have the great joy of living surrounded by Welsh ponies.

“I was at the 1969 Melbourne Royal strapping for Norma Boock and Mrs Lewis. Norma said to me at the show, I think we should get all the people showing in the Welsh classes together and talk about forming an Australian Welsh Pony and Cob Society. She sent Jim Olliver to one end of the showground and me to the other and we got as many of them as we could. Some felt a strong loyalty to the APSB and did not want to be part of a separate organisation, but those who thought it was a good idea crammed into Len Peck and Glenda Exner’s feed locker. It was fabulous, Norma talked about how she thought it was critical we form our own society, exclusively for the Welsh Ponies. She explained the benefits and asked all those in favour of forming the WPCS to donate $2. In attendance that afternoon were, Mr R Allman, Mr Lawrie, Jim Olliver, Bob and Darrell Owen, Mrs H (Eileen) Bartram, Mrs AR (later Lady) Creswick, Glenda Exner, Margaret Lewis, Muriel Mawsey, Mrs R Myers, Marge Evison, Norma Boock and me. There are not many of us left. Some had been breeding Welsh Ponies and showed them registered under the APSB banner, but others, like me were only very new to it.

“So we all paid our $2 and from that moment on the Society was up and running and Norma became the first Society President. Over the next 12 months we held numerous meetings, some at Mrs Bartram’s View Bank Stud. We started writing letters to people and we wrote to HRH Prince Charles (newly invested as Prince of Wales) to be our Patron, but apparently, he had too many commitments. But we thought big and it was all very exciting for someone like me in their early twenties. I was asked to be honorary secretary, so I got to keep all the minutes and type the letters etc. We held our first AGM at Melbourne Showgrounds in 1970 and Lady Coles was our first Patron.

“Back then it was extremely difficult to get Stud Book Welsh Ponies, you had to go on a waiting list. Mrs Owen, Lady Creswick, Loch Sloy etc all had waiting lists. I had wanted a Welsh Pony for so long and the only reason I got the Fairway filly was that they couldn’t catch her. People were very enthusiastic then and I remember some of the classes, particularly at the Melbourne Royal were huge; I remember a Yearling Welsh Mountain Pony Filly class with 55 entries and the Stallion classes were in lines, like you see at the Royal Welsh in Wales. It was a great time.”

Glenda Exner - Glendevon Stud
“I had a stud in partnership with Len Peck at the time and the meeting was held in our locker. I was breeding Welsh Ponies then and my first Stud Book Pony is in Volume 6 of the APSB Stud Book. I had a Stud Book Pony when I was going to school and lived in the country (Devon Meadows). It’s all houses and a shopping centre now. I used to ride the pony to school, as there were no buses out where we were and you had to walk, ride a bike or a pony to school. Mother and father were busy milking cows, they didn’t have time to take me. I hunted with the Melbourne hounds and the Yarra Glen hounds. I really liked the Welsh Mountain Ponies and I got to know Sir Alec and Lady Creswick through hunting at Melbourne and through them I got to know the ponies and loved them.

“One of the reasons we wanted to start the WPCS was because there were issues with the APSB regarding the registration of Welsh Ponies and what classes they were permitted to enter. I remember we were showing Lady Creswick’s ponies at the time and she had a little black stallion that was by pedigree eligible to be registered as pure Welsh, but because he was registered with the APSB as foundation stock, he was not eligible for pure Welsh classes. He was 11hh and had to go out in 12.2hh and Under APSB classes.

“I am nearly 82 now and six or seven years ago I had 25 ponies and I gave them all away to good homes. They are a fun pony. You can put a child on a Welsh Mountain Pony and they can go out and chase cows all day or take them on a hunt; it was what we used to do. They are a fit for purpose pony, you can do all sorts of things with them and they will accept it.

“It is wonderful to see that the society has gone ahead in leaps and bounds; it is amazing.”

Marge Evison - Marward Stud
“My first Welsh Mountain Pony was Rhayader Star Turn that I got from Len Peck down Warnambool way. I bred from her and always used Pauline Owen’s stallions. I bred Marward Gemstone and bred a lot of foals from her. I bought a colt from Pauline, Owendale Malcolm and won everywhere with him.

“I had lots of different horses, my husband and I bred trotting horses, Shetlands and Riding Ponies, but my love was the Welshies, they are the most beautiful ponies. I went to the meeting at Melbourne because of Len Peck and Glenda Exner and we all became life long members that day. I didn’t have the $2 on me, so Len paid my subscription.

“My family is involved with horses one way and another and I have a one-year-old grandson who has an old Shetland just to sit on, but he will get a Welshie one day. I am 92 and I still play bowls and if I only had a couple of acres, I’d have a Welsh Mountain Pony now.”

Jim Olliver - Penrith Stud (‘The First Forty Years’ published in 2012 by WP&CSA.)
“My interest in horses in general began at the age of five. Regularly I went to visit my grandparents who lived in Footscray. Just around the corner was the Cain Bakery where I was a frequent visitor, to spend time with Gordon Cain’s horses and Welsh Ponies.

“As a teenager, my parents bought a hotel at New Norfolk in Tasmania and in the backyard were seven stables, hence the opportunity to buy my first pony.

“I contacted Gordon Cain and he introduced me to Mr and Mrs Lewis at Fairway Stud, Coldstream. On my first visit to Fairway, I met Mrs Norma Boock and purchased the lovely chestnut colt, Fairway Hafod and the sweet grey filly, Fairway Jocelyn. I had great enjoyment showing my ponies with great success in Tasmania, Melbourne and Sydney Royal Shows.

“When I moved back to Melbourne, I bought the Plough Hotel, Footscray, where many Foundation Committee Meetings and social Welsh Society Events were held.

“I was at the Royal Melbourne Show in 1969 when Norma Boock canvassed the breeders in the Eastern area and I did the rounds in the Western area to organise the now famous meeting in Mr Len Peck’s feed locker where the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of Australia was born.

“My time on the Foundation Committee was stimulating and a pleasure. I feel proud to have been a small part of the beginning of a very successful breed Society.

“Although now semi-retired, being a Life Member of the Society enables me to receive interesting news on the Society’s well being which I enjoy, and in the near future I am hoping one of my young grandchildren may enable me to again be involved in the showing and involvement of the Welsh Pony & Cob Society.”

Darrell Owen - Owendale Stud
Darrell Owen was just about born on a pony. He worked with and learnt from the late Pauline and Bob Owen and the name Owendale is still a very successful name in the show ring. “My history with horses goes back over 150 years to Colonial times,” says Darrell. “The Owendale Stud was registered with the APSB in 1959. There were very few APSB classes for Welsh Ponies then and Melbourne Royal was really the only showcase for them at that stage. The Welsh classes started at Melbourne in the mid 50s, prior to that, everything went in together under the title, Pony.

“The Lewis’ of Fairway Stud were keen on keeping everything correct and pedigrees in order. At that time the only Welsh enthusiasts on the APSB in Victoria were Lady Creswick and my stepfather, Bob Owen and there was not a lot of enthusiasm to promote the Welsh. So Norma Boock, Fairway Stud Manager, encouraged by Mr Lewis and with a lot of help from Jim Olliver, got the society up and running.

“I was 20 when the call went out for Welsh Pony enthusiasts to come to the gathering at Len Peck and Glenda Exner’s locker in the covered way at the eastern end of the Melbourne Showgrounds. It was well supported and held after the grand parade, so everyone was free to come. We all squished in and not everyone would fit and some were sitting on bales of hay in the alleyway. There was a lot of interest and the Society was formed and I was on the foundation committee. Despite my age and thanks to my mother, Pauline (Owen) I had a good knowledge of conformation and pedigree. We had a meeting a month later in the Egg Board Hall at the showgrounds and the hat was passed around to pay for the hire of the hall.

“I think the Welsh Pony and Cob Society has grown and the influx of Partbred Welsh Ponies has contributed to that success because most modern ponies have Welsh in their pedigrees somewhere along the line.”

Written by Anna Sharpley

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