The Story Continues - Section B Welsh Ponies
The following was written by request of the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America,
and presented in its entirety at the convention in Galveston, Texas in 1997.
The same successful strategy used with my Section A's was applied to my Section B Welsh Ponies. They were all bred ONE way, the golden cross used by so many - CRIBAN VICTOR x TANY-Y-BLWCH BERWYN. Once again the Criban side supplying ORIGINAL type, substance, true pony character, bone and pluck. Berwyn was a particularly good broodmare sire, producing EXOTIC qualities, and rightly so, carrying much "ORIENTAL" blood. *A note: I always liked more Victor blood than Berwyn, at least 60/40 or more. Those ponies toploaded Berwyn were often too light, too fine, too Araby for my taste, and OFF type for a Welsh Pony - Section B. Victor, being more or less a Section C, carrying so much old A and D blood, was ideal if you preferred the ORIGINAL B pony.
 
Bristol Sun God shown in-hand full profile from near side
Bristol Sun God
(Hollyrun Sun Ray x Texas Daisy)
Added to the B battery was home bred Bristol Sun God (Hollyrun Sunray x B-Texas Daisy, inbred daughter and granddaughter of Coed Coch Glyndwr, again combining CRIBAN x GLYNDWR). The search for a big B stallion had taken me to all parts of the U.S. and Canada, coming home with an empty trailer. They just weren't what I wanted.

We showed at the Louisiana State Fair twenty consecutive years. Larry Gates - Open Gates Pony Farm, Shreveport, had purchased a block of mares from Westrum's in North Dakota. At one of the Louisiana shows there were 21 GlanNant Tango offspring, big, handsome ponies, being drug through a myriad of classes all by ameteur/beginner kids. Tango was what I was looking for! I called Westrum's the day after the show and bought Tango sight unseen, over the telephone, on the strength of his GET and his PEDIGREE. After all, what more could you want in a stock getter? We crossed him on Texas Stud and similarly bred mares, as well as the small imported B mares. They were good ponies, the Tango children, nice fronts, big movers with strength and power and very trainable dispositions.

GlanNant Tango posing in-hand showing his near-side full profile GlanNant Tango walking freely showing his off-side full profile from the rear quarter
GlanNant Tango
(*Cusop Sheriff x Duntulm's Two Step by *Coed Coch Ballog)
*Coed Coch Blaen LleuadI fell in love with *Coed Coch Blaen Lleaud (Redwood Full Moon) (Criban Victor x Berwyn Beauty), 12.3 hand red roan, bought from Coed Coch and imported by Elliott Bonnie, Urbana, Ohio. I tried for years to buy him, and to this day he is the only horse I ever really wanted that got away. He was everything a proper Welsh Pony should be, and I was privileged to visit with him several times. I also tried for years to purchase his FULL brother *Coed Coch Ballog, stunning bay stallion, exported to Canada as a two year old. But time was on my side. Finally his owner passed away and Ballog was bequeathed to his long time trainer and companion. For some time his home was a harness racing track near Halifax, Nova Scotia. For many years he had won *Coed Coch BallogNational Driving titles in Canada (against all breeds), so exercising him on the track became a daily routine. Even in old age, he became addicted to speed, and breezing with trotters and pacers only worsened the problem. Ballog was like driving a Ferrari with a mind of its own! I finally brought him to Texas on a two year lease, at the end of which I was able to procure him. One of Ballog's claims to fame was daughter Duntulm's Pride of Erin, foaled in '66. A beautiful dappled mare, better known as "SNOW GOOSE", she won EVERYTHING as a pony hunter. I also finally talked Mrs. Bonnie out of *Coed Coch Swynan (*Coed Coch Blaen Lleaud x Coed Coch Sosi), quite a tale, for another time. This wonderful mare's produce included B - Bristol Bard (by *Coed Coch Pryddyd) in California, and B - Bristol Salome (by GlanNant Tango) in Massachusetts, both many times champions.  We had STALLION POWER with *Coed Coch Ballog, his grandson GlanNant Tango, and Bristol Sun God.
Might I add here a bit about the Bonnies, wealthy folk and big time breeders of World Champion Saddlebreds. Their "BUCKEYE" Welsh were mostly overlooked because of the preference to present them in a Saddlebred/Hackney style. I have been in the pastures with the ponies when they were very aged, and they were the BEST Welsh I ever saw, except at the Texas Stud. *Revel Starlight was the only direct child of Mathrafal Tuppence I ever saw. (Tuppence was used extensively at Criban and Coed Coch.) He was 26 years when we last met, so refined, so perfect, a Dyoll Starlight clone. *Bolgoed Fashion was 24 years on our final meeting, and was the first of the "old style" Hill studs I ever saw. He was dead straight and standing on massive bone, croup longer than back, high tail carriage standing still, tremendous length of rein, break level trot front and rear, zero ears and the biggest eyes I ever saw on any Welsh stud. I will NEVER forget him. He was a piece of work and overall, one of the BEST Welsh Ponies I ever looked at. Unfortunately these three great stallions died, never having bred a mare for many years.
Lithgow WishnikI had followed Lithgow Wishnik (*Cusop Sheriff x *Verity by Criban Victor) since birth, and then my DREAM, my IDOL, was FOR SALE! (Another "too long pony tale".) Anyway, I was in Hamilton, NY with an empty trailer to pick up Wishnik ONLY, but was forced to also purchase two sons. Oh well, that worked out for the best too. I can say with all honesty that Wishnik was the single BEST decision I ever made in my pony career. Mollie Butler (GlanNant) confided that her WORST decision was not to buy her.
As an 11 year old broodmare (in foal), Allison Mountain, Twyford Stud - England, pinned her Supreme Champion at the American National, and told me Wishnik was one of the best B mares she had ever judged. At the Welsh clinic in '84 in Houston, Mrs. Mountain chose her daugher, Bristol Elan, as the most proper type Section B pony there. Elan was Supreme Champion at her first show, as was her daughter Bristol Victorina, by Lithgow Houdini.
Wishnik gave me four daughters and five sons. Of all the good B stallions I knew and owned, I never saw her equal. Sired by the marvelous performance stallion *Cusop Sheriff, her dam was one of the three QUEENS (by Criban Victor) owned and imported by Lithgow Farm - Virginia, namely *Verity - dam of Wishnik, *Vanity - dam of Lithgow Gay Grenadier, and *Velvet - granddam of Lithgow Houdini.
Lithgow HoudiniLater I was able to add Lithgow Houdini to the equation, he by pony hunter sire, Sylvia's Comet. Foaled the same year ('66) at Lithgow, Houdini and Wishnik were reunited after 18 years. Thus, linebreeding to the great mare, *Verity, became a dream realized. Sixth generation pony Bristol Safire, now in Oregon, is bred this way. Houdini was small, "classic" in type, and carried a high percentage of A and C blood. *Note: Many of the old timers believed that if you didn't "GO BACK TO THE WELL", sooner or later, you wouldn't have "WELSH" anymore. And since the B pony is an amalgamation of so many different bloods, I believe they are absolutely correct.
Bristol Last TangoOur Section B broodmares were sired by: *Coed Coch Ballog, GlanNant Tango, Bristol Sun God, Lithgow Gay Grenadier and Lithgow Houdini. Stallion Bristol Last Tango (now in Florida), was the last foal of GlanNant Tango. His sire is by *Cusop Sheriff, out of a *Coed Coch Ballog daughter (Duntulm's Two Step). His dam, Bristol Elan, is by *Coed Coch Ballog out of a *Cusop Sheriff daughter (Wishnik). Stay with me! Thus he is DOUBLE *Cusop Sheriff and DOUBLE *Coed Coch Ballog, as close as possible. He is not a miniature Arabian or a miniature Thoroughbred, but he is "MY KIND" of Section B. This pony's pedigree was planned over twenty years ago, long before I had the ponies to accomplish it. *Note: True, solid, dark brown is an ancient Welsh color, and one which is rare today, especially in B ponies. We have produced a number of that color, ALL having descended from the bay, Ballog.

So, I have been very fortunate to have known and owned some of the BEST Welsh this country, or any other had to offer. After thirty five years, they still fascinate and amaze me. There is simply NO equine on earth like them.

My sincere hope is that all "BREEDERS" of Welsh will be ever mindful of PRESERVATION of our most precious trust, into the future. No temporary gain, goal, or fad is worth sacrificing our BREED. Let's keep them distinctly DIFFERENT.

My advice to beginners and long timers as well, is to NEVER stop studying, NEVER stop learning. Stay fluid enough to change your opinion, but stay determined enough to never compromise quality.

The single most important thing any breeder of animals can do is to KNOW and USE the written STANDARD. You're no breeder if you can't identify both positives and negatives, from the STANDARD, on EVERY pony you meet. This is a wonderful antidote for the self destructive malady of "barn blindness".

STAY TRUE TO THE BREED, it will never serve you wrong.

Cherry Wilson, Bristol Pony Farm

 

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