TWO B'S OR NOT TWO B'S?
Excerpts from
WPCS Journal 1975, Wales

Why all this trouble about the Section B? Why doesn't the Society just throw out anything that does not conform to the Society's Breed Standard? It is as simple as that.

We have Breed Standards laid down for A, B, C, and D, and, as well we know, many of the ponies today, not only the B's, are no more Welsh than a Chinaman's hat box.

Let's face up to it. Unless the Society is prepared to take a firm hand we are heading for disaster within the very near future.

Just a few short years ago we saw what happened to the badly bred A's, we have yet to see it come with the badly bred B's and D's, but come it will, unless something is done NOW. You can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time, and the day of reckoning will come, but by then it could be too late.

The Welsh breeds in their true form are unbeatable and, thank God, we have good breeders who are breeding true to type come what may. We do, however, have the others who are prepared to breed for fashion and, as well we know, the same people wish to hide behind the word "Welsh" because over the years it has proved its worth. We also have some members who are breeding rubbish in all sections. Any member who is not prepared to breed to the Breed Standard should be asked to mend their ways or to leave the Society. This applies, even more so, to the judges who put up anything other than ponies conforming to the Breed Standard.

To return to the B's, they were bred to enable the shepherd to work the hill with his dogs. Can anyone, quite frankly, see most of the B's today working the hill? Most of them today could not take my maiden aunt down the high street without going lame, and certainly not without its rug on.

Some of the older shepherds must wonder what day it is when they see the B's in the riding classes. The moment they are called in after having walked around, out runs mum with the rug to keep the pony from getting a chill. Mum would have been very busy running after the shepherd.

Our Society has come a long way since it began and it has only done so because the Welsh breeds are so wonderful and because of the wise leadership which has been given to members. We will only continue to grow if the Society makes sure that all breeders stick to the true types and those who do not, will they can please themselves, but they must not be allowed to masquerade under the name of "Welsh".

To own a Welsh B that is true to type is such a pleasure, they are such wonderful ponies, lacking nothing that anyone could want. To even compare them with the so-called "refined" type is impossible, they are just like chalk and cheese. As Dai said to Mog one day, "What else can the judge put up when they are all little Thoroughbreds?" How many of today's so-called B's are anywhere near the Breed Standard?

The sooner the Society takes a hand in selecting the stallions, in all sections, the better. There are stallions being used today that should never be and such will be the case until the Society takes a firm hand in the matter. Let us breed from the very best and in doing so put the breed on yet a plane higher than they are now. Let the talking and writing now stop. Let the necessary action begin. ONCE WE HAVE LOST THE BREED WE CAN NEVER GET IT BACK.

John Winstone

 

 
 

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