WELSH TYPE
Excerpts from Britain

On JUDGING
1973 Welsh Pony and Cob Journal, Wales

It is not the duty of a judge to place first the pony, which he himself prefers. He is acting for the Society on whose panel he has agreed to serve and that Society has laid down a certain specification. If the pony he personally prefers does not conform more or less to that specification he must put it down.
This may mean that a judge may have to put down the pony which, if given the choice, he would like to take home and moreover, the pony which, if sold at public auction, he considers might fetch more than his first in line.
If there are any judges not prepared to put up those ponies, which most closely resemble the Society’s official description, they should resign from the panel. If every judge is allowed to please himself regardless of the Society’s official policy, there seems no object in going to the considerable trouble of compiling a judge’s panel. Let anyone come and sort them out.

On WELSH MOUNTAIN PONIES (section A)
1959 RIDING, England

“If we have knowledge we shall look for the great bold eye, the tiny head, short back, strong quarter, high set on of tail, hocks that do not turn in, the laid-back shoulder, the straight foreleg and the short, so very short cannon bone…..
A very great breeder of these lovely ponies said many years ago – and what good advice it is for all of us; “The bigger the eye the better, the deeper though the heart the stronger, the prouder the lift of the head the more courageous, the swifter the action the more fearless.” So perhaps we can use these points when we are trying to determine how to produce perfect type…..
I wonder if the present position of ponies in the show-ring today is responsible to a certain extent for the wrong type of animal being used for breeding. By this I mean that many judges of Welsh Mountain Ponies sometimes award major prizes to animals who do not conform to the true type of these beautiful ponies…..
I feel that, if the judging at shows was somewhat tightened up, the show-ring would be a place where the inexperienced could learn what the true Welsh Pony should be. Failure to conform to this type should preclude ponies from winning in the show-ring.”

M. De Beaumont

On WELSH MOUNTAIN PONIES (section A)
1984 Welsh Roundabout

“Bone, I think, is very important, again because it is such a characteristic of the breed…..
Quality is sometimes mistaken for lightness of bone only…..
I am often asked whether the ‘knees up’ variety or the ‘daisy cutting’ sort are correct for the Welsh Mountain Pony. My answer is neither. The action should be free and active. In front, the leg should come up and then out from the shoulder. Behind, the hocks should really work, balancing the pony and propelling it forward.”

Alison Mountain

On WELSH PONIES section B
1975 Welsh Pony and Cob Society Journal, Wales

“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 bred today working the hill?……
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?…..
Once we have lost the breed we can never get it back.”

John Winstone

On WELSH PONIES section B
1963 Welsh Pony and Cob Society Journal, Wales

“This cannot be repeated too often, the Section B pony must have adequate substance and good limbs. There should be no place in any section for little weedy animals, with spindly legs, small knees and hocks, weak round joints, and bad feet.”

E. Griffith

On WELSH PONIES section B
1973 Riding, England

“If one is going to judge a BREED class, the standard for that breed must be adhered to…..
The description for this section says that they should be as the Section A’s with a difference of height, of course, and with an emphasis on the riding qualities. It may have been a slight warning (or a glimpse into the future) that is also specified pony character, adequate bone and substance, hardiness and constitution…….
It is quite easy to get them finer and more glamorous, but very hard to put true type and substance back into them once it has been lost.”

Alison Mountain

On WELSH PONIES section B
1973 Welsh Pony and Cob Society Journal, Wales

“I am however sure that it is a duty of all judges, who have accepted an invitation to serve on the Society’s panel of judges, to put up the true type and put down the refined type. Of course there may be occasions when ponies of the true type have such defects of confirmation that the refined type must be preferred……
If all breed judges make a habit of putting up the refined type and breeders react by producing that type, not many years will pass before the Connemara, the New Forest and the Welsh Pony will become practically indistinguishable.”

Mr. Mountain – Twyford Stud

 
 

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