Casmaran Welsh Cobs; and Cross Creek Section B Welsh Ponies

since 1992*

since 1969*

Sara Bloomer 973-670-2578

2009 Section B Colt
Cross Creek Coup de Grâce

Cross Creek Ember

YOU too can be a legacy breeder.

Preservation breeding is an attempt by many animal breeders to preserve bloodlines of animals, either of a rare breed, or of rare pedigrees within a breed. One purpose of preservation breeding is to protect genetic diversity within a species, another is to preserve valuable genetic traits that may not be popular or in fashion in the present, but may be of great value in the future.

The observable phenomenon of hybrid vigor stands in contrast to the notion of breed purity.
However, indiscriminate breeding of hybrid animals may also result in degradation of quality.

 Based on and reprinted from Welsh Ponies & Cobs magazine of WPCS

At one time, the hills of Wales and the borders were alive with hill ponies; herds of wild, hardy animals left virtually to fend for themselves, ensuring that only the hardiest survived. Mother Nature’s doctrine of “survival of the fittest” led to the evolution of the Welsh Mountain Pony into an agile, hardy, fit, strong, intelligent and beautiful animal.

The enormous contribution that the hill breeders have made to retain the traditional characteristics of the Welsh Mountain Pony is now being recognised it is a must that we retain these irreplaceable animals. Indeed, it is essential to try and maintain the tradition of keeping these ponies on their natural heath to ensure that these invaluable characteristics are not lost over the years.  At some Hill Sales you will see breeders seeking out these bloodlines.

However, in the late 20^th century, the decline in numbers of the Hill Ponies became apparent to many of the Hill Breeders and The Welsh Pony and Cob Society Council Members. The Welsh Pony and Cob Society subsequently asked Betty French to carry out a survey on The Welsh Mountain Pony. Betty was assisted by her husband Brian and carried out the enormous task.

A precise of the survey:

by Elizabeth French

[From the "Hill Ponies of Wales Newsletter" Issue 1, April 2005]

You may ask “Why this survey”?  Well, the hill ponies are our heritage, our ponies and cobs are admired all over the world, they have descended from the forebears of a gene pool of these hardy ponies on the hills, their survival is imperative for us to have a gene pool of these ponies. The purpose of this survey was to present the figures to The Rare Breeds Trust and for the application for Rare Breed Status and as a result the hill ponies are now on "The Rare Breeds List"

Many members thought the hill ponies were safe and that there were at least still 2000 breeding mares on the hills.  The survey showed that this was not so and that registered breeding mares of four years old and over were down to the very low number of less than 800 - this puts them into the category of “At Risk”.  Although the numbers have a built in ten per cent allowance for ponies not as yet visited, it was noted that of all the thirty areas visited only one hill breeder has increased his herd due to the renewed interest of the family.

To the year 2000 there had been a decline of the hill ponies by 25% over the previous eight years. Foot & Mouth was devastating and because of the hardships the decline of hill ponies has continued.

The general interest of all members was very positive and to further this interest Betty has over nine hundred photos and two hundred slides and is prepared to give talks and presentations to emphasis the importance of retaining the feral Welsh Mountain Pony in its natural environment.  The three years of gathering the information was a never to be forgotten project. Betty had the help and friendship of Hill Breeders, without whom it would not have been possible to make this survey a success.  She says "The whole experience was reward in itself, therefore this survey did not incur any cost to the Society, and through this survey, the hill ponies have received recognition from The Rare Breeds Trust."

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