Our mares are our treasure. Bred to either of our B Stallions,
produces a concentration of Criban Victor blood thru such outstanding individuals as Cusop Sheriff, Coed Coch Prydyddes, Verity, Vanity, Coed Coch Ballog,
and more with just enough outcross to Section A Welsh to retain the wonderful Welsh type .... conformation, bone, body type, stamina, beauty and ABILITY of the
TRUE Welsh pony. These are PROVEN bloodlines for
performance and an asset to any breeding herd. The concentration of Cob blood not only thru the B's but also thru the A's maintains size thru
generations, you will NOT find a preponderance of T-bred here.
Most importantly our goal is breeding top-quality Welsh ponies which can be, and are, shown both under saddle and in-hand, and all possessing excellent temperaments.
Eclipse will be traveling to the midwest to Stand At Stud in 2012
(more details soon)
(click on Eclipse's picture to go to his page)
(Bristol Encore x Bristol Safire)
Linebred Criban Victor and Cusop Sheriff
Eclipse has bone, substance, and elegant movement to the Welsh Breed
Standard.
His natural walk, trot and canter cover ground with extension and suspension. He is not only a pleasure, but also exciting to ride!
Eclipse' 2011 Filly
Bay roan, out of Bristol Solara
Two of our mares ... Evans Dark Wisdom & GlanNant Fairytale
Our beginning with Section B Welsh
(GlanNant Ballad - GlanNant Sonnet)
Click on the pictures or his title above for more pictures and information
May 14, 1978 - January 13, 2004
Proven Sire of Champion halter and performance ponies AND
of SIRES OF USEF CHAMPIONS
USEF 2008 LEADING PONYHUNTER SIRE #107
USEF 2007 LEADING PONYHUNTER SIRE #113
with 758 points
USEF 2006 LEADING PONYHUNTER SIRE #74
with 2382 points
USEF 2005 LEADING PONYHUNTER SIRE #29 with 7638
points
USEF 2004 LEADING PONYHUNTER SIRE #47 with 4491
points
USEF 2003 LEADING PONYHUNTER SIRE #30 with
7336.5 points
Bard's offspring have been winning since
the 1980's; in 2008, five years deceased, Bard has five sons and grandsons
listed in the USEF Leading Pony Hunter Sires and Leading Welsh Pony Sires ~ Mariner, Tapestry, Sunray, Tom Thumb, & Corsair.
Bard's Sire,
GlanNant Ballad -
2007 USEF #7 Leading Welsh Sire and 2007 USEF #176 Leading Pony Hunter Sire
Preservation Breeding
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.
Genetic diversity
is a
level of biodiversity that refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species.
Biodiversity is a broad concept, so a variety of objective measures have been created in order to measure biodiversity. Each measure of biodiversity
relates to a particular use of the data. As a consequence, biologists argue that this measure is likely to be associated with the variety of genes.
Genotype and phenotype
One's genotype differs subtly from one's genomic sequence. A sequence is an absolute measure of base composition of an individual, or a representative of
a species or group; a genotype typically implies a measurement of how an individual differs or is specialized within a group of individuals or a
species. (see homozygous, heterozygous).
Any given gene will usually cause an observablechange in an organism, known as the phenotype. The terms genotype and phenotype are
distinct for at least two reasons:To distinguish the source of an observer's knowledge (one can know about genotype by observing DNA; one can know about
phenotype by observing outward appearance of an organism).
Genotype and phenotype are not always directly correlated. Some genes only express a given phenotype in certain environmental conditions. Conversely, some
phenotypes could be the result of multiple genotypes. The Genotype is commonly mixed up with the Phenotype which describes the end result of both the
genetic and the environmental factors giving the observed expression (e.g. blue eyes, hair colour, or various hereditary diseases).
Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing
organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common, due to differential reproduction of genotypes. Natural selection acts on the phenotype, or
the observable characteristics of an organism, such that individuals with favorable phenotypes are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less
favorable phenotypes. The phenotype's genetic basis, genotype associated with the favorable phenotype, will increase in frequency over the following
generations. Over time, this process may result in adaptations that specialize organisms for particular ecological niches. In other words, natural selection
is the mechanism by which evolution may take place in a population of a specific organism.
Natural selection is one of the cornerstones of modern biology. The term was introduced by Charles Darwin in his groundbreaking 1859 book The Origin of
Species in which natural selection was described by analogy to artificial selection, a process by which animals with traits considered desirable
by human breeders are systematically favored for reproduction.
"Breeding stock" is a term used to describe a group of animals used for purpose of planned breeding. When individuals are looking to breed animals,
they look for certain valuable traits in purebred stock for a certain purpose, or may intend to use some type of crossbreeding to produce a new type of
stock with different, and presumably superior abilities in a given area of endeavor.
Purebred breeding
Mating animals of the same breed for maintaining such breed is referred to as purebred breeding. Opposite to the practice of mating animals of different
breeds, purebred breeding aims to establish and maintain stable traits, that animals will pass to the next generation. By "breeding the best to the best,"
employing a certain degree of inbreeding, considerable culling, and selection for "superior" qualities, one could develop a bloodline or "breed" superior in
certain respects to the original base stock.
The observable phenomenon of hybrid vigor stands in contrast to the notion of breed purity. However, on the other hand,
indiscriminate breeding of crossbred or hybrid animals may also result in degradation of quality.
Our Welsh ponies and cobs are not registered Sportponies, nor do we have any interest in pursuing that route.
Sportponies are bred to resemble and perform like horses. See the breed description for Sportponies below.
What is a North American Sportpony?
A North American Sportpony is a pony in the general range of 13.2-14.2 h that looks and
moves like a small horse, capable of competing in the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing, as well as in Driving. It is not your
traditional Thellwell type of pony, but rather is much more athletic and horse-like in appearance and ability.
Welsh are not Thelwell type ponies, nor should they look and move like horses. Welsh
ponies and cobs are unique in themselves, bred for many generations to a higher standard for conformation, movement, beauty and disposition.
As the Sportpony Breed Standard encompasses differing conformation, movement and type
principles for the various disciplines in which they compete, and is open to all ponies conforming to sport horse type, it is obvious that the sport
horse and pony standard contradicts the unique though multifaceted qualities of Welsh ponies and cobs bred to the Welsh Breed Standard.
Our goal is to breed Welsh ponies to the WELSH Breed Standard.
Welsh ponies lived the Olympic disciplines of jumping, dressage, eventing and driving for centuries before those 'sports' were
invented, in fact those "sports" aptly describe Welsh pony & Cob lives.
If we go to a show and enter one of our Welsh in a Sportpony class and place...... well, good for them, but it certainly is not our priority.
There obviously is a market for a pony sized horse, we recognize and respect that there are individuals
desiring those qualities.
However we want our Welsh ponies to LOOK like Welsh ponies, MOVE like Welsh ponies, have the bone, body depth, and conformation that Welsh should have, and
have the disposition, the look of eagles, and the stamina that the Welsh breed has been noted for, for centuries. It is for these characteristics
that so many other pony breeds have based their lines on,American Crossbred ponies, Sportponies, POA, Welara, and even many American Shetland ponies.
A Welsh should look like a Welsh, not a crossbred, thorobred, warmblood or arabian. Those that look
like or are conformed like other breeds have absolutely too much horse blood in their ancestry. Check out the various lines of the Welsh breed
on the All Breed Pedigree page, or in books and articles. Yes, it will take effort to do this, but you will see first hand how the human manipulation of the
Welsh breed has been taking place all over the world, and how human manipulation is slowly destroying the inherent true characteristics of Welsh
ponies and cobs. Denise
Did you know....
Welsh Section B Criban Victor
(born in 1944) is the best example of Section B ponies with the "outside" influence of Welsh Cob breeding
for size; not T-Bred, not Arab but Welsh Cob blood.
Champion at Ponies of Britain Show in 1959, 1962, 1965, and 1966 and the NPS Shows
in 1956, 1959, and 1960; made a glorious retirement from the show ring in 1969, aged 25, when he won the Section B Championship and was Reserve Supreme
Champion of the whole show at Caern. In 1978, his image was included in a series of stamps depicting horses, produced by the Royal Mail. Following his death
at the age of 29, his breeder had his head stuffed; and it has since been donated to the WPCS. CRIBAN VICTOR was sired by CRIBAN
WINSTON and gained his height from his dam CRIBAN WHALEBONE, of Cob parentage. CRIBAN VICTOR spent most of his active life at the Gredington Stud where he left
the greatest mark on Section B ponies throughout the Stud Book.
In volume 1 of the Welsh Stud Book the Welsh Mountain Ponies were allowed to be up to 12 hands 2 inches
and every entry had to be inspected and passed, both by an Inspector of the Society and (for stallions only) by a Veterinary Surgeon. Entries amounted to 9
stallions and 273 mare; of the stallions one was grey, the others were dark coloured, mainly bays and browns, of the mares 66% were bay/brown/black, 14%
chestnuts, 8% roan, 4% creams/duns and others of unrecorded colour (only two mares).
and
Influential Section B sire Tan-y-Bwlch Berwyn's sire, Sahara was an
African Barb.
In 1565, noted writer of British horses, Thomas Blunderville, stated that horses commonly called “… Barbarians
do come out of the King of Tunis land, out of Massilie Numidia, were small, but very swift and durable … which is the cause why we (Britains) esteem them so
much.” Many people and historians assume Barb horses are Arabian horses. This confusion and misinformation stemmed from the fact that both breeds eventually
shared the Arabic culture. Also, their respective names were bluntly misused in literature. In 1875, in his British book “The Book of the Horse”, S. Sidney
comments: Every oriental horse, Turk, Barb or Egyptianbred, is called an Arab in this country.” An excerpt from a 1916 Department of Agriculture “Breeders
of Livestock Handbook” confirms: “Recent investigations indicate the Barb to have been the real source of oriental blood. A common error results in the use
of the term ‘Arabian’ in sense synonymous with ‘oriental’.”
The Berbers from North Africa formed a substantial part of the Muslim armies that invaded Spain in the 8th century, and it seems clear that their Barb
horses played a major part in the development of the Spanish Horse, Including the modern version of which is the
Andalucian .
The Barb was also influential in the evolution of the Thoroughbred Horses from North Africa. Variously termed Berber, Barb, or
Barbary, were imported to the Royal Studs of England from before the time of the Plantagenets. Roan Barbary, the favorite horse
of Richard II (1377-99), was one of many horses of the same origin at the king's studs. Barb blood, together with that of the
Spanish Jennet, itself at least a first cousin to the Barb, was certainly a predominant element in the Royal "running horses", which formed the base stock
for the early Thoroughbred.
