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JULY 2006

Volume 1, Number 6

Home to ALL Issues of the Newsletter

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New Jersey Pony Breeders and Owners , Inc. is sponsoring an All-Pony Dressage Show on September 23, 2006 at Millbrook Farm in Flemington NJ. Richard and Heather Prant have donated the use of their beautiful new facility and Jaqueline Stapel, USDF "L" judge, has donated her services to help us get started with this innovative show. Prize lists can be obtained at plumtreehill@nac.net or by calling Donna Raquet at 973-383-0456.

INDEX

Excerpts from a book entitled The Welsh Pony (UK) 1913 (click here) compliments of Sally Davidson

Hopefully Sally will send us more excerpts from her book soon! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Information from emails and discussions.

Comments, opinions and articles in this newsletter are not necessarily those expressed by the STV Group, and are the sole responsibility of the author of such comment, opinion or article.

This Newsletter is a new endeavor by breeder members of the WPCSA who support the original breed standards of all sections of Welsh ponies and cobs, and I have volunteered to produce it with the help of all who send me pertinent information, comments and opinions; and everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Denise Loeffel

Welsh Around the World

Check out the pictures on this page which were gathered from around the world. Many of these ponies are alive, producing and showing today! Proves that there are many breeders who still appreciate the Welsh Breed Standard, and are keeping it alive and well!

Our respect goes to breeders everywhere who continue to hold their breeding programs to the high standards of our predecessors!!

Welsh Around the World

Finland

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Sweden

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Great Britain

Coed Coch Pele

Sec. C (UK)

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Australia

The show at Carthage Misouri went very well. I hope all that attended had a great time.

Had a chance to chat with the UK judge.

The excessive white is as hotly debated a topic there as it is here. The sentiment being that these are purely bred Welsh.

These animals NOT accepted into the regular registry because of their excessive white are put into the X recording.... she held up her hands and quoated and said... for now.... This was not a person I was under any impression who was in favor of these animals being recorded.

I asked about the judges meeting to discuss how much white should be allowed in the ring. The decision was that no white unless connected above a line from elbow to stifle.

There was one A filly that came who was flecked with roaning throughout and exhibited several spots when the roaning got to really grouping together. Spots the size of the palm of my hand.

I did not catch who the pony was nor the owner. But I was ringmaster and anyone who knew well my position on this saw me looking hard at that filly.

Sorry to spoil the fun with this.......    sally

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Sally,

I don't think information "straight from the horses mouth" will ever dishearten anyone. I for one appreciate hearing information directly from the source. I believe everyone here knows that the WP BOD have made their decision and are acting on it by registering everything on four legs; I also believe what Marie said is true and it will BACKFIRE in their faces. I guess that's how people learn lessons. Just keep up the good work and report the truth, even if someone doesn't like it, it is the truth!       Denise

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Oh I so hope you are right about the backfiring part!  Problem is, people WANT winners, and paints win in all disciplines and in all breeds.    Cherry

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To All Who BELIEVE in the "rightness" of the "ORIGINAL" Welsh standard and are prepared to stand up for it and defend it...

I too was getting a little despondent about efforts to keep the original Welsh standard in light of what the BOD has done, and is registering as purebreds .... and in light of the lack of obvious interest in the excessive white issue..................  but over the weekend Sara spoke to TWO pony hunter owners who show ONLY IN OPEN COMPETITION. BOTH of those people expressed DISGUST with the Welsh ponies now being bred for the pony hunter market. They noted a lack of pony characteristics, a lack of WELSH disposition, a lack of hardiness, a tendency to having thorobred characteristics and disposition and being unsuitable for children. Color and gaudiness was also mentioned. Kind of an elitist opinion, but one that shows that not all of the hunter people are happy with the current WELSH being introduced into the "Pony Hunter World". And I cannot wait until the ignorant just breaking into the pony hunter world and buying their first ponies butt heads with the people who have been the backbone of that institution for years; then they will be educated and the production of "gaudy mini thorobred pony hunters" will cease, and the market will die.

And "YES"  this opinion WILL go in the newsletter.

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Some of you older folk may remember what happened in the 50's with Shetlands.  They were mass produced, off type totally, ruined conformation and dispositions, the market was flooded with sorry ponies, the big guys got all they could and got out.  The ponies were ruined, the market was ruined and Shetlands sold for $10. in cow sales.  A few of the old time lovers of the breed hung on and kept going.  It took that breed 50 years to recover from the damage of a few power hungry individuals.  I PRAY the Welsh Pony is not headed in the same direction.   Cherry

ps Very good Denise people need to hear your opinions as they are right on.

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THANK YOU Denise that is truly wonderful !

However, what I saw at the last Welsh show I went to was the most deplorable exhibition of A stallions ever attending ANY show. There were 5 or 6 stallions in the class and of those I would call 3 of those breeders millers and 1 closely to that. Though I adore these folks personally I cannot get past the fact that if this is any example of sec A Welsh ponies they are putting this breed in trouble beyond even Cherry's imagination. One most certianlly so poor it was beyond anything I would have ever in my wildest imagination thought possible.

The judge commented telling a story of a breeder of another country buying up ponies of a certian color. Said if that is what is bred for then that is what you will end up with. NOT the exact quoat.

I am reading a book rite now called The Welsh Pony published in 1913. It goes into the problems we are facing now with poor conformation disposition lack of hardyness and character. It is a wonderful book loaded with pictures.

I promise as time permits, I will send parts of it to the group.    sally

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Yes Sally, those type of ponies have been creeping into the shows. In the past, when the judges weren't afraid to "judge" a Welsh pony class, not just do the politcally correct thing, the owners of those ponies would get discouraged after being pinned down time after time and eventually not show those ponies, and in fact many times would improve their choice of animals. Many of those people actually broke down and paid for better animals, and in the end became good breeders.

Perhaps that is where those classes are again. Or, worse, with the advent of "more color, less pony" (one way of saying breeding largely for color) and the WP condoning the pinning of those animals, perhaps judges are encouraged to accept conformationally incorrect ponies along with the excessive white, as a line hasn't been drawn for them. I think back a few months ago I suggested that this may happen. From what you said, it sure sounds like it!  

However, from Sara's discussion with those people who have supported the pony hunter sport for many, many years the awful ponies will not totally permeate the pony hunter rings. Those people that Sara spoke to have had Welsh pony hunters for years and years, they appreciate and love the breed.......... something which I did not realize myself. And are as concerned about what they are seeing as we are, but can't be fooled like some "newbies" in the Welsh world are by the claims of indiscriminate breeders. Many of those open pony hunter owners spend thousands and thousands of dollars a year on "their sport" and trust me, they won't let any mere breeder ruin it. They may not be familiar with a lot to do with breeding or caring for ponies; but when it comes to knowing conformation, movement, disposition and what wins in the pony hunter show ring the old timers wrote the book. No one is going to pull the wool over their eyes. So yes, we have something to worry about. We have to worry about the indiscriminate breeders selling inferior stock to new breeders and to new pony owners. But the people who have been involved with ponies for performance know what they like and don't like, and they are saying they don't like many of the new type Welsh showing up in their show rings. In the long run the newbies will learn too; I think by that time the current fad of gaudy, spindly pony hunters will have run out. I certainly hope so.

I've been seeing many crossbred ponies on the internet that look like Section B's much more than some of the B's do. And you're right, I've seen some pictures of A's that could compete in a breed class with Hackney ponies (without the movement of course).... long spindly legs, muscle-less bodies, and stringy necks too long for their bodies.

MUCH of this problem as I see it (and have for a looooonnnnngggg while) is due to some of the people we use as judges. The JUDGES are pinning ponies that emulate their ideal in a pony, not by the Welsh Standard.

God I hate being so critical, but I hate worse to be comparing our wonderful Welsh with other breeds that they are beginning to resemble so much. Each breed has its own merits, and the breeders should stick with what they have, not try to emulate what they admire in another breed............ AARGH!   Denise

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Plus, a rule that now states that no class can be pinned other than starting with 1st place and so on. This goes on that its because every exhibitor has paid good money to get to the show and that they deserve placings.

Sure isnt anything that would be concidered for the betterment of the breed.

BTW one or even may of the stallions at that show would not have even been good gelding material.... alpo comes to mind. People need to be aware that culling is a necesary process to maintain a high standard... for the sake of the breeds future wellbeing.

We need such judges as you mention and we need a governing body that has the ware-with-all and concern for the future of the breed to not get in the way of a judge actually doing a proper good job of eliminating bad stock from becoming looked upon as desireable breeding stock.That would lead to as you mentioned earlier and that is these exhibitors looking for the better stock, gaining a more true regard for the breed itself and aquiring a true concern for the future wellbeing of the breed.

I commented to these judges at that show... wow, you really gave everybody a chance at a ribbon. The answer was, that it was a matter of which fault was concedered the most serious by whom.

And out they went with big grins Thanking the judges for giving their ponies good ribbons they knew their pony deserved.......... oblivious........  sally

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Cheryl Wilson wrote:

When I was judging a lot more than I am now, saw those kind of A studs Sally is talking about.  The owners would lead them in beaming from ear to ear as they were IMPORTED, (sometimes homegrown).  They would not have made good geldings.  In fact hard pressed in the mature stallion class to find a 'winner'.  That is where the judge has the sad task of picking a 'winner' from amongst a bunch of duds.  Then the rest of that animals life the proud owner can run ads on his 'champion'.  I loved the year, long ago, when Gwynn Berry judged the National at Tulsa and was faced with a class of duds.  He gave the two entries 5th and 6th and said they were not blue ribbon quality and he would not give them 1st and 2nd.  Everyone wanted to string him up.  He is the same one who stood at the in gate like a cop directing traffic, left, right, depending on LEGS and never looked up at any other part.  The ones with poor feet and legs were eliminated BEFORE any judging took place.  Also his Champion mare and Reserve Champion mare were two small Bs, both Clan Dana daughters, broodmares, straight out of the pasture with little kids leading them in web halters.  Well every wanted to tar and feather the guy before he was done.  I thought he and Leonard Milligan were the best judges I was ever privileged to see work.  THAT kind of judging stops what you are talking about, but it takes guts and backbone and INDEPENDENCE, sadly lacking today.   Cherry

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Coed Coch Llabed

Son of Criban Victor in Australia

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Belgium

Section A

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Germany

Section B

Section C

Section B's

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New Zealand

Section A

Section B

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Holland

Sec. A

Sec. B

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Ireland

Sec. A

Sec B

Oh I had the most glorious "pony day" yesterday. I went on a huge road trip to Eastern Ontario & Quebec to see a wonderful old mare and her off-spring - spread across Ontario.  What a delight!! I'll write about my trip later as it was special and I hope it will give Denise some additional material for the newsletter. Anyway...the most amazing development took place as I travelled.  I saw the most gorgeous "REAL" Sec.A ponies (aka "old type") - true Mountain Pony material - and I saw one of the most stunning "new style" sec. A ponies that SHOULD be a Sec. B.  It is so obvious that you will almost cry.  To top it off, I saw and have pics of one of the most gorgeous young Sec. A ponies - unfortunately gelded last month, that anyone would care to own. I have hope and I have been enlightened.  The sorriest part though of my trip was that these folks really don't give two hoots for "Welsh papers".  They have an eye for conformation and quality and they feel the papers aren't needed to prove it. What a day!!  I'm exhausted and still drooling. Take heart group!!  Marie

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From: Sally Davidson

Olive Tilford Dargan is the author. This book was a private printing for Charles A. Stone. He was one of the early US importers and had the prefix Manomet. Hope Ingersall had apparently started with some of these ponies.

.....It is The Welsh Pony

Described in two letters to a friend by Olive Tilford Dargan. Printed privately for Charles A. Stone  :  1913

He was the Manomet breeder and for Christmas presents he would publish books for his friends. The Welsh Pony- His Pedigree letter number one, The Welsh Pony- His Qualities Letter number two.

................ following is some of the introduction

I have been pondering ever since, not only how I might improve and add to my own knowledge of the remarkable qualities of the Welsh pony, but also how I might bring him to the favorable notice of my countrymen. In this endeavor I was fortunatley able to enlist the interest of my cousin, Miss Whitney, whose friend, Mrs. Olive Tilford Dargan, was at that time journeying through England and Wales. Miss Whitney saw the opportunity that lay befor me provided Mrs. Dargan could be won to a study of the pony problem, and promised to set herself at once to the attainment of this object - although she did say such a call upon her friend was about as nearly related to that lady's real vocation as a yokel's whistle to Pan's pipes. I think, however, that the author of the following letters has shown a true idea of the dignity inherent in the mission to which she was summoned, and has indeed written up to it; responding to the request of her friend with a whole-souled heartiness which makes me her grateful beneficiary.                           C. A. S.   December, 1912. 

Letter Number One Londin, England, July 15, 1911

Dear A ---------------------

Some months ago you asked me to tell you all that I knew or could discover about the Welsh pony. I will tell you if you will stand the listening. For since you bade me I have taken the subject to heart and can talk on it from dawn to dusk. We have traveled - pony and I- from Arabia to the Lybian sands and from Scandanavia to the midland seas; and on my recent journey through Wales- that land, as you know, of old adventure and anguish of endless battle- I kept but half an eye in persuit of the vanishing skirts of the romance; the other eye and a half swept along the vista in search of the mountain lady who trips so handsomely on her four feet that Sir Phenacodus Primaevus, could he behold her from his fossil retreat, would acknowledge his success as an ancestor, whatever may have been his discouragements in prehistoric society.

Thats it for now kiddies....... tomorrow I promise some nifty-gritty. Yep, this girl did some digging and sheds light on areas that have been dark far too long. I am ready to hear about the trip in Canada      sally

More from the Book.........

Not withstanding this reinforcement of his aristocracy, there were too many doors left carelessly open. The larger pony of the lower lands was becoming mixed with Cardinganshire cob; and some owners were guilty of letting half-bred Shire colts have the run of the hills. In time the only safe place for the mountain pony would have been the topmost crests, but for an event of happy effect upon his destiny. This was the organization of the Welsh- Pony- and Cob- Society in the Royal Show Yard at Cardiff one springtime eleven years ago. Lord Tredegar was the first president, and after him the Earl of Powys. King George became a patron, and the society aquired an impetus that proved it had not been born too soon. Not only are all the shires of Wales represented in its council, but also the border counties of Monmouth, Shropshire and Hereford. The formation of a Stud Book was the initial practical business of the Society, and its first volumes derive special value from the fact that Wales has always tended to the patriarchial system, and her traditions, wether of horses or families, can be relied upon. There have always been wise and prudent breeders in the land; men who could, in some degree, counteract indifference and hold to ideal aim.

The Society went to its work with "ears laid back"; but I will mention only two of its achievements. One of these, which will affect the pony's future so long as ponies be, as an Act of Parliament that enables breeders to clear the Commons of all stallions which a competent committee decides are undesireable. The common Lands of Wales are so extensive, and comprise so many tracts, that improvement by selection other than nature's is a farce so long as the pasturage is free to any and all. Nature long ago accomplished her best for the Welsh pony, and while he was practically an isolated type it was easy to maintain her standard. But with multifarious breeds and half-breeds in proximity, the carelessness of man was beginning to undo her work, and Wales might have followed Ireland in the deterioration of her pony stock and the loss of a fixed type, if the Society had not actively intervened. The struggle over the Act was discouragingly prolonged, for Taffy is sometimes stubborn, and he could not see that the right to use the Commons would still be a right if it were limited by concideration for one's neighbors. His beast might be as poor a thing as he pleased-- sickle-hocked, goose-rumped, tucked up in the brisket, as some of the larger valley-bred ponies were, and , alas, are-- but if it could successfully beguile the feminine portion of his neighbor's carefully sorted drove, the helpless neighbor, injured in heart and pocket, had no redress. Finally, after many difficulties, unwearying effort, and a constant display of good nature, the committee secured the passage of the Act and put an end to what one of the overworked members, exasperated to humor, termed the "unlimited liability sire system."

Formerly the ponies on the hills had no help from man, however long the snows lay or the wind lashes; but now, if severe weathes persists, they are brought down to the valleys, or rough fodder is taken to them. At Forest Lodge I saw four hundred ponies freshly home from a winter sojourn on the hills near Aberystwyth. They still wore the shaggy hair put on agianst a pinching Febuary and a stinging March under open skies. A little later they would shed these protective coats and be trim and sleek for the summer. I had been repeatedly told that the Welsh pony was remarkably free from unsoundness, but among so many that had not been sorted for the year, and were at the worn end of their hardest season, I expected to find some of the lesser blemishes, if not defects of the more serious kind. But if I did, it was with a rarity that effectually argued agianst them. And I found this true all through Wales. Occasionally I would see low withers, a water-shoot tail, or drooping quarters. But predominantly the quarters were good, not with the roundness that denies speed, burying the muscles in puffy obscurity, but displaying the strong outline which is a plump suggestion of the gnarled and bossy hip-bone beneath. As for the withers that are always to be desired, the Welsh pony is better off in this respect than the other breeds of Britain, unless it be the pure Highland type. You who remember Belmont days full of equine signifcances, need not be told how much the horse is affected in anatomical free play by the withers. If they are high the interlacing fibres attaching the shoulder-bone to the trunk may rise freely, and the shoulder arm be long and sloping - a position which gives easy movement and power to the forearm and the atructures below it 0 the pony moves gracefully, without strain, with good action and sure speed. But low withers limit propulsion from the shoulder, and while there may be good knee action the pony must pay out strength to get it. There is, besides, a strain on the cervical muscles which makes natural grace impossible. Dealers can often persuade buyers that the uprght shoulder is stronger for harness work, and here in London parks I have seen horses of this type dash strainingly along, expending their strength in fashionable action, and with unaviodable pull on the neck "corrected" by the bearing-reinn; the average owner not guessing the dificulty of his creatures, or the torture that in years too few will bring them to a coster's cart or the dump-heap. Having seen and moured such things, I was happy to find high withers the rule in Wales, and to learn that wise breeders were laying stress on this point and breeding for it.

sally

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Hi Denise,
I have to disagree with you on the bigger breeder issue. There are many small breeders that breed junk and big breeders that breed junk. We have close to 20 broodmares and they are all awesome mares. We are having 15 foals next year A, B and Cobs, they are all going to be wonderful crosses and alot of them are new.... Just because we have 20 broodmares does not mean that our quality of ponies is not good, because they are beautiful animals. And yes we do have lots of Sabino Mares and one sabino stallion but we have never had any excessive white foals. As for the Stallion article written by Cherry, I feel really lucky that we have a barn full of exceptional quality stallions. The showing issue on the west coast is different At all of the shows, Gayfeilds Call The Cops, Wedderlie Mardi Gras, Gayfeilds mastermind, another Gayfeilds Stallion, Evans Providence of The Night and many other Top stallions always show in the classes. They never stop showing because they are getting beat by Super Sun or the other way around, we always show him no matter what. It makes you feel really good when you have a strong class and you win :-)

Better get to the barn, Kylee (my 4 year old) showed for a friend of ours who has Miniature Horses this weekend and I have not had time to do much of anything. That was fun, I learned alot of things I didnt know, but would never want to breed and show them, BORING! Accept the little kids classes and driving. I did learn something else, the majority of them cant move worth beans, I guess kind of like the welsh world there are 5 different types too!

Best, Heather
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Heather, And, that is great. Shows you know what you are doing, and CARE about what you produce, unlike some others. I always went to shows with Bard with not a care as to who he was up against, and hoping that everyone entered the stallion classes. But, like I said, a few would not if he was entered. At the time there was one Welsh show in NJ, and one open show with breeding classes, the Eastern Nationals in Pa., NEWPA in Horseheads, the Maryland Pony Breeders show, and one in Va. The shows in NJ, Pa and NEWPA usually had the same ponies in the classes. Maryland was five hours away and when we went to Va. it took 11 hours because some of our caravan had truck problems. That was the most I could do; also money was tight when the kids were young. So as it is the same for many people I emphasize.

I still disagree about the bigger breeder issue; I think many, not all, but many are breeding for a specific market and not for the Welsh standard. I think there are also some small breeders doing the same; after all everyone wants to sell their animals to homes that will show them and win. And specifically the pony hunter market is "THE ONE" that many people are breeding for, and it shows in the type of Welsh that are being produced. It is not necessary though, I never bred to produce pony hunters yet Bard's get and grand get are doing well in the hunter shows and breed shows ..... go figure. Denise

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From: "Ruth Thacker" ruth@farchynys.fsnet.co.uk

To: "Sara Bloomer" welshponiesandcobs@hotmail.com

Subject: Re: B Ponies

Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 21:15:05 +0100

Hello, Thanks for your e-mail. So glad you like Rosemarie, indeed she was our original foundation and beautiful in looks and nature. Our young stallion F,. Rhodri is her last foal and so like her in looks and temperament (although bay). I bought a mare last year especially for him Seaholm Dawn, who is out of Coed Coch Dawn (who was a half sister to Rosemarie), she has a produced a lovely bay colt foal this year by Rhodri, with these bloodlines he may suit you. I attach some photos, although only at a week old. We have had super colt by Rhodri from Dark Secret (daughter of Rosemarie and obviously half sister), but we sold him last year. Regards Ruth  P.S. Your old stallion looked very like Criban Victor !

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Dear Diane, Anne, Sally & anyone else interested in this issue. I would encourage each of you to run for office and that we all help you conduct a campaign where we vote for only those willing to stand up against this e-white issue. What do you say. If we can get some of the Board members changed, then perhaps we can change the travel for meetings also. Let's give it a try. Marie

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Kinko,

Would you consider running? It would be nice to have someone who understands that an elected position is a responsibility to SERVE and UPHOLD the ideals, bylaws, rules and traditions of the organization.

It is shameful that certain board members are making a travesty of the WPCSA. Even more shameful is that other members of the board who should know better are supporting and even defending this blatant abuse of power. Witness letters to and from the board in the Newsletters. Why would we want American Welsh Ponies to become something other than the standards upon which the breed was founded. Do we want to be isolationists? Breeders can and will breed whatever they wish. There is no accounting for taste. BUT we can rigourously defend the color standard. It is ironic that the group who decided that my dun pony was brown (coat was nearly white - cream with black points) because it was "impossible" for that mare to produce a dilute foal, would now rule that pintos are okay. (Pendock Snowdrop subsequently produced another dun and that one was properly recorded -eventually after much ado). Other questionable rulings include another dun- clearly dun on the photos - which had to be registered "light bay"  and another that had to be registered "light chestnut with flaxen mane and tail" rather than "palomino".  These were both out of a son of Snowdrop, It seems certain members of this Board would rather bend reality than face it. I gave up on WPCSA politics long ago because of the ridiculous nit-picking and reality bending.

Paints and pintos OK as purebreds?  NEVER!!!! 

Let's get some people in office who serve the greater good rather than themselves.  People who will defend the breed instead of spreading rumours to assassinate the character of individual members or their ponies. We need people with principles, honor, integrity. As far as I am concerned, anyone who would go along with railroading through a rule change without imput or vote of the membership lacks the integrity needed to serve on the BOD.

Kinko, you are certainly one who lives by principles, who can see the big picture and who can defend a position.  Please run.

Maybe it's time we elect some board members who are passionate about defending the breed standards.  This is no time for a popularity contest. We need effective board members to save the breed! I would also like to nominate Margaret Badger Blackert and Marsha Himler.

Sally Harvey

Things to Do

2. Constantly update people you know who have Welsh as to the status of the issues.

3. Seriously consider running for the BOD. And let us know so we can help campaign.

4. Finally, lets get that slate of candidates together and start sending flyers to WPCSA members with your qualifications. Now...... it's important!

Please delete Marsha's name. The following was sent to the members in my first reply:

I had no idea about her support for pintos in Sections A,B,C or D and have not confirmed that that is her position.  I do not condemn people for liking or breeding pieds.  I just don't want those ponies in Sectiona A, B, C or D.

MInd you I do not object to purebred pintos being registered, but they do not belong in Sections A, B, C or D. I don't see that it's a big deal to track these ponies and record their lineage. I'm not anti-pinto, just anti including them in the Section A, B, C or D.  There is cert ainly nothing wrong with a Half Welsh Pinto!

If someone does produce a pied purebred, they need prood of lineage to register the ponies in some other registries such as various Warmblood and State pony registries (such as Pennsylvania) There is room for a Section X in the WPCSA. It would be a source of revenue for the Society and would serve those who produce excessive white without jeopardizing the traditional Sections. Pied ponies would show with the half Welsh.  If at some point in the future we find huge numbers of pieds turning out for shows, those exhibitors might lobby for their own division at the shows.  There is no harm in recording but separating the pieds.

Sally L Harvey

F.Y.I.   About the author of The Welsh Pony

Olive Tilford Dargan's great-grandmother, Susannah Whitely, was a Virginia aristocrat who married John Day and accompanied him to Kentucky. The youngest of their five daughters and twelve sons was Mordecai Yarnel Day, a farmer who preached that slavery was an abomination before the Lord. His daughter, Rebecca, married into another generations-old Kentucky family when she took Elisha Francis Tilford as her husband. Tilford owned a farm in Grayson County, Kentucky, but like his wife, also taught school. They had two boys and two girls. Olive was born on January 11, 1869.

In 1879 the Tilford's moved to Doniphan, in the Missouri Ozarks, where they founded a school. Three years later they set up another school near Warm Springs, Arkansas. At the age of fourteen, Olive Tilford taught a satellite one-room school four miles from her parents, responsible for forty "children" ranging in age from six to twenty and including two nephews of the notorious outlaw, Hildebrand! At the age of seventeen, she won a scholarship to Peabody College by getting the highest score in Arkansas on a competitive examination. During the two years it took her to graduate from Peabody, she accompanied friends on a camping trip to North Carolina and vowed, "If I ever own a home of my own, it will be in these mountains."

After graduation, Olive Tilford taught in Missouri and Texas. At the age of twenty-four she enrolled at Radcliffe College in Boston where she met Pegram Dargan, a South Carolina poet then a senior at Harvard University. After a year teaching in Nova Scotia, Tilford returned to Boston and renewed her friendship with Dargan. When she moved to Blue Ridge, Georgia, to write, Dargan followed her there. They were married on March 2, 1898, and settled in New York City. It was there that Olive Tilford Dargan began her literary career in 1904 with the publication of dramas written in verse. In 1906 the Dargans bought a large Nantahala River farm in Swain County, North Carolina. When Olive Dargan became pregnant, she stayed with friends in Connecticut. There her premature daughter died within hours of her birth. With dependable tenants to run the farm, the Dargans traveled extensively. Throughout much of the time from 1911 until 1914 Olive Dargan was in England. She completed a non-fiction work, The Welsh Pony, there in England and her first book of mountain poetry, Path Flower and Other Verses, was published simultaneously in both Britain and the United States. When Pegram Dargan drowned off the coast of Cuba, however, Olive Dargan returned to the farm in the North Carolina mountains and spent most of her time there until the farmhouse burned in 1923. During this period, she published three very different poetry collections.

Olive Tilford Dargan moved to Asheville, North Carolina, in 1925. It was there that she wrote the collection of short stories which many consider her best work, Highland Annals, and three proletarian novels under the pen name, Fielding Burke, as well as one final book of verse and one last short story collection. Two of her proletarian novels revolve around the role of mountain migrants in the Gastonia Mill strike, and the third takes place in Colorado during the notorious coal mine strike during which the National Guard attacked a tent city of evicted miners with machine guns. Call Home the Heart is the first of these novels, and generally considered the most powerful. The compelling lead character, Ish, is torn between three suitors each of whom represents an important dimension of life: art, politics, and survival. Although it was published 58 years after her first book, Dargan's last, Innocent Bigamy and Other Stories, still reveals both enormous talent in putting together words, inspired themes, and compelling plots. Olive Tilford Dargan died, at the age of 99, on January 22, 1968.

Olive Tilford Dargan was one of the very best authors ever to come out of the Appalachian South. Her writing is purposeful and meaningful. Few have surpassed her in the description of mountain beauty or in the ability to transmit a feel for human relationships.

An Olive Tilford Dargan Bibliography

by George Brosi

Semiramis, and Other Plays. New York: Brentano's, 1904. 255 pages of verse drama.

Lords and Lovers and Other Dramas. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1906. More dramas written in verse.

The Mortal Gods and Other Plays. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912. A 383-page collection featuring a title play which treats revolution in Mexico sympathetically.

The Welsh Pony. England, 1913. Non-fiction, printed privately. Rare.

Path Flower and Other Verses. London: Dent and New York: Scribner's, 1914. Dargan's first poetry collection.

The Cycle's Rim, 1916. Verse dedicated to the memory of Dargan's late husband.

Dr. Frederick Peterson, co-author. The Flutter of the Gold Leaf and Other Plays. 1922.

Lute and Furrow. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922. 148 pages of poems in celebration of farm life and music.

Highland Annals. 1925. Short stories based so closely on Dargan's Swain County neighbors that it is difficult to determine whether this is a fiction or non-fiction collection.

Call Home the Heart. New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1932. A 432-page proletarian novel written under the pen name, Fielding Burke, that depicts the role of mountain people in the Gastonia mill strike.

A Stone Came Rolling. New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1935. Another proletarian novel, 412 pages, also written under the pen name, Fielding Burke. A sequel to Call Home the Heart.

From My Highest Hill: Carolina Mountain Folks. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1941. A beautiful 221-page coffee table book consisting of the text of Highland Annals with two added vignettes and photographs by the famous photographer, Bayard Wooten.

Sons of the Stranger. 1947. Another proletarian novel, written under the pen name, Fielding Burke. It depicts a strike in Colorado that resulted in a shameful machine gun attack on the tent city of evicted coal miners.

The Spotted Hawk. Winston-Salem: J. F. Blair, 1958. Dargan's last poetry book, 128-pages; it won the Thomas Wolfe and Roanoke-Chowan awards.

Innocent Bigamy and Other Stories. Winston-Salem: J. F. Blair, 1962. A 261-page short-story collection published 58-years after her first book!

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Pit ponies pulling ore car.

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So this part-bred registry would be  a   totally different registry or just another classification within the existing registration for welsh ponies? Would these partbreds be allowed to show in their own division  at the welsh shows or would they have their own shows?  I'm sorry I'm asking all these questions I have some very strong feelings that this could be bad for the welsh pony in general. O.K. , I'm following my first instinct and in my opinion the part bred welsh registry would NOT be a good thing for the WPCSA or the welsh pony. The welsh standard was written for a reason and need s to be used for both judging and breeding guidelines. Kim

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Hi Denise, I am not understanding what a part-bred registration would mean to those of us who own half-welsh ponies. Could you please tell me, so I can form some kind of opinion. Thanks Kim

Someone please respond to this question and I will post it in the next newsletter. Thanks. Denise

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To Everyone...... be aware that the next issue you will see coming at the WP is the request that Half-Welsh be allowed to show in the Purebred Performance classes...... Denise

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Newsletter last paragraph, red letters......  Go check the prize list for Tulsa State Fair...... !!!!!!!!!!!!

sally

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Interesting Notes from the Internet

Lady Wentworth had bred and kept at Crabbet imported welsh ponies, a number of which she bred to the stallion, Skowronek. She had kept and bred to welsh since the early 1920's. At the time of her death she was interested in the crossing of Arabian with Welsh, and in creation of a particularly refined pony. We cannot but feel she would have been interested greatly in what today in known as the Welara. Lady Judith Wentworth is quoted as having written and also stated she considered the "Welsh - Arabian as a cross produced the most beautiful pony on the face of the earth".

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Thoroughbred Heritage - Historic Dams .................. Family B-15: Maid of All Work

This family was included in the Family Table of Racehorses because Zoedone and St. Galmier were top steeplechasaers. The family was traced back to a Welsh pony mare dating to the first decades of the 19th century, her female descendants in this family bred to thoroughbred stallions. Miss Osborne, her great-grandaughter, born in the 1850s, was by Osbaldeston, a son of The Saddler. She produced Hard Times, a winner of three steeplechases, April Morn, who also won three steeplechases, and a daughter, the unraced Miss Honiton, by Honiton.

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South Wales, within easy reach of from most parts of the country, has tended to be associated with coal mining and heavy industry. But now, steeped in history and legend, it is a most fascinating place for the visitor.   To the north of Merthyr is an astonishing contrast with the natural beauty of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The Beacons cover 1,344 sq. km, and is mostly sparsely populated moorland grazed by ponies and sheep. The park is visited by huge numbers of tourists during the summer with pony trekking and hill walking a common sight. At one time, pony trekking became such a popular pastime with tourists and the locals, that many farms devoted most of their resources to it and suspended all their other activities.

The Beacons is abundant in wild life, inhabited by foxes, badgers, polecats, squirrel and a variety of birds. On a walk through the wooded parts of the Beacons, if you are fortunate, you will see wild birds such as woodpecker, tree creeper, stock dove and, on the moors, buzzard and kites may be seen hovering over their prey. There are many fresh-water lakes with Llangorse Lake being the largest in South Wales where many waterfowl breed. Many birds like, great crested grebe, mute swan, sedge warblers and reed buntings can be viewed here in the respective seasons. Occasionally one may see herds of ponies. However, these animals are not wild, but privately owned, registered Welsh mountain ponies, that are bred for their hardiness and abilities to fend for themselves on the bleak Welsh hills. Because they are cheap and easy to keep they are generally broken and sold as children's riding ponies.

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For those who do not know about  Charles A. Stone, he was one of the most important Welsh breeders of his time and   imported-Greylight A1 1062 (728) (Greylight x Bess), who was a Dyoll Starlight grandson in 1913. In 1915 Charles Stone, acquired the Whitney Farm, in New Hampshire. The Plan of the Whitney and Burbank Farms, Owned by Stone Farm Associates, as recorded in 1919, included nearly 1,500 contiguous acres north of the Androscoggin River. Mr. Stone raised Morgan horses and Welsh ponies at the property along with a sizable cattle herd.

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Pit Ponies

The first records of ponies and horses being used underground in coal mines in the UK appear in the mid-18th century when they are reported to have been used to drag a single corf (basket) on a sledge with iron covered runners. The introduction of wooden rails underground meant that a single horse could draw several wheeled tubs at once. By the 1790s, when cast iron rails were becoming more common, one horse could pull about ten rail tubs, each holding around 300 kg of coal.

Records reveal that in thin-seam mines, where roadways were too low for ponies, women and children continued to be used to drag the coal to the bottom of the shaft. The Mines Act of 1842 prohibited all women, and children under the age of 10, from hauling coal or working underground in the mines, this accelerated the use of horses and ponies for underground haulage. At this point times were hard for miner and pony but the situation was to improve.

Major protective legislation, in 1911, followed protests by groups such as the National Equine Defense League, the Scottish Society to Promote Kindness to Pit Ponies and a subsequent Royal Commission Report. This Pit Ponies' Charter governed the condition of stables, daily record keeping and the requirement for a competent horse-keeper for every fifteen horses. Ponies had to be at least four years' old before they could start work underground, and continued until they were no longer fit, often in to their twenties. There was a popular belief that pit ponies go blind underground which is untrue, and the use of blind ponies was prohibited by law.

While some ponies did go blind from old age, and until effective leather headgear with eye guards was designed many ponies injured their eyes at work. Additional legislation in 1949 and 1956 regulated conditions for pit ponies even more closely. These amendments provided for their welfare in far greater detail.

The hours a pony could work were prescribed by law. A forty-eight hour work week was the maximum, except in special circumstances, but it could be less. A pony employed to carry supplies or on repair work, for instance, often worked only three or four hours in a shift. A pony did not work for more than two shifts in 24 hours or more then three shifts in 48 hours. A shift was set at 7 1/2 hours or less.

Pair of pit ponies in Harness.

Pit ponies at the hoist cage

Depending on the task to be done different breeds and sizes of ponies were selected. Horses of 1.7 m (16 hands and 3 inches) height could be used close to the shafts, where many tubs had to be kept moving and the roofs of the haulageways were higher. Small ponies of around 1.2 m (11 hands and 3 inches) height were generally used near the coal faces, with bigger animals up to 1.4 m (13 hands and 3 inches) being employed in the main haulageways with their higher roofs.. Generally geldings were preferred, though some stallions were used, but it was rather unusual to find mares underground.

Breeds varied considerably in different areas, but both Shetland and Welsh ponies were common, as well as sturdy Dale horses. During times of high production, particularly after a slump when stocks of ponies would be low, very high prices could be paid for good animals and in times of shortage, ponies were imported from as far away as the USA, Iceland and Russia.

The selection of the pit pony was a matter of great importance and much care was taken in the process. Numerous characteristics of each horse were weighed before it was accepted for work in the mines. For instance, because of low roofs, steep grades and forced production, a pony had to be low set, heavily bodied, heavily limbed with plenty of bone and substance. They had to be low-headed and must be "sure-footed" and should be not under four to five, and generally not more than 14, years of age. The weight of the animal was important because often heavy loads had to be moved up and down steep grades which, in turn, necessitated sure-footedness because of road conditions. Another consideration was the temperament of the pony. Nervous or shy horses would be very expensive to break in and could cause a great deal of lost time. A good pit horse was one that was even-tempered and kind, a vicious horse was a danger to the drivers, liable to cause bodily injury and/or fatal accidents underground.

Stable conditions were very important and as much as possible was done to tend to the comfort of these animals and lengthen their term of usefulness. In the stable, the height of the roof was to be seven feet when a five foot horse was in use. It should be able to raise its head and relax its muscles because it had to work all day carrying its head low. As little wood as possible was used in the stable to prevent underground fires.

Records in the UK show that the peak of employment for horses underground in the UK was in 1913, according to the Government Digest of Statistics, which coincided with Britain's maximum coal output, when around 70,000 horses were working. The use of pit ponies declined as mechanical coal cutting and haulage systems became more efficient.

The new coal cutting machines actually cut coal too quickly for horse transport to keep pace with increasing production and they began to be replaced by high-capacity systems, at first locomotives and then conveyors. By the end of the 1930s there were around 32,000 horses underground. When the National Coal Board was formed in 1947 it inherited 21,000 pit ponies and numbers continued to decline to around 15,500 in 1952, 6,400 in 1962, then to just 490 in 1973 and only 55 still working in major mines in the UK in 1984. By 1992, one deep mine, Ellington Colliery in Northumberland, England, still had 24 ponies which were used in salvage work. The last of these was retired in 1994 though this was not quite the end as a few remained in use in private drift mines in South Wales.

Today the National Coal Mining Museum for England keeps 4 retired pit ponies in their stable for visitors to see. Many other retired pit ponies have found good homes through the efforts of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the National Coal Board. These are the last of those intrepid ponies that hauled the coal that fuelled the British Industrial Revolution.