with descriptions according to WPCSA Registration Rules
presented by
Cherry Wilson, Breeder and WPCSA Judge
at the 1997 WPCSA Judges Clinic
in Galveston Texas.
Original Welsh Pony and Cob Breed Standard
design by Elgan Davies, UK
Those who defined the BREED STANDARD were the caretakers of the breed who saw a need to have
a general registry for the breeding records, getting them out of each farmer's dining room, and recording them in a central location for all to see and have
access to. They were the breeders of the day, the Welsh breed was centuries old and much commented about in old Celtic writings, and already established
when Julius Caesar invaded Brittany in 55 a.d.
Welsh ponies did not look as they do today, but more like the Celtic root stock,
which is where they came from.
Most of those native ponies of the Celtic root stock looked more or less alike; however the deep valleys, high mountains and
harsh terrain did separate the regions, and "subspecies" developed and in time became different breeds off of the main stem.
We strive to defend the traditional standard because that is how Welsh were defined over a
century ago by the stewards who not only had ponies, but were livestockmen of the highest order. Criban had been breeding Welsh for over 400 years on
their Brecon Beacons. They owned all in the area, including that mountain range and more, until unfortunately a dam flooded much of the valley land and
their old home place.
The Criban, Forest, Revel studs accomplished the nearly impossible feat of producing Welsh
ponies that you would recognize as their own on sight, as did Severn, Liseter, GlanNant and Farnley in the US; without the input of self expressed "experts"
who have done nothing but muddied the clear waters of breeding Welsh ponies and cobs by dire premonitions of "lack of genetic diversity" due to lack of
"new" stallions and broodstock in the US. As if they really knew what genetic diversity is. Just look at the British Riding Pony that many of them
are passing off as Welsh.
The Coed Coch stud lead the way to the modern Welsh pony in introducing Arabian blood in to the Welsh lines, maybe
not realizing that those lines would infiltrate the Mountain Pony lines which are the foundation of the entire Welsh breed, or maybe believing that the
Arabian look would improve the breed; but obviously apathetic to the damage being done to the purity of the breed. The Downland Stud proceeded to devastate
bloodlines further by introducing Thorobred blood into the mix.
Were the predictions of "poor genetic diversity" for the betterment of the breed, or
perhaps only to encourage unknowledgable people to accept a new standard of Welsh ponies and cobs in the US which the newer UK breeders had already done.
Have all breeders and owners fallen for this contemptuous attack on the beauty and strength
of our original breed?
No, you can still find well bred, to the Breed Standard Welsh ponies HERE in the
USA.
Here we are mainly interested in the Section B Welsh ponies where we strive to
breed true to type Welsh.
Breeding that has to a large degree been lost to the UK. Call some of the breeders there,
ask them for Criban Victor bloodstock they will tell you.
That is not to say we are not interested in the Section A's, after all they are
the roots of all Welsh ponies and cobs.
Preserving the original type of the ancestral Section A Welsh pony is the most vital responsibility of all Welsh breeders.
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An Introduction to Heritage Breeds ... Dr. Phillip Sponenberg, Jeanette Beranger, Allison Martin