July 16, 2010
We have just had two of the most
memorable shows we have EVER had!!!
It started with the OWPS Gold show
up in Albany, OR. Our ponies won all of their classes under the
British judge, Catrin Bigley of the Llanarth Stud!
Ms. Bigley placed all of our
ponies and our breeding as her top choices for every Section B
breeding class -- which meant that in the Grand Champion class,
7 out of 8 ponies were OUR breeding! It was an amazing thing to
look out over the lineup and have that realization. Under the
second judge, we fared VERY well also with 6 out of 8 being our
breeding in the Grand Champion lineup!
4 year old mare,
Clanfair All About Me (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras LOM x
*Holyoake Anastasia
LOM) was pinned first in her huge 3 and 4 year
old mares class, Champion mare, and then as Grand Champion! She
was shown by Anna, age 13.
2 year old
*Waxwing Martini won her large
filly class, then was pinned Reserve Grand Champion behind MeMe!
She was also Overall Youngstock Champion!
*Wedderlie Marmaduke, age 2,
won his large (and very competitive) colt class under both
judges, and went on to be pinned Reserve Grand Champion behind
Goldhills Master Bronze, a 3 year old stallion by
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras,
and then on to be Reserve Supreme Champion behind Bronze! We
were THRILLED!
Supreme Champion Goldhills Master Bronze (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x Goldhills Mystique), age 3, owned and
shown by Carrie Macwhorter:
We had a great time at the show,
and it was very gratifying to be so successful. Ms. Bigley said
some very kind words about our ponies, which was the icing on
the cake!
Then came the
SOWPCA Gold show in Medford, Oregon -- which fell during the
hottest days of the year we've had so far! It was 105 degrees on
the day before the show! It wasn't quite that hot the other
days, but it was certainly hot enough to feel like we were
melting!
The show got off
to a wonderful start when
Clanfair Martina (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x
*Holyoake Sonique) made her
debut in harness, driven by Megan Burtness. Martina had had just
a few drives prior to the show, so this was all brand new for
her, but she made us proud by being Carriage Driving division
Champion!!! She looked beautiful and clearly loves her new job!
Then came the breeding classes on
Saturday. We had brought Clanfair Autograph (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras LOM x
*Holyoake Anastasia LOM - full
brother to All About Me) in hopes of making a good dent in the
remaining 35 points he needed to finish Mardi's Sire Legion of
Merit. Auto won first and second in a big gelding class (Clanfair
Frostfire won the other first and second!) and got us
very close! But THEN!! Then,
Clanfair Signature won his
class under both judges, and finished HIS 300 points --- thus
finishing the points for
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras's SIRE
LEGION OF MERIT! It was VERY exciting!!!
But it kept going!!!
The largest class of the whole
show was the 3 & 4 year old Section B mares class. We were quite
well represented with three of our own ponies in the class, plus
a forth mare who is also by Mardi Gras. They certainly all did
us proud, every one finishing in the top class placings, but
Clanfair Martina
(who happens to be my most favorite of any I've ever bred) was
pinned first under BOTH judges! She then went on to be double
Champion Mare, DOUBLE GRAND CHAMPION and then Supreme
Champion!!! It was a HUGE moment for me, as I adore this mare!
I don't really think this photo does her justice, and I sadly
did not get any pictures of her FLOATING around the ring! She
looked absolutely amazing in motion!
I was pretty much on cloud 9 at
that point -- with Mardi's Sire LOM being finished and my
favorite pony winning Double Grand and Supreme!!!
We celebrated with cake after the
show day ended! Thank you to everyone who shared our big moment
with us!
It was certainly the most
memorable show I've ever had. We've won tons of Supremes over
the years -- and every one has been special -- but I have to
say. Martina's Supreme was extra sweet.
Martina capped off her winning
ways by winning Pleasure Driving division Champion and Carriage
Driving Reserve division Champion the next day!
We had a fun photo shoot of the
five ponies making up the "legs" of *Wedderlie Mardi Gras's sire
LOM. Here is my favorite pictures of the shoot (Click
to enlarge):
June 12, 2010
And just like THAT! Foaling season
is over! That was QUICK!
We had only bred one mare (*Russetwood
Romance) for 2010, so originally thought we would
just be having one foal. But over the course of the year, we
ended up with *Rhoson
Bon Bon and I purchased
*Waxwing Curtain
Call. Both fabulous additions to our "Mare Power
Lineup"!
Curtain Call's
filly has stolen our hearts. She's definitely a keeper. What a
sweet little thing she is. We have named her Clanfair Caledonia.
You can go to her page to see her photo gallery:
Click Here
Then came our one and only foal by
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
for 2010. His dam is
*Russettwood Romance, a
daughter of Rotherwood State Occasion, who topped the UK sire
ratings a whopping TEN times! He was a "super sire" and this
mare is just a fabulous example of her pedigree. Her dam's side
is no less stellar, as she is out of the beautiful Royal Welsh
winner, Eyarth Gigi. Gigi is a full sister to the very famous
Eyarth Zsa Zsa, who is the dam of such greats as Eyarth Rio and
Eyarth Beau Geste.
This colt is absolutely
exceptional in every way. We could not be more pleased with him
-- well, unless he had been a filly! But due to the fact that he
*is* a colt, he is offered for sale to the discriminating buyer.
He is everything we love in the perfect Section B, with
exquisite breed type, a gorgeous head and neck, beautiful
compact body with a fantastic hip, and excellent limbs. He has
enormous potential as a show stallion, and later as a sire. Talk
about bred in the purple!
Click here for his photo gallery.
Then..... along came *Rhoson Bon
Bon's foal born early on Thursday morning! Bon Bon is a good
sized mare, standing at almost 13.2 hands. She is a champion in
both halter and performance. Bon Bon's sire is Royal Welsh
Supreme Champion Rhoson Shem, who is also a performance
Champion. Shem's sire is Eyarth Sama, (by the great Royal Welsh
Champion Carwed Charmer), who was exported to Australia as stud
stallion for the Weston Park Stud.
Bon Bon's foal is by Bridlewood
Welsh's Goldhills Most Wanted, a son of Gayfields Call the Cops.
This colt is an interesting mix of imported and domestic
breeding, and is offered for sale for $2500. We expect him to be
a top of the line medium pony.
Click here for his photo gallery.
And just like that.... foaling
season has come to an end. It happened all at once, in just a
few short days, even though the mare's due dates were spread out
over a month's time! Curtain Call went just a few days past her
due date, and Romance and Bon Bon went early!
We now look ahead to our plans for
2011. We have confirmed
Clanfair Martina in foal to
*Mynach Mystical (Eyarth Beau Geste x Mynach Mimosa by Moelview
Mohawk). We are very excited about the way this pedigree will be
woven, and what it should produce. Mystical is a full sister to
our *Mynach Miss Daisy, and to Mynach Miss Prim - multi Royal
Welsh Champion. Martina continues to win both in halter and
performance, shown under saddle by Megan Burtness. We are very
proud of her accomplishments in the show ring, and are really
looking forward to Mardi's first "grand-foal"!
We have also bred
*Holyoake Sonique
and Fantasia
to *Wedderlie Mardi
Gras, and have used
*Eyarth Eragon on
*Holyoake Anastasia
LOM and
*Waxwing Garland. I can't wait to see the foals out
of these mares!
June 6, 2010
Well! That wasn't what I expected
when I went out to feed this morning!
I peeked in at Curtain Call and
her new filly, and then peaked in at
*Russetwood Romance -- and
discovered she had foaled this morning!!!
She has had a delightful chestnut
colt, with a blaze that is wild on one side and conservative on
the other. He has three stockings and the most exquisite head
and neck.
He is our one
and only foal sired by *Wedderlie Mardi Gras for 2010. His dam,
Romance, is an absolutely beautiful imported mare, by the great
Rotherwood State Occasion and out of Eyarth Gigi, who has been a
successful producer for the Cadlan Valley Stud and is a full
sister to the great Eyarth Zsa Zsa. Talk about bred in the
purple! This colt's pedigree is unbeatable!
Here he is at a couple of hours
old:
Sire and
dam:
June 4, 2010
Our first foal of the year is
here!!!!!! She arrived last night at the respectable time of 11
pm.
We are delighted to
welcome a stunning buckskin filly with a blaze and four
stockings! She is out of our fabulous new mare
*Waxwing Curtain
Call (Eyarth Beau Geste x Mynach Pinafore) and by
High Hopes Nitro (*Hilin Peredur x Fferm Gwenffrwd Beginner's
Luck). You can
click here to see Nitro's pedigree.
Nitro has now been gelded and is headed off to be part of a CDE
pair, so this beautiful filly is one of a kind.
We are pleased to
introduce Clanfair Caledonia! Here she is at 13 hours old:
We will have more (and better) pictures in a few
days! In the meantime, she is just a little doll and we are
quite smitten!!
Last weekend was the
Western Nationals in Walla Walla, WA, and we were pleased that
our homebred colt Clanfair Signature was double Champion Colt,
and our own *Wedderlie Marmaduke was double Reserve Champion
colt. Nicely done, boys!
*Wedderlie Marmaduke, age 2
Photo by Arthur Thompson
The beautiful filly
*Waxwing Martini was Western
National Champion filly, and reserve champion under the other
judge. It was a nice show.
Next up on foaling is
*Russetwood Romance, who is in
foal to *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras. We can't wait to see this foal!!!
And if you haven't already -- please join us on
Facebook! There are lots of updates and pictures regularly
posted there on our farm page there.
Click here!
May 7, 2010
We have all kinds of news!
April brought us a new face here
-- a FABULOUS mare that we had wished was ours since she was a
foal! We are absolutely thrilled to welcome
*Waxwing Curtain
Call! Curtain is a daughter of Royal Welsh Champion
Eyarth Beau Geste and out of silver medal winning mare, Mynach
Pinafore, a Moelview Mohawk daughter! Curtain is in foal to a
*Hilin Peredur son and due this month. We can hardly wait!
Our thanks to the Bates' at High Hopes Farm for offering us this
spectacular mare!
April
also brought our first show of the season. We didn't feel quite
ready, but we had a nice time.
*Wedderlie Marmaduke won his
fantastic class of colts under both judges, and then went on to
be Reserve Grand Champion under both judges as well. A nice way
to start his show career. We have added many new photos to
his page.
The fabulous
*Waxwing Martini wasn't quite
as appreciated by the judges as Marmaduke, but she did well in a
good fillies class, winning double seconds, and at least one
reserve Champion Filly. It wasn't quite what we hoped for, but
she showed well and I still thought she was the prettiest pony
at the show!
I have totally blanked out on the
halter placings for
Clanfair All About Me, but MeMe and Anna had a really
nice performance debut together, winning Reserve Champion for
the youth Western Pleasure division!
We've had a whirlwind here with
spring and breeding season in full swing, and then I was away
for a family emergency. I've been home a few days now, and we
are trying to get caught up.
After much thought, I've added two
wonderful ponies to the
sales list.
Clanfair Champagne
& Roses and
Clanfair Queen Anne's Lace --
both 3 year old daughters of
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras.
We've also made video for the
above mentioned fillies, as well as sale ponies
*Skellorn Mystical
and Clanfair
Frostfire. You can see them by clicking on the
individual pages.
We've
been working on getting mares bred for 2011, and will have news
to share as they are confirmed in foal!
March 20, 2010
Happy Spring, everyone!!! It was
an absolutely beautiful day here, once the low clouds wore off!
The ponies are really enjoying the good weather with long naps
in the sunshine, munching green grass and leaving a carpet of
hair wherever they roll!
We are having a "Spring is Here" sale on ponies! We have a
beautiful selection, whether you are looking for top quality
breeding stock or performance ponies, we have something for
everyone. We have a hauler coming here 2nd-ish week in April,
who can provide terrific rates across the country. Shoot me an
e-mail if you're interested in
a pony (or two!) and need a transport quote. Click here to go to
our Sales Page!
I wandered around the farm today
and took some pictures of the ponies and scenery. The ponies are
still hairy and rumpled, for the most part. If you would like to
see them, we would love it if you would become a fan on Facebook!
Click here to go to our fan page!
You will see our Spring 2010 album there.
We also created a page for *Rhoson
Bon Bon today! Click
here to see!
Exciting news coming soon -- stay tuned! ;-)
January 31, 2010
Thank you to all of the mare
owners who took advantage of our early booking special to
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras! We appreciate your business, and look
forward to working with you this breeding season!
We are delighted to introduce
a new face here -- imported Section B mare *Rhoson Bon Bon!
We've admired Bon Bon on the west coast show scene for the past
few years, and we are delighted to have her join our group of
very special imported mares.
Bon Bon is by the fabulous stallion, Rhoson Shem,
who was Supreme Champion at the Royal Welsh in 2006, and has
gone on to place well at the Horse of the Year Show under saddle
more recently. Bon Bon's dam is a daughter of the renowned
Downland Rembrandt.
Standing at 13.1 1/2
hands, Bon Bon herself is a halter and performance champion. She
will now enter our broodmare band and will be bred to *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras in 2010 for a 2011 foal. She is currently in foal to
Goldhills Most Wanted, and that foal will be for sale.
Bon Bon is extremely typey, with a gorgeous
head, HUGE dark eyes, tiny ears, tons of body and strong
hindquarters. We've long wished to pair her with Mardi, so we
are very excited about her as an addition here at Family
Partners Welsh Ponies! Thank you to Goldhills Welsh!
January 24, 2010
It's a dreary and rainy day here
in Oregon, but I really can't complain too much -- we've had
some very mild weather here lately, with the exception of a week
of well below freezing temperatures in December. Since then, the
weather has been varying from about what we expect for this time
of year to milder than normal, with even some sunny days!
The beginning of our new year was
marred by our beautiful newly imported mare, *Mynach Manilla,
becoming very ill. She spent three weeks being treated at our
university vet hospital and finally came home this past
Wednesday. She received terrific care at the University of
Oregon and seems to be doing well at home. She is the absolutely
sweetest pony, and has been an absolute pleasure to care for. We
are hopeful that she will make a full recovery.
December 2, 2009
Overcast and COLD
Oh
happy day!!!! The new ponies from Scotland arrived today! It
seems so long ago that we visited bonnie Scotland -- and it has
taken so long for the ponies to get here!
First they were picked up by Owen
Jones of the Nebo Stud, and brought to his farm in Wales for
quarantine and paperwork on the UK side. Then they shipped to
Frankfurt, Germany and then they flew to Ontario, Canada. Diane
Jackson of Arnaby Farm met them at the airport in the middle of
the night and brought them home to her farm for quarantine on
October 17th. They were with Diane until 9 days ago, when they
were picked up by Performance Horse Transport for the long road
trip home from Ontario to Oregon.
This time I had a very difficult
time finding transportation for the ponies, but really was
thrilled with Performance Horse Transport and would definitely
recommend them! The ponies stepped off the trailer looking VERY
well and had clearly received the very best care, both while at
Diane's farm and while on the road to Oregon.
All the years that we have
imported ponies, and all of the ponies that have flown over the
ocean and arrived at our farm -- after all of that, it is still
an awe inspiring experience to see these beautiful creatures who
have come so far from the place of their birth step off of the
trailer and into our front yard. The excitement is not
diminished at all by the fact that we have imported ponies
before. Each time it is a breathtakingly exciting experience,
and this was certainly no exception!
We welcome Section B Welsh Pony
colt, *Wedderlie
Marmaduke, a yearling, sired by the illustrious
Moelview Mowhawk, a champion in his own right and a son of the
champion stallion Eyarth Tomahawk. Marmaduke's dam, Wedderlie
Mariota is a Royal of Scotland Champion and a beautiful full
sister to our
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras. Marmaduke is the next step for
our breeding program, and we are thrilled to represent Wedderlie
Farm with the only Wedderlie ponies in America! Thank you to
Wedderlie Farm for allowing Marmaduke to come to the USA!
*Waxwing Martini is an
exquisite palomino yearling Section B Welsh filly. She looks
like the princess pony every little girl has ever dreamed of!
Golden and adorable, with superb type, a pretty little head with
tippy ears, a beautiful neck and a fantastic body, good bone, a
short back and that good hip we love and that is so hard to find
in many Welsh. Martini is sired by the GREAT Royal Welsh
Champion Eyarth Beau Geste and out of Wedderlie Martina, who is
by the well known champion and champion sire, Eyarth Rio.
Martina herself is out of Wedderlie Marianne,
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras'
dam -- which makes Martini a 7/8 sister to Mardi Gras!
While visiting the Waxwing Stud in
May, we fell in love with the three year old Section B mare,
*Mynach Manilla,
a daughter of Eyarth Beau Geste and the very last foal of the
great mare, Mynach Mayflower -- a cross that has been extremely
successful and has produced champion after champion. Mayflower
truly is one of the best producing mares I have ever seen -- her
daughters make up the backbone of the Mynach and Waxwing Studs
-- and are among the very best Welsh Ponies I've seen anywhere
in the world. Any one of them would be a privilege to own,
and Manilla is no exception! A typey head, huge eyes, well
shaped neck, bone, tons of BODY and that GREAT hip and
hindquarter make her a VERY exciting addition to our breeding
program. We are extremely excited about the bloodlines she
brings and hope she has a great breeding career for us.
Our sincere thanks to the
Waxwing Stud for making our purchase of Martini and Manilla
possible! We are so grateful to have the opportunity to bring
such GREAT ponies to the USA!!!
Here are some photos of their
arrival:
Marmaduke napping after his long journey!
Welcome to the USA!!!
November 25,2009
Fall has brought cold and wet to
our part of southern Oregon. The ponies are extremely furry, and
some of the broodmares and the show ponies have their winter
blankets on. The show ponies are enjoying their down time, and
spending lots of time romping across the pastures!
The big news, however, is that the
three new ponies from Scotland are FINALLY on their last leg of
their journey home! If you haven't already read about our big
news, click here to
read the whole story!
Our thanks to Diane Jackson at
Arnaby Farm in Canada for providing quarantine, virtually daily
updates, and kissing their adorable pony noses for us! We can't
WAIT to have them home!
This morning they were driving through Thunder Bay, Canada, with
a planned layover in Winnepeg tonight. We are hoping they will
be here this weekend. Watch this space for updates!!!
October 18, 2009
cool, crisp fall weather
Well, the show season has well and truly drawn to a close for
2009. I put up the tails on
Clanfair Malibu Barbie and
Clanfair All About Me
this afternoon, and turned them back out in the filly pasture to
spend the fall and winter out with the other girls their age.
Barbie was very reluctant to go "Whaaa??? What about my
blanket? What about my stall? Grain? Will I
get grain down here?" MeMe, on the other hand, romped off
across the pasture and never looked back! LOL
We like to give our youngsters
plenty of down time after a busy show season, and I'm sure they
will be furry and muddy like the rest of the ponies in no time!
We are enjoying all the bright
fall colors, and this fall has brought the best walnut crop
we've had in all the years we've lived here -- astounding. We've
been picking them up like crazy, though I'm starting to think we
have more picked up than we'll use in two lifetimes!
We've had some lovely, quiet
drives with *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras around the ranch, enjoying the scenery and
the fall colors. He hasn't been driven since 2007, but we hooked
him right up and away we went -- he didn't forget a thing!
Here's a photo I took with my phone the other day as we went
through the woods in the mare pasture:
All of the
2009 foals are now weaned, and
have completely forgotten about their mothers. We weaned them
right away when we got back from Tulsa, and I have to say it was
one of the easiest groups we've ever done. Hardly any calling
and by the end of the afternoon, everyone was happily munching
hay. The mares are now all turned out in their fall/winter
quarters in the hay field, and things are quiet around here
these days.We are,
however, counting down until the
new ponies arrive! We got the
happy news yesterday that they had landed safely in Canada (and
that Marmaduke
is "to die for"!), and now they will spend a few weeks
completing quarantine bloodwork and paperwork before they come
home. We are so excited -- and it is hard to wait patiently!
Watch this space for updates when
they arrive!
October 5, 2009
cool, damp and overcast
Well, after 66 hours of driving we've gone and come back from
the American Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma! When we drove away a
week ago,
it was hot summery weather -- but in the week that we were gone,
it totally changed to fall! It is very cool, damp and the trees
are rapidly changing. It is quite an extreme difference!
We had an uneventful drive to and from
Tulsa, crossing 7 states on our trip. We saw wild
Mustangs and burros on the trip and lots of beautiful
countryside -- though both of the times we crossed through
Wyoming it was dark, so I totally missed seeing it! Kansas,
however, was unexpectedly beautiful and I saw tons of fantastic
scenery there!
The
weather couldn't have been nicer in Tulsa, and it was wonderful
to meet both new and old friends there. We felt very welcome and
had such a good time.
We
got to see a 2 year old daughter of our
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
handily win her Half Welsh class under both judges, and then go
on to be pinned Grand Champion Half Welsh under both judges also!
Mardi Gras Trinket belongs to the Landrums (and is for sale!)
and they did a beautiful job turning her out and showing her.
She looked fabulous and her win was well deserved -- and also
her second time around -- she was double Grand Champion last
year as a yearling too!
Mardi Gras Trinket - 2007 Half Welsh Filly by
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
Double Grand Champion - 2009 American Nationals, Tulsa, OK
Friday was our big "show day", and
a very, very long day, with virtually every class filled with
tons of entries. *Wedderlie Mardi Gras's
class came late in the day, and we were so excited when
he won it under both judges, then was Champion Stallion under
both judges, Grand Champion and Reserve and then went on to
Supreme Champion -- his ELEVENTH of the season! What
a year!
Here are some photos of Mardi
at the show:
We had a really wonderful time in
Tulsa, and can't wait to go back again!
September 12, 2009
Congratulations to Megan
Burtness of Bridlewood Welsh, the new owner of
Clanfair Signature
(*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
x *Holyoake Sucura)!
Signature (a yearling) showed at
the 2009 Western Nationals and was pinned double Reserve Grand
Champion and Western National Reserve Supreme Champion!
Congratulations to Carrie
MacWhorter, owner of Goldhills Makebelieve Princess (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x Goldhills Mystique), Champion and Reserve Champion
mare (age 3) at the Brookside Welsh Show!
We are delighted to see the Mardi Gras
babies do so well for their new owners!
August 23, 2009
We just returned home from the
Oregon Welsh Pony Society's Gold Rated Welsh show and it was
another GREAT show for our ponies!
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras did
it again! Double Grand Champion and then Supreme
Champion of the show, a new record of
TEN Supremes in one show season! Wow!
Also a great show for the Mardi
get!
Clanfair Autograph was Overall Youngstock Champion in a big
class of beautiful youngsters!
Clanfair Autograph - 2 year old Section B Welsh Pony colt
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
x *Holyoake Anastasia
We also just got the news that
Clanfair Martina
was the Division Champion for English Pleasure! This is her
second under saddle show -- we are thrilled! She was also
entered in the Trail class to fill it, and ended up doing so
well that she won a 2nd place ribbon, in spite of never having
done any sort of obstacles like that before! Thank you to Megan
Burtness for doing a great job showing her!
Clanfair All About Me, full
sister to Autograph, above, earned double 2nds in her excellent
mare class, and we were very pleased.
Goldhills Master
Bronze (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x Goldhills Mystique) swapped first place
ribbons with Autograph. Photo below:
It was a great show, very
pleasant, well run and an awesome show facility! We are hoping
for more shows there in the future!
August 8, 2009
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras does it
again!!!
Double first place in his stallion class, double Grand Champion,
DOUBLE SUPREME CHAMPION at the SLWPA Summer Gold show in
California!!!
This now
makes 9 Supremes for Mardi so far for the 2009 show season!
This beats his previous record of 8 Supremes in once season!
EIGHT of those Supreme titles have been won at four shows --
which means Mardi has been Double Supreme a whopping four times
this year! Double Supreme is as good as it gets!!! We are
thrilled!!!
Mardi's three
year old daughters,
Clanfair All About Me and Goldhills Makebelieve
Princess (owned by Carrie MacWhorter), took turns winning their
very competitive mare class, then each were named Champion Mare,
and both were Reserve Grand Champion behind their sire!
Exciting!
Yesterday,
Clanfair Martina, age 3, made her performance debut in the show
ring, ridden by Megan Burtness. I am delighted to report that
Martina won two firsts and a second, making her the English
Pleasure division Champion! We are so excited to see her do so
well in her very first under saddle classes!
Goldhills Makebelieve Princess,
also age 3, added yet another English Pleasure division
championship to her already amazing resume at this show as well!
(in the over 12.2hh division)
Join the winning team -- we have
beautiful ponies by Mardi available for sale! Visit our
Sales List
and 2009 Foals
page!
August 2, 2009
We had a terrific show at the
SOWPCA Silver show this weekend! The classes were good, and the
ponies did great! The highlight of the show of course was
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
winning DOUBLE Supreme Champion! This is the THIRD time he's
done that this season, and that brings his season total to 7
Supremes so far! Mardi's 3 year old daughter,
Clanfair All About Me, was the
winner under both judges in her big mare class, and then went on
to be Reserve Grand Champion behind her sire. How fun!
Sadly, no pictures. :-( I'll have
to get caught up on that soon.
I leave at 4 am, headed to Pony
Finals in Kentucky. I've never gone, so I'm very eager to see
everything! I'll update when I get back!
July 23, 2009
Finally.... we have big news to
share with the rest of the world!
July 20, 2009
hot
It has been a
whirlwind around here!
We
have all kinds of exciting show news!
This past weekend we attended the
Southern Oregon Welsh Silver Show, where
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
was Grand and reserve Grand Champion, then Supreme Champion --
his 5th of the season! Wooo!!! His daughter,
Clanfair All About
Me (out of *Holyoake Anastasia) was also Grand Champion and
reserve (beating her sire, and also placing just behind him!), and Reserve Supreme Champion!
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras, left -
Clanfair All About Me, right
In other show news this weekend,
we'd like to congratulate Margaret Ragan and Dena Ragan-Radosevic
on the success of their 2009 Section B Welsh Pony colt by
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras, who was Jr. Champion and reserve champion
colt, and then went on to be pinned Reserve Grand Champion at
just 6 weeks old! Congratulations!
Photo by Dena Ragan-Radosevic
We'd also like to congratulate
Heather Luing on her Mardi Gras colt's Weser-Ems inspection!
Movado, out of an Oldenburg mare, scored Premium at his recent
sport pony inspection! Congratulations!
Meanwhile, 3 year old Mardi Gras
daughter Goldhills Makebelieve Princess AKA "Tiara" has been
taking the Welsh performance scene by storm here on the west
coast! Tiara is owned and shown by Carrie MacWhorter, and has
already
won Western Division
Champion three times and English Division Champion an impressive
seven times plus Reserve once so far this
season. This has been in large, tough classes of seasoned
ponies. Congratulations and well done, Carrie!
Photo by Megan Burtness
Tiara's 2 year old "little brother",
Goldhills
Master Bronze, owned by Goldhills Welsh in California was
recently pinned Reserve Supreme Champion behind his sire,
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras! Congratulations to Goldhills Welsh!
Mt. Ridge Latte,
Mardi Gras' very first filly,
now age 4, was recently double Champion Mare, double Reserve
Grand Champion, and went on to be Reserve Supreme Champion!
Thank you to Megan Burtness, Bridlewood Welsh for showing her
for us!
The Mardi Gras get are definitely making their
mark in the show rings here on the West Coast! If you are
looking for your own FANCY future Champion, check out our
Sales Page
and 2009 Foals Page!
We have some spectacular Section B Welsh Ponies for sale that
will do VERY well in the show ring!
July 3, 2009
hot
Well, we have not
only been busy, but we have been busy living life on a roller
coaster!!
We've been very
wrapped up in haying, off and on for the past month or so. We
finished the hay here at the home farm in time to get packed up
and head to the Oregon Welsh Pony Society's 39th annual show.
This proved to be an extremely large show with 127 ponies in
attendance!!
All of the
ponies placed very well with
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras daughters
Clanfair All About Me
and Clanfair Martina
both winning Champion Mare under different judges. That was fun!
But of course the highlight was
when *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras won Supreme Champion
under BOTH judges!!! As far as showing goes -- it
doesn't get any better than double Supreme!!!
The down side of that day was that
while we were waiting for our classes to start, I had a phone
call from home that
*Skellorn Mystical had foaled
and all was not well. That is one of those feelings that makes
you know exactly where the pit of your stomach is located.
Fortunately we had an extra car at the show grounds, as our son
Charlie had driven up separately from the rest of us, so I was
able to take Charlie's car and head for home at a high rate of
speed. I called the vet on the way home to meet me at the farm, though
I beat her here by about half an hour.
When we had left for the show, I
had looked at Mystical and thought she looked like she'd easily
go another two weeks. She was "due" on July 5th, and while she
had *some* bag, it was not looking like she was at all close. On
the other hand,
*Skellorn Coral Rose looked like she could be ready
about the time we'd be getting home.
I arrived home to find a tiny bay
filly crumpled at the edge of the pasture. She had not nursed,
the mare had not passed the placenta and due to very contracted
tendons, the filly was unable to
stand. Things were looking pretty grim. We carried the foal to a
stall and I set about getting some milk into her. Mystical was a
trooper about being milked, and after I'd gotten a bit of
colostrum into the filly's mouth via syringe, she found her suck
reflex, and I was able to give her more colostrum via a baby
bottle. The vet arrived shortly after, and we were able to wrap
her legs, which allowed her to stand. She continued to drink
from a bottle, but we were able to get her onto the mare in
fairly short order. We were feeling pretty optimistic that all
would be well......... and then she crashed.
She was not maintaining her body
temperature, was fighting dehydration and was too weak to
continue nursing from the mare. We had one scare where her
temperature dropped to 95.2 and we worked very hard to warm her
up. By then she was not up to nursing on the mare, so for the
next week I fed her hourly from a bottle from 6 am to midnight,
then every two hours in that intervening time -- with Gary
taking a couple of the night shifts, thank goodness! It was
quite rough, and indeed one of the hardest things I've ever
done. Talk about sleep deprivation!
Here she is at 8 days old sleeping
in Anna's lap:
She was what we call "dysmature"
-- basically a premie, though born within normal gestation
dates. We had MANY vet visits, and she
had low IGG numbers, so ended up needing plasma, which we gave
her via IV three times. We are extremely fortunate to have an excellent
vet who really poured herself into helping us save this baby,
for which we are very, very grateful. In all of the years we
have bred ponies, we've never had a foal with any kind of issues
like this -- so this was a real learning experience for us.
However, I sincerely hope to never need any of this knowledge
again!!
Today, the filly, as yet unnamed, is thriving,
and you'd never know she had such a rough start! In
spite of a gazillion (and it really DID feel like that many!)
bottles, she was able to go back to nursing on the mare. It was a
lot of ups and downs, and there were times I walked back to the
house in tears thinking things were not going well. But she has
just continued to improve and is doing so well now! We had her
out this evening running around the yard, doing laps around her
mother and grazing on the lawn like a "big pony"! She has LOADS
of personality, and after I've spent so much one on one time
with her, I'm completely smitten. I've kissed her little nose
more times than I could ever count. I have to say, even at the
worst of my sleep deprivation, I was happy to see her every time
I went out to the stall, even in the middle of the night. She
was always so bright and happy to see me -- it made it totally worth it.
Here she is a few days ago at
11 days old. How could you not love that face and those big
bright eyes?! (and she's MUCH cuter in person!!)
So........ Mystical's filly was
born June 20th, and in the midst of all of the efforts to keep
her alive, Coral
Rose decided to deliver her Mardi Gras filly at about
6:30 pm that same day!!! She had a huge and gorgeous -- and
totally healthy! -- chestnut filly that we have named
Clanfair Ruby Rose.
She's absolutely beautiful!!! I am truly delighted with this
cross. Her "big sister" Clanfair Champagne & Roses has grown
into the lovliest of 2 year olds. I am extremely impressed with
this cross.
While I was home during the days
caring for the filly, Gary, Charlie and Anna were off at the
other farm haying. Fortunately it all went very smoothly and we
now have a barn full of beautiful hay to feed ponies all winter
long! It is such a great and satisfying feeling! While putting
up our own hay is a LOT of work, it also ensures that we have
lots and lots of it, not to mention it is the quality we want to
be feeding.
So......
round 2 of haying finished up just in time for the Santa Barbara
National Horse Show! While it is quite a LONG drive from here,
it is *such* a fun venue -- a beautiful location, and the show
is held in conjunction with gaited breeds -- Saddlebreds, Pasos,
Hackneys and Fresians -- though I guess those wouldn't be
considered "gaited". It makes for an exciting atmosphere with
tons of colorful flags flying in the breeze all over the show
grounds and Saddlebreds being prepped to go into their show ring (plastic
bags, whips, even fire extinguishers!) just across the fence
from where we are showing our Welsh. Quite a different world
from what we are used to! The Santa Barbara
show has sometimes had trouble bringing in enough ponies to make
their Gold rating, but this year I was told there were
approximately 100 ponies in attendance, so making Gold was easy
this year!
Show news, you ask?! Well,
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
made us proud and won Supreme Champion
under BOTH judges!!!
What fun! I was so excited!!!! Unfortunately I wasn't there
(home making sure all was well with the filly), so didn't get
any pictures. I'm waiting for the show photographer to upload
what she took there, so hopefully she will have captured
something good and I will have beautiful photos to share here
soon! Mardi won beautiful flowered sashes -- quite different
from everything we've won before. Pretty cool!
In other news.... I've just added
some new photos of the other most recent filly to her page.
Clanfair
Imagination (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x
Goldhills Imagine That) - here
she is at 2 1/2 weeks old:
We're pretty pleased with her! She's going to make a wonderful
show pony for someone -- and she's for sale!
We're now hoping to relax and
catch up on some sleep around here!
June 12, 2009
We have another beautiful new filly by *Wedderlie Mardi Gras!
Goldhills Imagine That (*Telynau Jacobite x Goldhills Illusion)
surprised us this morning! I was still in bed when I heard
hooves on the stall wall, which caused me to go running out in
my pajamas expecting to see a mare cast in the stall -- and
instead I found this beautiful filly trying out her brand new
legs!
She is palomino, but will definitely turn grey. And she's
adorable! We're having lots of fun cuddling her! More (and
better) pictures
soon!
May 16, 2009
We just returned from an
amazing trip overseas (more about that soon!) and came home to
an absolutely stunning new filly! Sired by *Wedderlie Mardi Gras
and out of our beautiful *Skellorn Chantilly Lace, we are
delighted to welcome
Clanfair Crimson Lace, who we will retain
as the eventual replacement for her fabulous dam. What a
spectacular filly this is with size, substance, bone and tons of
presence. We are thrilled!
April 14, 2009
cold, windy, rain, hail, sun
We have a new foal!
We had a bit of a wait from
*Waxwing Garland,
who went right on past her due date of April 9, and had a lovely
colt for us on the evening of April 12th. He is a lovely bay
with a tiny star and two rear white pasterns. He is SUPER
elegant with a really gorgeous head, and quite big! We think
he's going to be a good sized medium. He's really friendly, and
we are having a lot of fun with him.
This colt is our own first foal
from our lovely boy,
*Holyoake Copper-Field. Copper
is a full brother to *Holyoake
Anastasia LOM, but has only had foals for others thus
far.
We took a few pictures this
afternoon in between the rain and hail. It was a nasty weather
day, with extremely cold wind -- it does NOT feel like April!
Fortunately he is now tucked into his nice warm stall for the
night!
We are still working on a name for him. Our
prefix is Clanfair, and it will begin with G, like his dam. But
so far we're drawing a blank! If you have an idea,
let
us know!
April 5, 2009
Yesterday was the first west
coast Welsh show of the season! It's too early for us Oregonians
to be heading down south with ponies that are still a bit hairy
and while we're on foal watch, so we stayed home -- but we were
well represented by two lovely Section B Welsh daughters of our
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras!
Mt. Ridge Latte (*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x *Millcroft Java) was first in her good mare class
under both judges, was Champion Mare under both judges and went
on to be GRAND CHAMPION and Reserve Grand Champion!!! Our thanks
to Megan Burtness for her excellent job of showing Latte for us!
Photo by Linda Davis
National
Champion Goldhills Makebelieve Princess (*Wedderlie Mardi Gras x
Goldhills Mystique) made her performance debut at this show, in
the extremely capable hands of her owner, Carrie MacWhorter, and
came away with ALL the blues in English Pleasure, which made her
the division Champion! Congratulations Carrie and Tiara! Great
job!!!
Photo by
Megan Burtness
We are home on foal watch right
now -- waiting on the beautiful *Waxwing
Garland, who is in foal to *Holyoake
Copper-Field. We're very excited about this cross! Garland
is keeping us waiting, however -- though she does finally seem
to be making some good progress. However, we're a little
perplexed, as her milk tests are not in agreement with how she
looks -- so this may get interesting! Check here for news! We'll
post as soon as the foal arrives!
March 22, 2009
We've picked a name for our new
baby! He will be called Clanfair Red Robin. We LOVE him! He has
the same FABULOUS personality as his big sister, Clanfair
Martina. He's already so people oriented and SUCH a good boy!
We've got new
pictures of him at a week old! Click
here to see them!
We are having a GREAT time with him!
Next up on the
foaling roster is our lovely *Waxwing
Garland (Royal Welsh Champion Eyarth Beau Geste x Mynach
Mary Rose) who is in foal to Champion
*Holyoake Copper-Field. Copper is a full brother to our
great show mare, *Holyoake Anastasia LOM
and stands a full up 13.2 hands. We are very excited to see what
we will get from this cross! I have high expectations, as this
will be a superb and VERY proven pedigree.
March 12, 2009
Our darling new baby had his
first turnout today, on a most gorgeous spring day! What fun!
Here are some photos of him:
March 10, 2009
Our first foal of the season
has arrived!!!
*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x *Holyoake Sonique had
a Section B colt, chestnut, with a big blaze like dad, and four
matching socks. He's beautiful! He was born at 5:45 this
morning. After three
fillies in a row, this is Sonique's first colt. Here he is at 11
hours old:
February 28, 2009
overcast, cold
Well, my favorite time of year
is finally here! FOAL WATCH!!! Think of Christmas when you were
6 years old -- that's me right now!
First on the list this year is
*Holyoake Sonique,
one of the best producers we have ever owned. She is carrying
foal #4 by *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras, and what a phenomenal cross this has been
for us! The first was my favorite of anything I've ever bred,
Clanfair Martina,
followed by the cutest foal EVER,
Clanfair Malibu Barbie, who was
then followed by one of the sweetest fillies ever,
Clanfair Keepsake,
who we tragically lost in a freak pasture accident a few weeks
ago. Absolutely devastating, and I am certain I will miss that
filly forever. She was unbelievably special. We've cried a river
of tears around here over that one.
It makes the anticipation of
this new birth that much more sharp. Sonique is technically not
"due" until March 20, but she looks to follow her usual trend of
foaling a few weeks early. Right now she has a huge bag, and has
changed shape. We haven't been able to obtain a large enough
sample for milk testing yet, but perhaps tonight!
Watch this space -- I'll post
right away when our new baby arrives!
*Wedderlie Mardi
Gras x
*Holyoake
Sonique
I want to congratulate
St. Louis Equestrian Center on the birth of their 2009
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
filly! This filly, a palomino who has been named "Ivory League"
(isn't that the best name?!) is a full sister to last year's
version, "Tuesday Morning", out of a lovely Thoroughbred mare.
We're hoping to have pictures to share soon!
February 14, 2009
It's early, and we are finishing
up our packing and heading out. We are making a stop at the
California Welsh club's AGM this evening, then heading down to
Pomona, California for an embryo transfer course, offered by
equine-reproduction.com on Monday! I'm very excited, as I've
wanted to learn about this for a long time! I hope to attempt
embryo transfer on one of our girls this year. :-)
In other news, congratulations to
Heather Luing at Whispered Wish Weser-Ems in Florida, on the
birth of the first
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras foal of the season! He arrived
on February 9, and here he is at 2 days old! What a CUTIE!!! We
just love seeing the Mardi Gras stamp on his foals, and this
very handsome boy is no exception!
MOVADO - Palomino colt with blaze and four whites,
out of a lovely Oldenburg GOV mare.
Pictured at 2 days
Owned by Whispered Wish Weser-Ems, Florida
January 10, 2009
sunny and beautiful!
It is a beautiful (rare) sunny day
here today. It started off cold, but now all the ponies are
napping in the sunshine and soaking up as much of it as they
can!
Today
the long awaited "manilla envelope" arrived from the WPCSA, full
of our award certificates for the ponies we showed in 2008!
Though we did not go to very many shows at all, we had fantastic
results at the ones we DID attend, and I was extremely pleased
at how well our ponies did!
*Holyoake Anastasia LOM
2001 Section B mare
The most exciting news is that Annie finished her Legion
of Merit in 2008, in just a few shows!
In addition to her LOM, she also won the following 2008
WPCSA awards with very limited showing:
WPCSA National High Score winner - third place Adult
Pleasure Driving 12.2/over
WPCSA National High
Score winner - fourth place - Ridden Welsh Classic A/B
Northwest Region Reserve Champion Section B Mare
Northwest Region Reserve Champion Carriage Driving
Northwest Region Reserve Champion Pleasure Driving, over
12.2h
Northwest Region third place Ridden Welsh Classic A/B
Southwest Region third place Adult Pleasure Driving,
over 12.2h
Northwest Region fourth place English Pleasure, over
12.2h
WPCSA National top 10
Sec. B mares
WPCSA National top 10
Carriage Driving |
 |
Clanfair All About Me
(*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x
*Holyoake Anastasia)
2006 Section B filly
MeMe had a great show
season! She showed with Cheryl Maye back east for part
of the season, and then was brought home, and to a few
shows by Kristi Gates, then home with us and went on one
outing to California and one here in Oregon. She really
had a lovely year!
She
won the following 2008 WPCSA awards:
Northeast Region
CHAMPION Section B filly
North Central Region Reserve Champion Section B filly
Thank you to Cheryl Maye and Kristi Gates for showing
MeMe in 2008! |
 |
Clanfair Martina
(*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x
*Holyoake Sonique)
2006 Section B filly
With just a very few
outings, Martina has won the following 2008 WPCSA award:
Northwest Region
Reserve Champion Section B filly |
 |
Clanfair Traveller
(*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x
Mardan Gypsy Rose)
2005 Section B gelding
Traveller made his show
debut in 2008, and took to it like a duck to water! He
only went to a few shows however, so we were delighted
that he won:
Northwest Region third
place Section B geldings 3/over |
 |
SRW Silver Bells
2005 Section A mare
Silver Bells was Gary's
2007 Christmas present! He had a lot of fun showing her
in 2008, and she won:
Northwest Region third
place Section A Mares |
 |
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
Mardi only had one show outing in 2008, since his
trailer space was filled with his offspring! But he had
a sensational show, which netted him:
Southwest Region fourth
place Section B stallion
Sire of the 2008
National Champion Section B filly, Goldhills Makebelieve
Princess
(We are delighted!) |
 |
2008 was a lovely and successful year!
December 27, 2008
rain
HAPPY
(almost) NEW YEAR, everyone! We are very excited about our
coming foals in the new year, and looking forward to the proven
crosses we have on the way! Our first foal is due March 20th,
out of *Holyoake
Sonique, one of the best broodmares we have ever
owned. This foal will be a full sibling to
Clanfair Martina,
Clanfair Malibu
Barbie and
Clanfair Keepsake! We can't
wait!
NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!
NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!
We are pleased to announce some
excited news regarding
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras!
We are now offering a "Dream Come True"
guarantee on foals by Mardi Gras. You simply tell us
in writing what your dream foal would be at the time of booking,
and if you do not have your dream foal, you may try again at
half price!
Click here for
more information on our exclusive "Dream Come True" Guarantee!
Also, we
are pleased to offer a SHOW INCENTIVE for 2009 for
foals sired by
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras! We will award a
CASH PRIZE of $500 to the Mardi Gras
offspring who ends the season with the most WPCSA points,
accumulated during the 2009 show season. Both purebred and half
Welsh are eligible!
Click here for
more information on the *Wedderlie Mardi Gras Show Incentive!
Custom foals! Have you admired our
herd of outstanding
imported broodmares? Have you admired our beautiful
imported stallions?
We are offering a custom foal option, where you may choose both
sire and dam. You pay a discounted price of $5000 for your foal,
with half paid at the time of reservation, and the balance paid
when the foal is healthy at 14 days old. We guarantee a live,
healthy foal at weaning, or we will repeat the cross for you!
This is a fabulous opportunity to take advantage of our
carefully crafted breeding program, at a fraction of the cost.
Click here for
more information on our custom foal program!
Please
e-mail us if we
can answer any questions about any of the above!
December 22, 2008
rain
Points
with the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America have been finalized
for 2008, and we are delighted to congratulate Carrie MacWhorter,
owner of the *Wedderlie Mardi Gras daughter Goldhills
Makebelieve Princess, who is NATIONAL CHAMPION for 2008!!!!
Congratulations and great job, Carrie!
November 8, 2008
downpour
Well, the rainy season has officially started here! Today we are
currently being deluged with what feels like rain that will
never end! The day dawned bright, beautiful, warm and sunny --
but it didn't last!
We've been busy
with fall tasks here around the farm, dragging and mowing
fields, rotating pastures, etc. I caught this lovely photo of
Gary dragging the mare pasture one morning a few days ago, and I
thought I'd share.
We've had beautiful fall colors this year!
Here are our yearling and two year
old fillies, enjoying a chat with Gary last week. They are so
friendly that the only way to get far enough away for a picture
is for them to find someone else to visit with!
All but one of these lovely Section B Welsh girls are by
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras.
From left to right they are:
Smoke Tree Mimosa (for sale -
not by Mardi), Clanfair Laurie Ann (sold),
Clanfair Queen Anne's Lace,
Clanfair Pixie Rose,
Clanfair Champagne
& Roses and
Clanfair Malibu Barbie.
We believe that LOTS of room to
run, play and grow is very important for youngsters, so these
girls are currently out in a 40 acre field just growing up. They
are so delighted with every visit and can't wait to all get
attention! We are currently playing the "whose turn is it" on
our show team plans for next year and having a hard time
deciding between these lovely fillies!
Yesterday was an exciting day! We
were unable to attend the last show of the season in Southern
California ourselves, but *Wedderlie Mardi Gras was well
represented by Clanfair Autograph and Goldhills MakeBelieve
Princess. Auto and "Tiara" were pinned Champion colt and
filly, respectively, and Auto went on to be pinned Western
National Reserve Grand
Champion, while Tiara was pinned Grand Champion under the
Holiday Welsh judge! Auto is just a yearling and Tiara is a 2 year old. We
are very proud of their success and offer our hearty
congratulations to Kim Boyd, owner of Clanfair Autograph, and
Carrie MacWhorter, owner of Goldhills MakeBelieve Princess!!!
In 2005, the first
foal crop by
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras arrived. One of the very first
foals, and the first purebred filly, was born at Mt. Ridge Welsh
in Utah, and belonged to Dr. James and Melody Ashman, out of
their exquisite imported mare, *Millcroft Java. For over a year
after the filly was born, I kept Jim's phone message about her
arrival on our phone machine! It was SO exciting! He said she
was the most beautiful foal they had ever had, and was an
exquisite palomino filly! Since the day she was born, I have
wanted Mt. Ridge Latte! Well, the Ashman's recently contacted us
and asked if we would like to be her new owners, so we are
extremely excited to welcome 3 year old filly, Mt. Ridge Latte!
Thank you so much to Jim and
Melody for allowing Latte to come and be part of our family! We
are very excited about bringing her out in the show ring as part
of our 2009 show team!
Here are some photos of Latte at 2 years old:
She's absolutely gorgeous and we are so excited to have her
here. Her dam, *Millcroft Java, is by the same sire as
*Holyoake Sonique's
dam, Millcroft Rosette. We note a very strong family resemblance
between Latte and our yearling filly
Clanfair Malibu Barbie, out of
Sonique!
They are very similar, especially in the head -- both of them
have absolutely exquisite faces!
September 30, 2008
We have just had great news from
Debra Landrum in Louisiana, regarding her yearling half Welsh
filly by our *Wedderlie Mardi Gras. Debra writes that Mardi Gras
Trinket was pinned DOUBLE GRAND CHAMPION at the Central
Nationals this past weekend! As just a yearling, that is a
terrific accomplishment! Congratulations, Debra!!!
Debra kindly shared the photos
below with us of Trinket at the show, and one lovely
conformation shot after she had arrived home. We are so
delighted with her success!!!
Mardi Gras Trinket is a lovely example of the stamp that
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
puts on his foals!
September 15, 2008
hot and smoky
Well, the summer is finished, the
kids are back to school, and fall is definitely in the air here
at the ranch. The mornings and evenings have that bite that say
that the rainy weather is not too far off, and I see a few
yellow leaves in the walnut orchard already. We have our barns
stuffed with hay in preparation for winter and are looking
forward to things turning green here again as the weather cools.
We've just returned from one of
our favorite shows of the season, the Brookside Welsh/Pacific
Coast Classic held at the Brookside Equestrian Park in Elk
Grove, California. The weather for this show was absolutely
lovely this year -- much better than past years when we thought
we would surely expire from the temperatures!
We had an absolutely TERRIFIC
show!!! Definitely one of our best ever. It was very enjoyable!
Here are the ribbons we won at the
show in front of our stalls.
We are extremely excited to report
that our lovely imported Section B mare,
*Holyoake Anastasia
has completed her points for her Legion of Merit!!!
An "LOM" is achieved by winning a total of 1500 points, with at
least 500 in halter and 500 in performance, and the balance
coming from either halter or performance.
After her
importation from the UK, where she had won several championships
and a WPCS medal as a yearling, Anastasia had a lovely season in
the US as a two year old, winning many points in-hand, and being
Supreme Champion on several occasions. As a 3 year old, she
began her performance career, competing under saddle in English
and Western Pleasure, and in harness in both Pleasure and
Carriage driving, where she found much success. As a three year
old, she also toted then 7 year old Anna to a nearly undefeated
season in the leadline classes up and down the west coast. After
that, Anastasia had three years off just being a mom, producing
Clanfair American Hero, Clanfair All About Me, and Clanfair
Autograph.
We left Anastasia open for the 2008 season in hopes of finishing
her points. She had not been ridden or driven even once since
her three year old year, so we were absolutely delighted to
discover that that she retained absolutely everything, and came
back to work like she had done it yesterday. In fact, throughout
this entire show year, she has only been ridden a handful of
times at home between shows, and not driven at all -- a fact
which has not kept her from winning numerous driving
championships throughout the season, including at this show
where she was Pleasure Driving Champion and Carriage Driving
Reserve Champion! She also was Reserve Grand Champion Section B!
Anastasia will now be retired from
the show ring to continue her broodmare duties -- at which she
excels. She is a super producer and we look forward to the
success of her son, Clanfair Autograph for Sterling Creek Welsh
in California, and daughter, Clanfair All About
Me, who we have retained! And we hope for more just like
them!
After
a long show season last year that involved more than a few miles
on the road and culminated in the 2007 National Championship, we
gave Section B stallion
*Wedderlie Mardi Gras
the year off to just hang out and "be a pony". We felt that he
had more than earned some downtime after being shown every year
since he was a yearling. He's had a relaxed, happy summer full
of mares, toting 11 year old Anna around on rides, and just
hanging out around the barn. However, he's seemed a bit sorry to
see us load up and go to shows without him (he definitely knows
the "pre show routine"), and so kind of on a whim, I decided to
enter him at the show. He clearly has nothing to prove, and we
weren't out for points or anything in particular. I just still
happen to think he is THE most beautiful pony I've EVER seen,
and I hate leaving him at home! So, he merrily hopped into the
trailer and proceeded to win DOUBLE Supreme Champion at the
show!!! That's about as fun as it gets in the world of showing!
And I was doubly thrilled that he came out of the pasture and
back into the show ring with such a huge bang!
The Mardi Gras daughters,
Clanfair All About Me
and Clanfair
Martina also had a great show. They are pictured
below -- MeMe on the left, and Martina on the right. They are
3/4 sisters out of
*Holyoake Anastasia and
*Holyoake Sonique.
Martina was Junior Champion and
MeMe was double Reserve Junior Champion. It was fun showing them
both together.
Clanfair All About Me
(*Wedderlie Mardi Gras x *Holyoake Anastasia)
Clanfair Martina
(*Wedderlie Mardi Gras x *Holyoake Sonique)
The two year old Mardi Gras
daughter, Goldhills Makebelieve Princess, was Reserve Grand
Champion and Reserve Supreme Champion! Congratulations to her
owner, Dr. Carrie MacWhorter!
Goldhills Makebelieve Princess
(*Wedderlie Mardi Gras x Goldhills Mystique)
Gary's little Section A mare, SRW
Silver Bells, also had a wonderful show. She was Grand Champion
and Reserve Grand Champion Section A. Gary was thrilled!
So the show season winds down and
the ponies are growing winter coats already. We have been
blessed to have another wonderful and amazing year with our
ponies. We achieved our goal of completing Anastasia's LOM,
though we did not attend many shows this year. I'm always sad to
see the show season come to an end -- the Welsh shows are so
much fun, and we enjoy visiting with the other breeders and
exhibitors so much. The overall friendliness of the folks
involved in Welsh is definitely one of the many charms of the
breed. We are very fortunate to call our biggest competitors
some of our very best friends -- and that really makes for a
good time!
August 16,2008
HOT
We just
received the happy news that our homebred 2 year old Section B
Welsh filly, Clanfair
All About Me, won her class, was Champion Filly
and then Grand Champion at the Montana Welsh Pony show
this weekend! We are very excited! Thank you to Kristi and
Cassidy Gates for doing such a nice job handling her!
August 13, 2008
Welcome
to our newly made over website! We are thrilled to present our
Welsh Ponies and Welsh Pony breeding program to you in a
beautiful and easy to use format. If you are a regular visitor
to our web site, we think you will be pleasantly surprised at
the faster load times on the new pages.
It has been a lot of work, but we
are very pleased with the results!
We have just gotten the exciting
news that Clanfair Silver Wish, a homebred Section B Welsh
gelding just sold for $38,000 at the Pony Finals Auction! Silver
Wish was sired by our very first import, *Telynau Jacobite, by
Eyarth Rio. Rio figures prominently into the pedigrees of many
of our ponies, and much of our breeding program is based on the
Eyarth bloodlines.
We would like to congratulate
Silver Wish's consignor who obviously did a lovely job bringing
him up from the time she purchased him as a weanling, and
congratulations to his new owners! We wish you every success
with him in the show ring!
July 23, 2008
warm
We are having a very busy summer, but haven't been to many
shows. We are in the middle of putting up a new hay barn at the
new farm -- the hay there is currently stacked in the field.
Fortunately we've had no summer rains! But that has cut into the
summer projects we usually plan around the home farm. We hope to
get the barn finished in the next few weeks, and then get back
to our regular routine around here, which will include getting
some of the youngsters, namely Clanfair Margarita and
*Hilin
Eira, going under saddle. We also need to get updated photos and
do foal videos of this year's wonderful group of babies.
We took a day off from barn building yesterday and took some
footage of two of the colts -- Clanfair Myrlin and
Clanfair
Indiana Jones. I was able to snap some particularly nice still
photos of Myrlin with my camera. He is QUITE the handsome young
man!!! Once I get my new camcorder sorted out, I'll have some
very nice video to post of both of them!
Clanfair Myrlin at 1 month old -- 2008 Section B colt
(*Wedderlie Mardi Gras x
*Skellorn Mystical)
I also finally got some nice photos of my new filly,
*Mynach
Miss Daisy, though I still don't think these truly do her
justice. *Eyarth Eragon is also on the "needs photos" list as
soon as we have time.
*Mynach Miss Daisy -- yearling Section B filly
(*Eyarth Beau Geste x Mynach Mimosa)
I can't believe how fast the summer is zipping by. I already
feel a hint of fall in the air in evenings when I go out and
feed grain!
We've had mixed results with getting our mares in foal this
year. Some of them just do not seem to be cycling normally.
*Holyoake Anastasia in particular has given me fits this year --
first coming into season for two weeks, then never again. I
think I've given up on her for this year, and will just try and
get an early start next year. Of course it is frustrating, as I
had so looked forward to another foal from her.
On a happier note, we have checked *Holyoake Sonique, *Skellorn
Chantilly Lace and *Russetwood Romance in foal to
*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras. *Waxwing Garland has been checked in foal to
*Holyoake Copper-Field. I'm very excited about all of these
upcoming foals!
Clanfair All About Me showed at the American Nationals in
Syracuse, New York, and I am pleased to report that she was
Reserve Junior Champion under both judges! I was extremely
pleased, but unfortunately there were no pictures of her there.
She is heading to a couple more shows across the country, and I
am counting the seconds until she is back home and safe in her
stall again. I REALLY missed her. I can't wait to get her and
her 3/4 sister, Clanfair Martina, back together again. My lovely
golden girls.... of all the years we've been breeding, these two
fillies really are IT for me. And a lot of that has to do with
their personalities. Not that they are not lovely and beautiful
(they are!)
-- but they are both so very, very sweet and will do anything to
please. It just does not get better than that!
June 27, 2008
Sunny and hot
We are nearly done with our haying -- and it has been quite a
marathon this year! Fortunately, our barn is stuffed full of
beautiful, green grass hay, and we have an entire year's worth
of feed put up, with lots of beautiful hay left over to sell.
You just can't beat that!
We have also been delighted with the birth of our last three
foals by *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras -- all of which arrived earlier
than expected! The last three mares were due between June 29 and
July 6th -- but foaled between June 12 and June 22nd.
Goldhills Imagine That went first, giving us a beautiful
chestnut colt with a tidy blaze and three stockings. He's quite
the little charmer!
Goldhills Imagine That and 2 week old
Clanfair Indiana Jones
Then, on June 17th, we'd been off baling hay all day -- but when
I did my evening chores I realized there was an "extra" palomino
foal down in the mare pasture. I'd just checked the previous
night and decided that *Holyoake Sucura looked like she'd go
another week! Suprise!!! She had an absolutely GORGEOUS palomino
colt with a beautiful blaze -- and a number of socks/stockings
yet to be determined! In all of the busy hay season, I haven't
gotten any new pictures of him, but here he is at one day old.
*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x *Holyoake Sucura
This gorgeous colt is a full sibling by blood to
Clanfair All
About Me and Clanfair Autograph.
And finally.... *Skellorn Mystical had an absolutely STUNNING
chestnut colt on June 22nd. He's really something VERY special
-- I'm extremely impressed with him. Here is a picture of them
taken today at 5 days old.
Clanfair Myrlin at 5 days, with dam
*Skellorn Mystical
That concludes our foaling season for 2008! We ended the year
with 6 colts and 2 fillies. I really prefer the percentages to
be reversed, but each of these foals is so lovely that I am not
disappointed in the slightest.
More pictures and updates when we finish with all of the hay!!!
May 28, 2008
raining
We just returned from our second show of the season, a double
silver show in Walla Walla, Washington, put on by All Welsh
Enthusiasts. We had a wonderful time, and everyone made us most
welcome. It was a beautiful drive and a wonderful show venue. It
was well run, didn't go too late, the facility was beautiful and
we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
*Holyoake Anastasia had another wonderful show, winning her mare
class under judge Colleen McSorely, who went on to pin her
Champion Mare and Grand Champion Section B! Annie then went on
to win the Ridden Pony class handily, and then won the Division
Championships for both Carriage Driving and Pleasure Driving, as
well as English Pleasure! She also garnered good ribbons in
Western Pleasure, even though we don't really think she is the
ideal Western Pony -- she tries hard anyway though! We don't
believe that Welsh Ponies should slow their gaits to match how
Quarter Horses are shown, thus we generally do not fare as well
in that division. She also won 3rd in Trail -- having not done a
single trail class obstacle since she was a THREE YEAR OLD! We
were VERY proud of her! She was just "on" all weekend, and
continues to improve and gain polish. As she had not been worked
at all, since she was three year old (she's now 7, and has been
on maternity duty for three foals in a row!), until these past
few weeks, we are extremely pleased with how well she is doing!
She's really an amazing mare. We feel so fortunate to have her.
The *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras youngsters also showed well, with 2
year old Clanfair Martina winning double second in her filly
class, and 3 year old Clanfair Traveller winning a second and
fourth in a very competitive and good sized gelding class.
Gary's Christmas pony, 3 year old Section A mare SRW Silver
Bells, an Asgard Silver Dollar daughter, won her good mares
class under both judges, was Champion Mare under both judges,
then was Reserve Grand Champion Section A! Gary was just
delighted with her! Eleven year old Anna, who has done all of
Silver Bells' under saddle training, also rode her to a 3rd, 4th
and 5th in the Jr. Western Pleasure division! This was her first
time being ridden at a show, so we were all just tickled with
how well she did!
In other news, *Holyoake Sonique has
been checked in foal to *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras again for 2009! We love
the foals this fantastic mare has produced with Mardi, so we are very
excited to see what round FOUR of this cross brings!
*Waxwing
Garland was also checked in foal to *Holyoake Copper-Field.
We think this cross is going to be spectacular, and we are
hoping for a keeper filly! Garland's 2008 colt by Mardi Gras is
nothing short of spectacular.
We also had *Skellorn Coral Rose checked -- and she is indeed
"just fat" and not pregnant, which is really too bad, as I just
adore her filly from last year. So that means we have three
mares left to foal now -- *Holyoake Sucura,
Goldhills Imagine
That and *Skellorn Mystical. All three are big and round and we
can't wait to see what we get! Still a bit of a wait though, as
they are not due until the end of June/beginning of July. We'll
keep you posted!
May 12, 2008
cold, grey
We have been having the strangest weather here in the Pacific
Northwest this spring! Case in point -- one weekend it was 87
degrees, the next weekend we had two inches of snow! Neither of
which were seasonable! It mellowed a bit last week, and we had a
couple of really pretty spring days. But otherwise, it has been
pretty cold. However, this week is predicted to get to 91
degrees on Thursday. Unbelievable!
Well, foaling season is in full swing! We've now had 2 lovely
fillies and 3 beautiful colts -- with three mares, maybe four,
left to go. I can't decide if *Skellorn Coral Rose looks
pregnant or not (she would be due June 13). She is quite round
-- but then again she's been eating plenty of spring grass, so
it is hard to say. She was vet checked in foal early on, but of
course as breeders we know that an early check does not always
equal a foal. I absolutely love her 2007 filly, so I'm crossing
my fingers that she is pregnant and not just fat!
The "for sure" mares left to foal are
*Holyoake Sucura,
Goldhills Imagine That and
*Skellorn Mystical. I'm very excited
to see what all three of them will have! It is hard to wait
patiently. Sucura is due at the end of June, and the other two
girls are due the first few days of July, so we have a bit of a
break for now.
Here are our three most recent beauties:
Click here to see all of our 2008 foals!
This past weekend, we made our way to the Oregon Welsh Pony
Society's spring Gold rated show in McMinnville, Oregon.
McMinnville is where the shows used to be held years ago, and it
is where we first began showing Welsh Ponies, so it was really
fun to be back there in that extremely familiar setting!!
We had a great show, and it was just a really nice weekend with
good company and lots of success. You just can't beat that!
Our two Mardi Gras youngsters, Clanfair Traveller (3 year old
gelding) and Clanfair Martina (2 year old filly) made their show
debuts on their first trip away from home. I was so proud of
them -- they took the whole show scene and commotion in stride
like they had always done it, and showed themselves off
beautifully. It was a LOT of fun!
Clanfair Traveller
(*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x Mardan Gypsy Rose)
3 year old Section B Welsh Pony gelding
Traveller won his big, competitive class of mature geldings!
Clanfair Martina
(*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x *Holyoake Sonique)
2 year old palomino Section B Welsh Pony filly
Martina is probably my most favorite of ANY foal we have ever
raised. She was born loving me, and it is quite mutual. She is
just maturing into the most gorgeous filly and I am so excited
about showing her this year and on into the future. She is the
most fabulous combination of both of her parents!
Martina was first in her big fillies class and
OVERALL YOUNGSTOCK CHAMPION! It was very exciting!
*Holyoake Anastasia
(Holyoake Fire Sprite x Gunthwaite Tamara)
7 year old Section B Welsh Pony mare
We imported Annie as a yearling, and she was undoubtedly one of
the best choices we have ever made. She has a long list of
illustrious accomplishments garnered as a 2 and 3 year old, but
has been off on maternity leave for the past 3 years. Our goal
is her individual Legion of Merit, so we left her open for this
season to resume her show career for the year. After literally
not being ridden or driven even once for 3 years, we were
absolutely delighted to discover that she had not forgotten a
single thing!
Annie had a great first show, making a big dent in the points
she needs! She won her huge mare class under two judges, and
then went on to be double Reserve Grand Champion! We were
thrilled!
She then did us proud in the performance classes, competing in
Ridden Pony, English Pleasure (Junior and Senior), Western
Pleasure, Pleasure Driving and Carriage Driving! She won top
ribbons in every class and was Reserve Division Champion for
both the Junior and Senior English Pleasure divisions! What a
pony!
April 5, 2008
cold and rainy
WELCOME TO THE USA!!!!
*Eyarth Eragon
(Carwood Orpheus by Carwed Charmer x Eyarth Zsa Zsa)
2007 Section B Welsh Pony colt
For many years we admired the get of the famous Eyarth Zsa Zsa:
Royal Welsh Champion Eyarth Rio (herd sire at the Telynau Stud),
Royal Welsh Champion Eyarth Beau Geste (sire of our *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras and herd sire at the Waxwing Stud), Royal Welsh
winner Eyarth Mowgli, Royal Welsh winner Eyarth Sophia, many
time champion Eyarth Tomahawk and many more.... In our eyes, Zsa
Zsa is one of the greatest producing Section B mares of all
time.
When we had the pleasure of visiting the Eyarth Stud in the
hills of North Wales in 2004, I asked Jessie to be on the
waiting list for a foal from Zsa Zsa, who was 21 years old at
the time. At that time, I thought there was little chance it
would ever come to pass -- though I certainly hoped! This past
summer, I received a most welcome e-mail from Jessie and Joe
informing me that Zsa Zsa had had a lovely colt and was I
interested in purchasing him...... well, we did!! And he arrived
this past Friday -- and he is even better than we had
anticipated!
What a TREASURE he is, and we look forward to his great
contribution to the Welsh gene pool in North America. Thank you
Jessie and Joe for entrusting us with Zsa Zsa's last foal. We
could not be happier to have him. We offer our deepest
condolences on the recent loss of Zsa Zsa -- truly one of the
Great Ones and truly the end of an era....
Eyarth Zsa Zsa
1983-2008
We also are thrilled to welcome
*Mynach Miss Daisy
(Eyarth Beau Geste x Mynach Mimosa)
In 2006 and 2007 a most stunning Section B filly was shown at
the Royal Welsh. We were completely smitten by Mynach Miss Prim,
who was pinned Reserve Supreme Champion in top company, and
twice Youngstock Champion. I don't know when I've ever seen a
filly that beautiful. Just breathtaking. I suggested
(repeatedly) to Tom Best at Waxwing that she might like to come
live in America, but despite my suggestions, she remains in
Scotland! However, Tom graciously offered us the 2007 filly from
the same cross, and in our continued quest to bring TOP quality
Section B females to our breeding program, Miss Daisy has
arrived!!!
A daughter of the great Royal Welsh Champion Eyarth Beau Geste,
she is ultra typey with an exquisite head and neck, huge, deep
body and huge hindquarters. She is also quite a LOVELY mover! We
are VERY smitten with her, and offer our heartfelt thanks to her
breeder Miss Margaret Gethin, and Tom Best and David Blair at
the Waxwing Stud for choosing us as her new owners. We hope that
this spectacular filly does all of us proud here in the USA!
The importing this time around was a bit of a challenge, with
moments of despair that the ponies would ever come home, thrown
in for good measure. But at long last they are here.... and so
much better than I could have even hoped for. They were most
definitely worth the wait!!!
We will have updated photos of the new faces here as soon as
they don't look like they were just drug all the way around the
world and back! They are quite spectacular in person!
In the meantime, I have new photos of our two new foals!
The filly, Clanfair Keepsake,
*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x *Holyoake Sonique, at 2 days old.
Click here for more photos!
The colt Clanfair Corvette,
*Wedderlie
Mardi Gras x Akasha Cream, at 3 days old:
Click here for more photos!
April 3, 2008
sunny and beautiful!
What a beautiful day for a new baby!!!
*Holyoake Sonique presented us with an absolutely darling
chestnut filly -- her THIRD filly! -- by **Wedderlie
Mardi Gras.
She is SUCH a doll!!!! And she was born at the very polite time
of 1 pm!
Here is a screen capture from our web cam of her napping.
Pictures to follow soon!
April 2, 2008
sunny
We are delighted to welcome a beautiful chestnut Section B colt
by *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras and out of Akasha Cream. This lovely
boy came all chromed up with a big blaze and three tall
stockings!
Akasha had made a huge jump in her milk test number last night
-- more than any mare I've ever tested -- so I ended up waiting
up all night thinking "any minute". She finally had him at 5:55
am this morning! It was a long night!
He's lively and adorable and already has Mardi's pretty neck. I
expect him to be a nice mature size at 13.1 to 13.2 hands. :-)
Here he is at 5 hours old. :-)
March 16, 2008
wet
Today we bid farewell for the show season to Clanfair All About
Me, who will be spending the summer showing on the east coast
with Maye Show Ponies. We have long wanted to send a pony to
them, but just didn't have the right one -- until now. We hope
she will be very successful with the Mayes, but boy are we going
to miss her! The barn feels very empty already...... If you see
her at any of the Welsh shows in the east this season, please
give her a kiss on the nose from me!
In preparation for her trip, we took some photos yesterday in
between rain showers. She is still growing and maturing, though
I am extremely pleased with how she looks. She was a July foal,
so is at a slight disadvantage over the earlier youngsters.
However, she is a lovely, lovely girl, and exactly what I look
for in an ideal Section B female.
In my batch of photos, I noticed a shot, which looks soooo
similar to a picture I took of her sire, *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras,
sometime back. Can't you see the family resemblance??!!
March 9, 2008
Beautiful and sunny!
Lots of catching up to do!
Though the first day of spring has not yet officially arrived
according to the calendar -- it is most definitely spring here
in Oregon!!! The grass is lush and green, the sun is shining and
the ponies are shedding like CRAZY!!
I took this picture of *Holyoake Anastasia out enjoying the
sunshine a few days ago. She has shed her winter coat so quickly
that she hasn't grown in her summer coat everywhere yet!
Since I got a new camera in the fall, I've just been itching for
better weather to take pictures in! So Annie got to be the photo
subject for the day! I'm trying to get my new camera figured out
so that I can impress you with my photo skills when the new
foals arrive!! ;-)
Speaking of new foals -- *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras' second foal of
the season has arrived! A beautiful chestnut filly out of a
Thoroughbred mare. Her name is Tuesday Morning, and we think
you'll agree with us that she is absolutely lovely! Here she is
at just a couple of days old -- and doing that "Mardi pose"
already! Congratulations to the Perrys at St. Louis Equestrian
Center!!! They are soon expecting a second Mardi Gras foal -- we
can't wait to see what they get!!
In mid February, when the weather here was still "so-so", we
headed to sunny Stockton, California for the Welsh Pony & Cob
Society of America Annual General Meeting and awards
presentations. WHAT FUN!!! We had an absolutely fantastic time
visiting with all of the pony folks from all over the country!
There are so many really wonderful people in our breed. It was a
great break from the farm work to get away and enjoy ourselves
for a few days. And it sure didn't hurt to have Mardi Gras being
named National Champion and receiving our awards! Lots of fun!!!
At the beginning of February, I went and took one of the
wonderful reproduction seminar weekends from the great people at
Equine-Reproduction.com. I had taken one of their weekends
before, but it was super to go again and refresh my memory and
hear all the latest. It is a super information packed weekend,
and I found that taking it a second time was well worth it, as I
think I suffered from information overload at times the first
time around! If you ever have the opportunity to take one of
their seminars -- whether you are a mare owner or stallion owner
-- it is WELL worth the time! Highly recommended!!!
I had been a bit worried about the drive from our farm in
Oregon, down to the reproduction seminar in California, as we
had had a LOT of snow (for us!) in the days previous. In all the
years we've lived here, we've never had this much snow! And it
just kept coming down! Mardi Gras had a chance to do double
duty, and was in charge of pulling the feed wagon down to feed
the mares and fillies -- a job he definitely enjoyed! Here are
some photos of him working in the snow! Yes, even National
Champions have to work for a living. ;-)
We are now coming to MY favorite time of year: FOALING SEASON!!!
We have a number of mares in foal, the first of which is due on
April 1st. Mardan Gypsy Rose is first up, and she is HUGE! But
then she always is! She has big, fancy foals, and we are looking
forward to seeing what she produces for us this year. We have
retained her previous two -- but plan on offering the 2008 model
for sale. Also due in the same time frame is Akasha Cream. She
is the dam of the cremello filly we had in 2006, Clanfair China
Doll, and the 2007 chestnut filly, Clanfair Make A Wish.
January 25, 2008
COLD
It has been very, very cold here, with some days not even
getting above freezing. I know if you live in one of those "cold
climates" you're probably snickering -- but we think that is
pretty cold in these parts!!! Icy water troughs, hoses and
buckets, cold fingers and toes and dreams of spring!
But spring isn't too far off now -- "our" first foal of the year
has arrived for one of our mare owners! Our biggest
congratulations to Lisa Love on the birth of a beautiful
palomino colt by *Wedderlie
Mardi Gras! Lisa has big plans for this little guy -- and we
are all very excited about him!
Here is "Puppy Love" on his very first morning -- around 12
hours old.
Welsh Ponies
For Sale
