2012 season

The 2 year old colt in the next stable to Woody, Pennway Sovereign, caught our eye for his unusual and very pretty dark cream colouring, and his beautiful head. He has just started covering his first mares this season.

Whilst we were talking to Pat about the ponies, she told us a little more about her first horsey job in the UK, and reminded us of a world that has been largely lost. At the age of 17 she went to work for a hunt stables and stud in Lincolnshire where in addition to working with hunters they also trained point-to-pointers and National Hunt horses. During the season they hunted four days a week, with the Quorn and Belvoir, and the standard of work expected of the junior grooms was extremely high. If you didn’t measure up, you got the sack! Pat described ‘wisping’ for 20 minutes at a time as part of the grooming regime, and the head groom checking carefully along each horse’s stomach to make sure that not a speck of mud had been left after they had been washed down and groomed after returning from a day’s hunting. The stud belonged to a ‘gentleman farmer’, whose mother still rode to hounds side-saddle although she was well into her eighties!

Finally, back to Ranger .... Although he has been very little promoted and advertised, and only does natural cover, he is beginning to build a strong reputation as a sire who adds real quality to mares of very different types, and consistently throws foals who bear his stamp. His oldest stock are only 7, so it’s still early days to be looking for significant competition successes, but one of his first offspring is starting to achieve as an eventer, and his youngstock are winning in the show ring under saddle and in in-hand classes. He has recently caught the eye of the polo player Johnny Good, who plays off no. 2 with the Asprey Polo Team, and who has brought 4 mares to him. So he is nothing if not versatile! Fiona, who accompanied me to take the photographs for this article, has a lovely little filly by him out of her ISH mare, and has just used him on a little coloured cob mare that she has on loan. We are looking forward to (we hope!) a coloured foal in 2011 .....

And if horses aren’t your thing, then there are always the big personality Irish Terriers that Pat and Roy breed : we very nearly left with a puppy each! But that’s a whole different story ......

Above: Roy and Pat with their Irish terriers : and the Kentish Weald in the distance

LINKS

Pennway Stud : http://pennwaywelshponies.homestead.com/pennwayhomepage.html
Laithehill Stud : http://www.laithehill.com
Queenholme : http://www.queenholme.com