FIFTY YEARS OF PONY POWER
it. It was a diffi cult thing to run because it all had to be done in the same week and we had a postal strike’. recalls Margaret, who started the Rosslyn stud with her mare, Elizabeth Arden. She has lost count of the times she has won the Supreme Riding pony championship at the Royal Highland Show with that pony’s offspring, but thinks it is 12 or 13 times! Margaret remembers the society starting out
with only 11 members and ‘we all put a pound in the kitty’. Today there are 350 members. The organisation’s umbrella body, The National Pony Society, is the oldest society in the country, with stud books going back to 1890. ‘In those days it was known as The Polo
Pony Stud Book Society. Polo ponies were the in-thing then, that was the sport of the gentry,’ says David Blair, who runs
the successful
Waxwing stud with Tom Best. ‘The society gradually phased out and it
lions on offer, both in Scotland and the North of England. With the help of auctioneer and racing trainer Ken Oliver, the Scottish NPS set up a new stallion parade at Kelso Spring Sales in 1963, which according to Dougal ‘opened up the possibilities of being able to breed’. Today Scotland is very successful
in the
breeding of top-class native ponies, not just in the UK, but throughout the world. Dougal recalls the success of Dartmoor pony breeder Margaret Furness who picked up a coveted Olympia championship in London with a Scottish-bred pony in only the second year ever of the competition.
Scottish studs Other very well-known Scottish stud names with national and international repute and prize winners at top equestrian events such as Wembley and Olympia, include Waxwing, Rosslyn,
Lammermuir,
became the stud book for riding ponies instead and was renamed The National Pony Society.’ So why own a native pony? ‘They are very
popular because they are relatively easily kept compared to a riding pony, which is down to their native hardiness,’ explains Dougal. ‘They cater from the youngest child right
up to Welsh Section B’s which can be 16.2 hh. Adults of any size and weight can ride them.’ David feels there’s been a change over the years from breeding to performance.
‘If you
blink you’d almost miss the in-hand classes these days, but the ridden classes are bursting at the seams. Let’s hope the young people in those ridden classes will maybe come back and show support for breeding in the future. ‘The animals are still being bred, but
showing is hard work. We used to compete at about 28 shows every year and now we only attend three. ‘The future for native breeds is very strong
Waulkmill and
Kilmannan to name but a few. Another of the society’s major achievements
in the 1970s was to provide crucial data about horses and ponies in Scotland suffering from the devasting disease, grass sickness. Of every animal counted across Scotland,
details were taken of every fi fth horse to fi nd out if they had any link with grass sickness. It provided vital information for scientists researching the disease. The survey was organised by retired show
pony breeder Margaret Runcie, who was one of the fi rst members of the Scottish NPS 50 years ago and who has been showing ponies for almost 80 years. ‘We basically surveyed every horse in Scot- land and it took a huge number of people to do
indeed and will continue to go forward. They are used in every discipline you’d care to mention, from dressage to driving, you name it,’ says Dougal. To celebrate its special birthday, commemo-
rative rosettes will be given to exhibitors at the Summer Show at Strathallan Castle and a cele- bratory lunch is planned in October.
FIELDFACTS
NPS Scotland summer show is at Strathallan Castle, June 12th 2010. Memorabilia will be displayed at all NPS Scotland shows this year and if you have any old photographs or catalogues from early events, the Scottish Committee would love to hear from you. To fi nd out more about the NPSS go to
www.npsscotland.co.uk
WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK 101
‘If you blink you’d almost miss the in-hand classes these days, but the ridden classes are bursting at the seams. Let’s hope the young people in those ridden classes will maybe come back and show support for breeding in the future’
TOP LEFT - EQUINATIONAL.CO.UK, TOP RIGHT AND BOTTOM LEFT - WWW.PEAK-PHOTO.CO.UK
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