Ceredigion Welsh Pony and Cob Association

Association News

STOP PRESS
If there are any brains of Britain out there who would like to join the Ceredigion WPCA team at the Carmarthen WPCA quiz night on Tuesday 17th February,
please come to the White Hart Llandeilo by 8.00pm

Don't forget the Cawl & rice pudding night at the Granell Hotel, Monday March 2nd at 8pm
Entertainment courtesy of singer and harpist duo Joy and Georgina Carnock of Fishguard
Tickets £6.50 from Mr Roger James, Sunnyhill, Pisgah, Talgarreg, Llandysul SA44 4ET
(Tel: 01545 590484) by Monday February 23rd.

February meeting

Unfortunately heavy snow forced cancellation of the February meeting.

January meeting

Members braved particularly inclement weather to attend a presentation by WPCS President LEN BIGLEY, who gave a fascinating and well illustrated talk about the Welsh coba which held sway during his early days at the Llanarth stud under Miss Pauline Taylor. The talk included some vintage filming of early stallion classes at Lampeter and the Royal Welsh. How things have changed!

Annual Dinner Dance December 13th 2008

This was as ever a great success, the Falcondale Hotel Lampeter proving once again to be the perfect venue for this event. The festive meal was followed by the presentation of awards in the Association Points Competition, organised as unusl by Mr Keith Spenser. The principal awards were as follows:

Section A Champion GWENDIR DAFYDD
Section B Champion RHYDSPENCE RHYS
Section C Champion TREMYMOR EDWINA
Section D Champion TREHEWYD IFAN HO
WP-BR Champion BLAENLLAIN DOODLEBA'S SHADOW
Overall Champion GWEUNDIR DAFYDD Reserve Champion TREHEWYD IFAN HOW.

Forum November 3rd 2008

This now well established debate, modeled on the BBC's Any Questions formula, was led by panellists Eric Davies of the Maesmynach stud, Ivor Lloyd of the Derwen stud, Pauline Howells of Gleiniant stud, and Peter de Rade of Zonneweide stud, the Netherlands, who has recently moved to Carmarthenshire. The different viewpoints of our speakers made for a interesting and instructive evening. Our sincere thanks to our speakers, some of whom attended at very short notice!
We wish Peter Jones of the Menai stud a speedy recovery and trust we shall hear him speak at next year's forum.

Annual Autumn Charity Concert. October 24th 2008

Held at Theatr Felinfach on October 24th. Well known local hero Ifan Gruffydd compered this popular event which this year included John ac Alun topping the bill as the irrepressible Country & Western Duo, and the excellent Cor Clychau'r Fedwen from Llanddewi Brefi, which proved once again that a wealth of talent is to be found in the hills of Ceredigion. Marie Curie Cancer Care is to benefit this year from monies raised at the concert.

Twyi Vets. October 6th 2008

Eqine specialist Lisa Durham and Phillipa Hughes of Dyffryn Twyi Equine Clinic gave an informative talk and insight into their work, with some pertinent advice for pony breeders.

Christmas Dinner Dance December 8th 2007

The Ceredigion Welsh Pony & Cob Association held its annual Christmas Dinner Dance on Saturday December 8th at the Falcondale Mansion Hotel, Lampeter.
An excellent meal was enjoyed by all in the elegant surroundings of Falcondale House, an Italianate Mansion built by the Harford family of Blaise Castle, Bristol, in an idyllic setting bordered by Nant Creuddyn.

The evening saw the presentation of awards in the 2007 Points Competition, with exhibitors of welsh ponies and cobs being allocated points from a maximum of 10 shows held in Ceredigion.
We thank Mr Keith Spenser for his hard work in coordinating this competition, and exhibitors for their determination in the face of the Foot and Mouth crisis which saw so many shows cancelled last Summer.

Overall Champion and winner of the Ewina Colegate Trophy with a total of 26 points was HENFYNYW MAGPIE owned and bred by the Davies family, Aberaeron. Reserve was TREHEWYD HENSON, property of David Evans.

Alison Logan (Press Officer0

For full results of the Points Competition and photos of the awards presentation, see the Points Section.

Report on the Annual Concert 3rd November 2007

The Association's Annual Concert took place at Felinfach Theatre on Friday 2nd November. Our President for the evening was Mrs Gwen Jones, Gelliddewi Uchaf, Cwmann.

A capacity audience was richly rewarded with an inspired perfomance from Cor Corisma, the recently formed ladies' choir based in Cwmann. Led by Carys Lewis, and modestly describing themselves as a group of young mothers, these ladies showed a wealth of musical ability and individual talent from the heart of our local community.

The event was ably compered by Mr Ifan Grufydd, Tregaron, whose ventriloquist act starring his wily sheepdog Carlo had the audience in stitches.

The well known trio Hogiau 'r Wyddfa, supported by the excellent pianist Anette Bryn Parry finally brought the house down with their performance, translating as they did the soul of Wales into song in inimitable style.

All proceeds from this memorable evening will go to Air Ambulance Wales. As always, the Association wishes to thank all who supported this annual charity event, and those who generously gave their time and donated raffle prizes.

Alison Logan. Press Officer.

We are pleased to announce that £1000 was raised at this event for Air Ambulance Wales.

Meetings 2007-2008
Reports by Press Officer Alison Logan

Monday October 1st 2007

The first Autumn meeting of the Ceredigion Welsh Pony and Cob Association was held on Monday October 1st at the Granell Hotel, Llanwnen. Our speaker for the evening was Dr Wynne Davies, chief publicity officer for the Welsh Pony and Cob Society for many years.

Dr Davies, whose renowned Ceulan stud is the longest established stud of welsh ponies in the world, gave an enthralling talk and slide show of some of the greatest Cardiganshire cobs bred on the most influential local stud farms including Derwen, Parc, Nebo and Synod.

An authority on the welsh breeds, Dr Davies is launching a new book entitled 'Royal Welsh Champions 1947 to 2007' to join the collection he has written on the subject.

Monday November 5th 2007

The Association's November meeting took place on Monday 5th at the Granell Hotel, Llanwnen. An interesting talk was given by Mr Colin Tibbey of the Lacy stud, now based in North Wales, outlingin the early stages of what has developed into an extremely successful career showing Welsh ponies.

In particular Mr Tibbey was keen to acknowledge the help and inspiration he had received as a young lad from established breeders such as the Lord Kenyon of Gredington fame, being privileged to show ponies such as the great sire Coed Coch Planed.

Monday January 7th 2008

The Ceredigion Welsh Pony & Cob Association met for its inaugural meeting of the year 2008 on Monday January 7th at the Granell Hotel, Llanwnen.
Mrs Liz Mansfield, founder of the well-known Rotherwood stud of Section B ponies, and current President of the WPCS was our guest speaker for the evening.

Mrs Mansfield reminded all present of our responsibilities as breeders of Welsh ponIes and Cobs, in this, the heartland of the breeds, and mentioned how the rest of the world looks to us for leadership in matters pertaining to their future.

She spoke of the work accomplished by the Society during a year marked by challenge and change.

Liz Mansfield then shared with us many episodes from her long and productive involvement with Welsh ponies, starting with the mare Gredington Tulip. foundation of the Rotherwood Stud, though her choice of stallions such as the great Criban Victor, Downland Chevalier, Keston Royal Occasion and more recently the Welsh Part-breds Rotherwood Peter Pan, Take-a-Peep, and Peek-a-boo, Supreme In Hnad at Ponies UK.

Mrs Mansfield rounded off her talk by paying tribute to some of the characters who shaped her knowledge of ponies, and prayed that we might consider taking on young people to help on our stud farms, and likewise act as mentors to future guardians of the Welsh breeds.

We thank the President of the Welsh Pony & Cob Society for sharing her knowledge and experience with us and for a most interesting evening.

Monday February 4th

This month's meeting of the Association was held on Monday February 4th at the Grannell Hotel, Llanwnen. Leading members of the Association had the great pleasure of presenting a cheque for £1000 to Ros Jones representing Air Ambulance Wales. The money had been raised at the Association's annual charity concert held at Felinfach Theatre in November.

Ros, a well known figure in the Lampeter area, has long been involved in community health and social care prior to joining the Air Ambulance team. She said it cost around £1 million per annum to keep the Air Ambulance operational, therefore the service upon which so many of us depend in an emergency relies heavily on donations from the public.

The presentation was followed by an informal forum with a Panel reponding to questions from the audience. On the panel were Llinos Spenser of the Felinmor Stud and former Secretary of the WPCS, Sally Edwards of the Ddeunant stud and well respected teacher at Lampeter Secondary School, William Lloyd from Geler stud, an international judge of Welsh cobs and Charles Arch, Fflur, whose work for the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show needs no introduction.

We would like to thank the members of the panel, some of whom had been invited to participate at very short notice, for their thoughtful and witty response to questions from a demanding audience. As one would expect, there was much debate as to how best to protect and promote the breed standard in the face of the worldwide popularity of Welsh ponies and cobs. The problem of divergence of type, with so many animals being bred outside the Principality, the dgree of control to be exercised by the Society, the proliferation of coloured Welsh part-breds at sales and shows, EU legislative interference in the regulation of our national breeds, added to the fact that ponies and cobs are nowadays kept for pleasure rather thatn work - leading to concerns regarding type and temparament - were all discussed at length.

Owing to his position and involvement, Charles Arch faced some pertinent questions regarding the future of native Welsh classes at the RWAS, also the procedure for the selection of judges. Though few answers were found, the evening provided much food for thought!

Our thanks are extended to all participants. Our next meeting is on March 3rd, at 8 p.m. at the Granell Hotel, Llanwnen. St David will, as tradition demands, be honoured with Cawl, followed by entertainment courtesy of Llanwenog Young Farmers. See you there!

Monday 3rd March

Following on from a particularly benign February, high winds combined with rain, sleet and snow to usher in the first days of March, beating down some of the thousands of daffodils bringing sunshine to our country lanes.

Braving the appalling weather, members of the Ceredigion Welsh Pony and Cob Association gathered on the 3rd March to celebrate St. David's Day in style. Hot cawl and creamy rice pudding were served to a packed meeting room in the comfort of the Granell Hotel, Llanwnen. The meal was followed by an evening of entertainment with a lively and varied performance which included some well rehearsed songs, poetry, witty recitation and a showing of their award winning video snapshot of Llanwenog village and its surroundings - presented of course by a Llanwenog sheep!

Our thanks and congratulations go to Llanwenog YFC members and all involved in the production of this highly entertaining and professional performance, a fitting tribute to a great Welsh tradition.

Our next meeting, featuring our AGM and a talk given by the WPCS Young Ambassador will be held at 8 pm at the Granell Hotel, Llanwnen on Monday April 14th. For details and membership please contact Daniel Morgan on 01570 493 338