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
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