LAST October, a roan New L Forest stallion shone the brightest in the mountain and moorland (M&M) supreme championship at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS), pipping 21 other native ponies to the title.
The pony in question was Andrew Vine's home-bred Vynnes Magical Edition (Mr Ed), who was making his first appearance at the final under the expert guidance of breed enthusiast Pip Smith.
"Back in the day, the New Forest used to play second fiddle to the Connemara, but not anymore," confirms Pip, who first took a Forester, Nick Williams' Peronne Palaver, to HOYS in 2006. "It's taken a while, but the quality of our breed representatives is so much better and we're now able to produce our ponies for a job, thanks to breeding improvements.
"There are more New Forest ponies than ever before doing affiliated eventing and dressage at the higher levels. They're a versatile, self-preserving and sensible breed, plus they're hardy and they live on fresh air. You can do everything you'd want to do with a horse, but for much less fuss!"
Mr Ed is undoubtedly an example of breeders' hard work and perseverance, with the stallion, who is by Applewitch Pure Magic out of Brookshill Blackberry, combining quality conformation, athleticism, movement and glamour in equal measures.
The New Forest has featured in its own stand-alone class at HOYS for a decade and the breed holds strong form at the major finals. In 2014 Alex Hawkins' Marleydenes Shiraz was open champion at HOYS, and Simon and Shirley Young's Farriers Finger Print took the M&M supreme accolade at Olympia in 2009.
Suzanne Kempe of the Rodlease and Bullhill prefixes is the chairman of the New Forest Pony Breeding and Cattle Society. She says that recognition in recent times is a welcome result after a period of hard work and consistency.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 15, 2024-Ausgabe von Horse & Hound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 15, 2024-Ausgabe von Horse & Hound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
'Pride? I just felt relief
Blyth Tait on jumping barn roofs, \"freezing\" in the Atlanta heat and the day his eight-year-old prodigy won Olympic gold
Mental health advocate
Harry Dunlop retired from training in 2022, having held his licence for 16 years. He founded the Trainer Support Network in 2023
Hugo Simon
The six-time Olympian tells Bernard Bale about his \"extraterrestrial\" string of horses, changing nationality and his success at the boycotted Games
'Olympic selection will be very difficult
Graham Fletcher assesses team hopes for Paris, and a royal faux pas
'Our sport revolves around money'
Pammy Hutton on the spirit of competition and words of caution
Riders warned as social media scammers pose as horse events
Fake profiles purporting to be major equestrian events have been sending out friend requests
First British Olympic entries are announced
The eventing team for Paris will be selected from these 12 combinations
Concerns and delight as live export for slaughter banned
The royal assent of the bill has been welcomed, but there could be a potential loophole
Some gender imbalance remains in horse sport
The FEI has discussed how to address any disparity between genders, and ensure the sport is for everyone
Tracking riders' sleep to help with safety and performance
Two studies have investigated how well eventers sleep, at home and staying away at competitions