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HOOVES IN

HISTORYDocumenting the history of ponies in Australia.

Pony Magazine Australia~Volume 1~Issue 2

~HOOVES IN HISTORY~Volume 2

THE 1900s AND EARLY PONY STUDS

Greylight’s* importation started an influx of pony im-ports to Australia. Through-out the 1900s a large number of ponies were imported to our shores, predominately of Welsh Mountain Pony and Welsh Pony blood.

MILTON PARK

Following Anthony Hordern’s purchase of Greylight* in 1922, a number of imported Welsh ponies were added to the Milton Park Stud. The mares Gwer-nygo Mahogany*, Gwyndy Flyaway*, Towyvale Roanie*, Norma*, and the influential Topsy* and Little Queen* were imported by Mr. Hordern to breed to his new prize stallion. Of these Top-sy* and Little Queen* were of particu-lar importance. Milton Park also used the stallion Merry Boy*, whose impor-tation preceded that of Greylight*, but his influence nowhere near as signifi-cant. Merry Boy* is found in extended pedigrees via his daughter Norma*, who was amongst the mares imported by Hordern, as well as through a num-ber of Hordern-bred ponies.

Three Gwalia prefix mares had been imported to Australia by a Mr. Brown,

HOOVES IN HISTORYFOUNDATION STUDS OF AUSTRALIA

~HOOVES IN HISTORY~ Volume 2

who was an agent for the Singer sew-ing machines. He used to ride and drive these ponies around the countryside while he was travelling for work. Amongst these mares were Gwalia Eurem*, Gwalia Blodwen* and Gwa-lia Alltud*. These Gwalia ponies were later acquired by Anthony Hordern and were among the consignment send to the Koojan Stud in Western Australia.

A number of Greylight* sons were re-tained by Milton Park. Of these Milton Flashlight (ex. Towyvale Roanie*) and Milton Greylight (ex. Topsy*) were par-ticularly influential. Milton Flashlight’s son Flashlight 2nd (ex. Little Queen*) took over from his sire and was higly influential for not only Milton Park but also a number of other studs such as Ret-ford Park, Naroo Stud and later Nattai Stud.

The Welsh Mountain stallion Cream of Eppynt* was added to the Milton Park line up in 1912. His sire Llew Ll-wyd* (who was at some stage import-


Ceulan Comet* imp 1934

ed to Australia where he resided in Queensland) was by a Welsh Pony of Cob Type in Trotting Flyer, while his dam was a Welsh Mountain Pony, Jolly. Cream of Eppynt’s* descendants often had height on their side, no doubt ow-ing to the Cob blood in his pedigree. Cream of Eppynt* was bred by Mr. William Probert of the Eppynt Hills. He was used over the Greylight* mares with much success and his lines are still strong in Australian Welsh pony and Australian Pony pedigrees. He was sold on to Navua Park, but repurchased by Lady Creswick when she took over the breeding of the Milton Park ponies.

Cream of Eppynt* produced extrava-gant movers, many of his progeny and descendants being winners in harness. Of these Milton Kitty was particularly successful and bred on well also.

Lady Creswick (previously Dinah Hordern), began her famous Nattai Stud with ten of her father’s best mares, as well as the stallion Milton Greylight. In 1934 The superb black stallion Ceulan


Comet* (Ceitho Welsh Comet x Seren Ceulan) was imported and added to the stud. Here was a stallion with impres-sive conformation and bone and he out-crossed exceptionally with the already established Greylight* bloodlines. She built up her world famous stud, adding later the legendary stallions Coed Coch Profwydd* and Coed Coch Bari*.

RETFORD PARK

Anthony Hordern’s brothers also bred ponies at one stage or another. Sir Sam-uel Hordern had Retford Park, while Lebbeus Hordern owned Hopewood Stud. Retford Park was responsible for supplying a large number of the carriage horses for the Hordern Emporium in Sydney, of which there were some 300 horses. Sir Samuel purchased the Welsh Cob Login Briton* from H. Rea in Mel-bourne and also imported Traveller’s Joy in 1910 and Castlemai Clansman* in the early 1930s. The latter two ponies were Welsh Ponies of Cob Type with Hackney breeding in their pedigrees.

Sir Samuel was the first Pa-tron of the Australian Pony Stud Book Society, serving this position for many years from 1932. He was also the President of the Royal Ag-ricultural Society of New South Wales. Sir Samuel also bred Thoroughbreds and was involved in the horse racing industry. He owned the im-ported stallion Crescendo*, whose Thoroughbred son Dorscendo made it into Aus-tralian Pony pedigrees when used at Lowlynn as a station sire. He can be found in the extended pedigrees of many of the larger Lowlynn ponies.


Coed Coch Profwydd* with Daisy Brodrick

Probably the most famous pony to come out of Retford Park would have been the lovely grey Retford Prince, a son of Greylight* and from a mare named Tod-dles, who was of Bonnie Charlie*, Grey-light* and Little Queen* blood. A well put together pony who was said to have superb action and he was a popular sire in the Bowral area of New South Wales.

Sir Samuel bred a number of pure Welsh Mountain Ponies. In 1952 Mr. Kenneth H. Armstrong joined Retford Park as manager. Ken Armstrong was one of the country’s leading livestock authorities and wrote many fine pieces for the WPCS of Australia Journals over the year. Under Mr. Armstrong’s guidance, the bloodlines established by his brother Anthony, as well as those added by Anthony’s daughter Lady Creswick were utilised by the stud to breed pure Welsh Mountain Ponies and Welsh Ponies. A number of Nattai po-nies were purchased, as was Flashlight 2nd (bred by Sir Samuel’s daughter Mrs. Winter-Irving) to use over the Nat-tai mares. In turn, a number of Retford Park ponies were also sent to the Nat-


tai Stud when Lady Creswick established it from her father’s Mil-ton Park lines. Penarth Titlight* was a suc-cessful sire at Retford Park, where he was put over the Milton Park and Nattai line ponies. He stood but a few short seasons but sired many Champions who have bred on well. Amongst these are Retford Miss Megan and Retford Craven Light.

Mr. Armstrong also organised for the Ber-een import Revel Hail-

stone* to stand at Retford Park for two years, and also leased the Section B im-port Coed Coch Siabod* (Tan-Y-Bwlch Berwyn x Coed Coch Sirius, by Coed Coch Glyndwr), who unfortunately sired limited stock before disappearing to northern Australia.

HOPEWOOD STUD

Lebbeus Hordern also bred ponies of Welsh lineage, using the Pony Cob blood-lines. He purchased Dinarth Jim (Little Jim* x Dinarth Lass*) from his breeder Mr. J.W. Luke. Little Jim* was a Welsh Pony of Cob Type of pure Hackney lines, while Dinarth Lass* was by the pure Hackney Winnal George (by Sir George and from a Sir George daughter), and from a Welsh Pony mare. Lebbeus also bred the smaller Australian Ponies, standing the stallion Leo 3rd (Prince Leo x Dolly, by Tam O’Shanter), who had been bred by Mr. J.D. O’Brian.

Perhaps the most influential of the Hopewood-bred ponies would have been Hopewood Queenie (Dinarth Jim x , by


Milton Kitty (by Cream of Eppynt*) was successful in harness, as well as a top broodmare.



Greylight*

Greylight*), who went to Lowlynn Stud where she produced the famous Lowlynn Silver Chief.

Hopewood Stud was dispersed in 1928 following the death of its owner. One of the most significant sales from this dispersal was the sale of Dinarth Jim to Mrs. P. L. Grimwood of Jalenga Stud.

JALENGA STUD

Jalenga Pony Stud was founded by Mrs. P.L. Grimwood just prior to the estab-lishment of the APSB. The stud was es-tablished with a number of mares bred back in her home town of Holbrook, as well as a number of purchases from the Hopewood Dispersal Sale.

Amongst these were a number of mares by Leo 3rd, the Greylight* daughter Twilight, as well as her half sisters Silver Thread (by Leo 3rd) and Silver Spec (by Milton Greylight). Twilight was from a mare named Silverlight, who was by Young Hero (by Mountain Hero* and from a Tam O’Shanter mare) and from a Tam O’Shanter daughter. From the Hopewood Dispersal Sale also came the great Dinarth Jim, who had an illustrious show career and was highly susseccful at stud. Of particular importance was his son Jalenga Din-arth Jim (ex. Meg, who was by the im-ported Hackney Wallasey Ping Pong*).

Jalenga Stud also used for a short time the stallion Faraam Mercury* (Bwlch Quicksilver x Clumber Janet 3rd, by Hardwick Sensation) who had been im-ported in 1933 by Mr. J. M. Newman of Cabulcha Stud in Queensland.

BEREEN PONY STUD

W. L. P. Richardson began his stud with

12 pony mares purchased from the Clifts at Breeza. The Clift’s ponies descended from pony mares purchased from a dis-persal of Hordern ponies at Picton and so would have been of some Welsh lin-eage. Of these 12, the best six were kept and these were bred to a son of Bonnie Charlie*, Gypsy Charlie. Mr. Richardson (Sr.) also used an imported Arabian stal-lion and purchased a number of other pony mares from various sources.

Mr. Rupert Richardson inherited from his father the property, “Bereen,” (where his father had been breeding po-nies since about 1907) as well as a num-ber of stud mares. In 1920 the stallion Cream of Eppynt* was purchased by Mr. Richardson from Milton Park to head the stud. His first foal was a black colt called Star of Eppynt, who was retained by Mr Richardson. Cream of Eppynt* was sold on in around 1928 to B. Ross of Walcha, New South Wales.

The lovely chestnut stallion Naroo Gold-light (Milton Greylight x Stanage Estel-la*) was leased in 1942 from Mrs. Rob-erts of Naroo Stud. He stayed at Bereen for four years and was mated with much success with the Cream of Eppynt* and Star of Eppynt mares.

In 1948 the Wesh Mountain stallion Pen-arth Titlight* was imported to stand at Bereen. Penarth Titlight* was a highly successful sire at Bereen, adn later at Retford Park. Revel Hailstone* was add-ed to the stud in 1951. A son of the leg-endary Coed Coch Glyndwr and Touch-stone of Sansaw, he brought to Australia some beautiful lines close up. He was a pony of true Welsh type.

In the early 1960s the stallion Fayre Curio* was purchased from the UK. He was imported as a two year old and was by Revel Solo (Revel Frolic x Fayre Keep-



Milton Kitty (Cream of Eppynt* x Milton Princess, by Greylight*)

sake, by Craven Daylight). Later on, a lease was also organised for another imported stallion in Coed Coch Pilan*. A number of Bereen ponies, as well as the stud, featured in the Walt Disney film ‘Ride A Wild Pony.’

NAROO PONY STUD

Naroo was founded in the early 1900s by Miss Doris Roberts of Robertson Park.

The stallion Knighton Prince Starlight stood at Naroo. His sire Knighton King Starlight*(Grove Starlight x Knighton Queenie) was born in the UK before being exported to India, and then end-ing up in Australia. He was used over a number of Milton Park ponies while in New South Wales. Knighton Prince Starlight, born in 1931, was bred by Mr F. W. Croaker of ‘Glengarry,’ New South Wales and was from a Grey-light* daughter, Snowflake, who was from the imported Gwalia Eurem*.

Miss Roberts’ first import was the Welsh Mountain Pony mare Stanage Estella* (Stanage Daylight x Stanage Meteor), who was imported from Mr. Charles Coltman Rogers’ Stanage Stud and was in foal to Stanage Planet (also by Stanage Daylight). She duly foaled a filly, Naroo Pixie* (iid) whom along with Stanage Estella were the foun-dations for this fine stud. The best of the Stanage Estella* progeny would probably have been Naroo Goldlight, a beautiful chestnut stallion by Milton Greylight. Being close to Milton and Retford Parks, Miss Roberts had access to some of the best Welsh Mountain and Australian Pony sires around, a privelige she took great advantage of in her breeding program.

In 1950 another mare was imported

in Croban Nyth* (Bowlder Brilliant x Criban Nesta), selected for Miss Rob-erts by Llewelyn Richards of Criban Stud. Criban Nyth* was put in foal to Wentworth Golden Star, a stallion rich in Dyoll Starlight and Greylight* blood via his sire and maternal grand-sire Wentworth Springlight, as well as via his granddam Lady Starlight. Criban Nyth foaled Naroo Mayflower* (iid), who was a highly successful broodmare for Naroo, producing such foals as Naroo Springlight and Naroo Blossum.

Miss Roberts used Penarth Titlight* while he was at Retford Park with much success, producing such ponies as Naroo Nightlight, Naroo Firelight and Naroo Smut. She also utilised Rev-el Hailstone* when he was leased by Sir Samuel, as well as Castelmai Clans-man* to produce larger-type ponies.

SPRINGMEAD STUD

Mr and Mrs Edward Hirst established the Springmead Stud in Ingleburn, New South Wales. It had been in op-eration since about 1919, having in their broodmare band a number of larger pony mares (13 to 14 hands), as well as some of the smaller Greylight* bloodline type ponies.

Springmead Stud brought to Australia the great little Welsh Mountain Pony sires Stanage Perfect Day*(Stanage Daylight x Stanage Aldernut), in 1920, and Craven Master Sprite*(Craven Master Shot x Grove Sprite II), in 1935. Craven Master Shot* was pur-chased to replace Stanage Perfect Day, who had died in 1934. These lines were combined with those of the Welsh Cobs Brightshot (Bugler (by Moncrieffe Statesman*) x Duchess) and Forest Comet Flyer* (Gay Comet



x Fast Fanny, by Trotting Flyer) and also a grandson of the imported Login Brit-on*, in Little Briton (Tommy Briton x Molly, who went back to Sir Thomas*).

Such mares with the Hackney and Cob lineage, such as Springmead Fiffy (Forest Comet Flyer* x Duchess), Springmead Bright Lady and Springmead Brightshot (both by Brightshot) bred on size in the Springmead ponies even when put to the Welsh Mountain Pony sires. The Hirst’s owned the Hordern-bred Milton Dolly Dimples (Merry Boy* x Marjory, by Snowball), this mare being one of the larger-type Milton Ponies, standing at 13.3 hands.

Springmead Stud also imported the Ara-bian stallions Rakib* and Rikham*, who were also used over the pony mares. They also used the Shahzada* son Geng-his Khan over their pony mares. Rakib* in particular was influentual, through such daughters as Springmead Melka and Springmead the Honourable. Springmead stock went on to form the foundation for a number of other pony studs, includ-ing the well known Barolin Pony Stud.

VIEW BANK STUD

View Bank Pony Stud was founded in the early 1920s by Mrs. H. Bartram in Victoria. Her father Robert Hunter of Burnewang Park bred ponies and she rode as a child. Her first stallion was the Arabian Guy Fawkes, Champion at Mel-bourne Royal in 1923.

Mrs. Bartram used Guy Fawkes over a number of pony mares, indluding a mare named Joan. The resulting foal, Little Guy, was then put back over his dam to produce the well known stallion of the 1940s, Three Cheers.

1946 saw the beginning of the Welsh Mountain Pony section of the Stud, with the purchase of Nattai Flashlight from Lady Creswick. A number of mares followed, including Naroo Blue-bird, Naroo Estralita and Naroo Olwyn from Mrs. Roberts, as well as Berrima Stardust. These bloodlines produced such ponies as View Bank Blue Blood and View Bank Blue Print, both success-ful show ponies and sires in their day.

Mrs. Bartram was one of the first breed-ers to send a mare to Penarth Titlight* when he was imported. Because of the great distance the mare (Naroo Blue-bird) had to travel she was sent for two seasons, the subsequent foals being View Bank Lonebird and View Bank Blackbird, both multi Royal Show Champions.

In 1961 more Nattai blood was intro-duced with the purchase of Nattai Eclipse (Nattai Nightlight x Nattai Lady Dashlight. This was followed by the investment of an outcross, in the lovely Crick Chief* (Revel Consul x Criban Old China) in 1968 from New Zealand. View Bank Stud was also well known for their Shetland Ponies.

Photographs are reptinted courtesy of Tina Taylor and also the Welsh Pony and Cob

Society of Australia and are copyright. They must not be reproduced in any way without

prior permission.



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