Which pony would you have loaded into a trailer and taken home?

This query, put to pony experts who were lounging in the back seat of the car as we pulled away from Rebecca Farms in Montana late Sunday afternoon, produced a long and thoughtful silence. The experts, both girls -one ten and one eight - had spent a full day watching, patting and even riding some lovely ponies. “The liver chestnut mare was so well mannered. The roan gelding was gorgeous! Don’t forget the adorable little dun! But the palomino, we can’t think of anything else!”

The girls had been stoked on the trip when it had been suggested several weeks earlier- despite the 6 am departure, my famously bad navigational skills and the insistence of all parents involved that absolutely no one was GOING TO BUY A PONY! The girls were undeterred and in an optimistic frame of mind when we set off, keenly looking forward to seeing Pajon’s Royal Bellringer, the young pony phenomenon of Pat and Jim Clay, Yates Colby’s exceptional stallion, Asgard Braveheart all the while knowing how easily parental resolve can collapse than we did.

After a few wrong turns, (there were some agonised groans over the delay from the backseat) - we found Rebecca Farm, a spectacular setting for a day spent admiring the blacks and bays, dappled greys, flashy chestnuts - in short all the pretty ponies. We were in complete accord with our experts that one of the most delightful things in the world is a nice pony. It's as satisfactory as the smell of a fresh cinnamon bun in the early morning or an ice-cream soda on a hot summer's day.

In the stabling area, the ponies were being readied. A sleek chestnut was patiently standing while his mane was plaited, and the gorgeous palomino was having his tail augmented with a matching white tail wig that intrigued the girls. We did catch a glimpse of the Grand Champion Section B, Bellringer having a snack of hay before heading home to Strathmore, Alberta. “WOW!” was the universal response.

The shy reserve of one willowy teenager who was brushing her pony changed to amusement as she described how her pony liked to take the crop from her jodhpurs while he was standing in cross ties and whack her! Ponies can have a wit that made many of their owners smile. Some, an experienced trainer Wendy Olsen confessed could be a bit “stinky-poo” but they had been mostly made that way through “bad handling.” When ever price was discussed, all the sellers were sincerely committed to finding a “good home” for their ponies.

Elise Robocker and her daughter, Elly showed us their crossbred pony gelding, Snickers who had come off the field that afternoon. A big handsome pony, he trotted obediently while other ponies cantered by him in the warm-up area. A few yards away, a big cob cleared a cross rail and then bucked with sheer exuberance - Snickers politely chose not to notice this lapse of manners.

The number of female and male competitors was not anywhere close to being equal, the girls had it over the boys by about nine to one. When asked why this was, the parents and trainers stated the obvious, “Girls love horses“ and also predicted this passion “would never go away.”

We caught up with our girls who were sitting in the shade of a spruce tree watching the hunter classes. Despite the bright sun and the late hour - they did not want to leave even for an ice-cream soda. The girls posed a hopeful question of their own, “When can we come back?” Soon.

The palomino was special we agreed and then so was the roan, the bay..

Author unknown

My love for welsh ponies started when I was a little girl. My Grandpa would take me out for rides in the fields on his welsh pony Pajon’s Wee Lass (nickname Gaylass). Gaylass is a section A Welsh Pony. She was born on May 11, 1988 and will be turning 19 years old this May. She now has a white body colour with a white tail and mane.

My horse riding started in Western so that I had a horn to hang on to while my grandpa lead me around the yard. But that horn didn’t help when the whole saddle slide underneath of Gaylass because the girth wasn’t tight enough. When Gaylass realized that I had fallen to the ground she just looked at me as if to say "get up already". While my grandpa fixed the saddle and helped me back on, Gaylass just stood there eating grass very calmly. Before long, my grandpa would hang on to a lead rope attached to Gaylass’s halter while he rode his other horse Rosie. Through the fields we would go. As I grew older my love for ponies grew too and I wanted to be around them as much as possible so I asked him if I could borrow Gaylass for riding lessons. After we mastered Western lessons we eventually moved on to English riding.

My Grandpa passed away in 2002 when I was 9 and Gaylass became my very own. Gaylass and I were a team. We went to many of shows together and won many, many ribbons and oh yes a lot of money for a young girl. We were inseparable and I benefitted from her calm attitude. Her size was perfect for me to saddle her by myself with only a little help from my dad to tighten the girth.

Gaylass’s dedication to me is true. It would take hours for anybody to catch in the pasture especially my father. All I had to do was call her name and she would come running. Now she is better for people to catch she doesn’t run away that often anymore especially when it is lunch time. She loves to eat.

My family had been asked many times to sell Gaylass but we simply can’t as she is part of our family and a gift from my grandfather. She had one foal on May 22, 2004. The filly’s name is TMZ Matisco Wee Lass. She is named after her dam and is a section B Welsh Pony. Matisco was born brown, turned black and is now dapple grey. These color changes were the same as Gaylass’s when she was born. I am in the midst of training Matisco under saddle and for the cart. I have out grown Gaylass for riding but she still gets ridden by new riders and I’m also training her to pull a cart as well.

I love my ponies very much and hope to breed Gaylass again in the spring time. Please email me if you have any suggestions of names for the foal.

Teneil Ziegler, Age 14

Vegreville, Alberta, Canada

Dear friends,

I have been keeping a diary of my experiences at Spruce Meadows and thought I'd share it with you. Just to back up a bit, Pat Clay purchased me from Cathy Josephson, Vancouver Island, in April of this year. Since I had been busy raising foals, I was rather out of condition but Pat undertook to leg me up and three weeks after arriving here, I was sent to the trainer. This is the same trainer that Tartan, my full sister, is with and we have the same rider, Kim Berenbaum. A month later, we journeyed to Edmonton for a week of showing. That was my first experience with a jumper class and I must tell you, I absolutely loved it. Next at the Magic in the Air show, I was Reserve Hunter Pony, placing over 17 other ponies, all larger than me. Then it was Spruce Meadows time! Well, of course I had no idea what to expect. We, Tartan and myself, arrived Tuesday afternoon, had a bath and got settled into our stalls just before the thunderstorm. We are in a huge tent with over 100 other horses in it. Wednesday was a schooling day, we had another bath and then the rain arrived. I doubt that it has stopped raining for more than 4 or 5 hours in the past 6 days. One day we were at the schooling ring at 6:30 a.m. and didn't finish our classes until 12:30, and it rained the whole time. I must say Leslie and Pat are very good about whipping our blankets and rain sheets off and on although I wonder how they can do it with all the layers of clothes they are wearing (I counted 7 layers one day). Out of the 700 horses and ponies entered, I am the smallest animal showing here. There are several other Welsh ponies, including one from Colorado who tells me she is for sale for $30,000 US. Five of us are showing as mediums, the other 13 are large grades or Connemaras. This means that either Tartan or I have to be first in the ring, then the other mediums go and then another Pajon pony goes. The hunter classes were okay, we placed in all of them. But then came the jumper classes. They are huge fences and we have to gallop up and down hills to some of them. Well, Tartan wants to be a hunter pony, so she decided to not do the jumper fences what with the bad footing and all. However, I certainly was game and my first round was clear. Then to the timed go - hey this was great, I could go as fast as I wanted and turn on a dime. There was a lot of excitement when I placed first. Mrs. Southern pinned my ribbon on my bridle, then I went to have my photo taken with the sponsor and Mrs. Southern. I also got a stable plaque and a leather halter. After that, I led the Victory gallop around the ring. That was great and I felt very important. On the second class, I had a clear round but knocked a rail in the power and speed. This time I only got sixth. The next day was jumpers again and once again I placed first and led the Victory ride. In the second class, I was fantastic but this 14.2 Connemara took first from me with a difference of 1/200th of a second. After the second day, I stood third in the Championship standings, moved to second and am now solidly in first place but we still have 7 classes to go. I am writing this on our days off. We showed at the Canada One for four days and start at the North American on Thursday. I can only hope it soon quits raining. We have been watching them sand bag the tent and tow cars out of the parking lot today. The sand arenas are covered with about 4" of water. Good thing I am used to bad weather. Some people from Mexico are talking around me moving there, they say it is warmer and drier. I'm worried though because I don't speak Spanish.

Yours truly, Pajon's Royal Tapestry, Strathmore, Alberta, Canada

Pat Clay
Pajon Ponies

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