Photos: Highland Pony Enthusiasts Club of America

Circle H MacKenzie & Judy Brescia.

Fourmerk Roseanne & LeeAnn Bunn.

Highland & deerstalker saddle.

Kellwood Tilly & LeeAnn Bunn – trail.

Highland Ponies – Marching Forward to a Brighter Future

by Suzi Newport and Lee Ann Bunn

The Highland Pony is the largest of the British Native Ponies or “Mountain & Moorland” breeds. Although British Native Ponies have been popular in America, the Highland, originating in Scotland, is one of the least well known – with only about 75 ponies total in the USA and Canada, the Equus Survival Trust lists the breed as “Vulnerable” – with approximately 500 to 700 active breeding mares worldwide.

The Highland has always been considered an all-around family pony. They could plow the fields by day, take the family out for a social call in the evening or to church on Sunday. While many aspects have changed for the Highland, as with so many other breeds, the future is looking brighter. There is renewed interest in this lovely pony, and the American Highland population is beginning to be seen out at the local shows and other equine events – whether it’s the local dressage schooling show or the county fair.

Highlands have a very tolerant and forgiving temperament, making them ideal for therapeutic riding for the physically challenged and the beginner rider. They are commonly used in the U.K. for riding for the disabled, Riding Centers, and Trekking Centers (trekking is the U.K. version of trail riding). They can also be very keen and give a challenging ride to the more experienced rider. Highlands are able to turn their hooves to many disciplines – dressage, jumping, cross-country, eventing, as well as carriage driving (now there’s an awesome sight).

The U.S. Chapter of Britain’s National Pony Society, NPS America, is now offering Mountain & Moorland classes at the larger Native Pony breed shows – mainly established Welsh and Connemara shows. Region III of the American Connemara Society hosted a Mountain & Moorland Division at its annual show, held July 18-19, 2009 in Middleburg, VA. The other M&M breeds were invited to participate in their Division as well as some open classes with the Connemaras. NPS America provided lovely Champion and Reserve rosettes for the In-Hand classes. Three Highland Ponies were at the event and participated in classes, including Dressage, In-Hand, Ridden, Working Hunter, and the Trail Class. The culmination of the event was the Costume Class, which is a tradition of the Region III club. A plan to have the M&M Division again is already planned for 2010.

Highlands Exhibited at Equine Affair, November, 2009

For the second year in a row Highlands returned to Massachusetts under the umbrella of the Equus Survival Trust, featuring a demo showing the diversity of this wonderful pony breed. Included in their exhibition was a traditional deer stalking portrayal where the sure-footed Highland was bringing the deer down from the Scottish Highlands, using a specially designed saddle to truss the deer. Highland Ponies are still used for deerstalking today, because such places cannot be traversed using a motorized vehicle – not even ATVs! The Highland Pony Enthusiasts Club of America also held their annual general meeting during the Equine Affaire.

For more information about Highland Ponies, visit the HPECA website at www.hpeca.org. To learn more about Mountain & Moorland breeds, visit www. NPSAmerica.org. HPECA and NPSA America are associate member organizations of the Equus Survival Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of endangered historical breeds of equines: www.Equus-Survival-Trust.org.

Photos: Newfoundland Pony Society, Canada.

Highland Creek Bay Boy.

Mr. Maple.

Vinland’s Jour Rosie .

Newfoundland Pony – Making A Positive Statement Off the Rock

by Pat Morris

History & Genetic Background

It is almost four centuries since the arrival of the Newfoundland Pony’s ancestors to the New World. Artifacts found at the Ferryland archeological site include a gentlemen’s gold plated brass spur which indicates the use of equines at the colony of Avalon. Unfortunately, much of the Newfoundland Pony’s early history is shrouded in the mists of time and much must be surmised through the settlement needs and the places of origin of those involved with the early Newfoundland Fishery.

The Newfoundland Pony’s story is fascinating, and you only have to visit Exmoor, Dartmoor and New Forest in England’s West Country to see the resemblances of these native ponies to the modern day Newfoundland Pony. Where historical records fail, genetics do not. A DNA study is now underway to map the Newfoundland Pony among its presumed Mountain and Moorland Pony ancestors. The results of this work will be published in 2011 and are expected to raise the Newfoundland Pony’s profile to a special place in North America’s history.

Conservation Status – Critical!

The Newfoundland Pony evolved over hundreds of years. It has experienced both good times and bad during its Newfoundland existence and is now considered a rare, critically endangered breed. There are only about 250 ponies of breeding age worldwide, and these are distributed across Canada and the northern U.S. states. To help reduce geographical breeding limitations, efforts are proceeding re: semen collection for both frozen and fresh AI.

2008/2009 Highlights

The Newfoundland Pony is little known in the Horse World, but dedicated breeders are committed to changing this and the Newfoundland Pony is finally making its mark in modern day equestrian activities.

Equus Survival Trust has long been a loyal supporter of the Newfoundland Pony and in 2008 invited the Newfoundland Pony to the Kentucky Horse Park for their Festivale of Endangered Equines. This was an incredible opportunity for the Newfoundland Pony and owners alike – not only to see and be seen, but to compete against some of the Newfoundland Pony’s ancestral Mountain and Moorland breeds. Eight ponies attended the event from Ontario and Michigan, and they competed in all areas and disciplines. The Newfoundland Pony proved very popular and came away with a number of very prestigious awards: SANA Most Versatile Pony, SANA Ridden Supreme Pony Championship and SANA Open Purebred Best North American Bred Pony.

It was a good year to further the Newfoundland Pony’s show pursuits. Some of the breed ambassadors are profiled below.

Mr. Maple, a stallion of Forest Lane Horse Farm, had an amazing year. He earned many individual 2009 dressage championships in first and training level with some test scores reaching the mid 70s. He was the year-end 2009 Ottawa area Dressage Champion for the Provincial/Trillium Circuit at training level. He was the 2009 Champion first level Discovery/OADG circuit and has earned the Young Horse award from the Ottawa Dressage Group. Mr. Maple has been invited to represent the Newfoundland Pony at the Everything Equine Event to be held at the University of Guelph’s Kemptville Campus.

Napa Valley and Nova Jade Newfoundland Pony stallions, owned by Dr. M. J. Calarco, performed at the Conestoga Cadora Dressage Show in August. There were about 35 entries in the training level, and although neither of the stallions was in the top ribbons, they scored very respectfully for their first show and brought in some very complimentary comments from both the judge and spectators. Both stallions are in training with Cindy Johnson of Travis Hall Equestrian Centre.

Vinland’s Jour Rosie and rider MacKenzie Mehaney stole the show at the Lou Duns Show in Augusta, MI. This was to have been a training day for Rosie. She was taken to the show to do ground poles. This mare is in her second career. She was a broodmare for her first 10 years and was not broken to ride until 2006. It has only been the last two years that Rosie has been in training. Practices had gone well, so MacKenzie felt confident and entered both the Ground Poles and Cross Rails classes, placing fourth and in Straight Rail class placed third. Mackenzie was only nine years old at the time.

Ammy Deus and Brynshires Mandolynn are two ponies owned by Jane Thornton of Lebanon, ME. They attended the High Standard Stables Schooling Horse Show this year. It was the first show for both ponies. The three-year-old stallion Ammy was shown in hand and the four-year-old mare Mandolynn competed over jumps. Interest among the attendees was high, with lots of questions about the Newfoundland Ponies.

Island Moors Belle and Ashley England competed in team penning this year. Team penning is a rodeo sport and is one of the events at the Calgary Stampede. A team of three riders on horseback must separate three specifically numbered cows from a herd and pen them in an allotted time.

For more information about the Newfoundland Pony, please see the Newfoundland Pony Society’s (NPS) website at www.newfoundlandpony.com. NPS is an associate member organizations of the Equus Survival Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of endangered historical breeds of equines: www.Equus-Survival-Trust.org.