By Nancy Hinz
Once upon a time, far removed from the intense atmosphere of high-performance dressage, there was a Welsh pony farm in Willis, Texas. Madoc Welsh Ponies and Cobs was a wonderful place for children to grow and learn the importance of caring for ponies and other riders who would become lifelong friends. The riding school at Madoc began simply as a way to get children out to the farm so that ponies were trained, ridden, shown, and ultimately sold. Many pony breeders have similar programs, but at Madoc, it turned in to so much more!
In 1983, Mary Alice imported Kentchurch Chime. He was the first cob to receive a Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America (WPCSA) Legion of Merit award, and his 1,520 points were almost equally divided between the breed and performance classes. He is only the second import to be so honored. Mary Alice tells us, “During the first visit to the Kentchurch Stud in Britain in 1980, I saw a lovely palomino filly who was not for sale. A palomino colt with the same breeding was ordered, and Kentchurch Chime arrived in 1983.”
His kind temperament and eagerness to please soon made him a performance prospect and opened his career to show ring wins in halter, pleasure, hunter, and driving. Outside the Welsh world, he has succeeded in combined driving pairs, tandem driving, hunting, and, most importantly, dressage. I began working with Chime in 1991, and we took the dressage world by storm. His unique looks and personality – not to mention the flying feathers – were a tremendous advertisement for the Welsh breed. He and I competed all the way up to Grand Prix, and his musical freestyles were spectacular, always bringing crowds to watch. When not showing, Chime lived outside with his mares and foals until he died at the age of 28 in 2011.
In addition to Chime being the first Welsh cob in the United States to compete at Grand Prix, there are thirty-four Madoc Welsh ponies or cobs listed on USDF Scores that were bred by Mary Alice; seven of them competed at the FEI levels, including Madoc Patriot, who was ridden by one of the Madoc riders as part of the Region 9 team at the 2003 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (now known as the North American Youth Championships [NAYC]) in Bromont, Canada; four of the ponies competed through Fourth Level; four competed through Third Level; six competed at Second Level; seven competed at First Level; and another six competed at Training Level. One of the Cobs, Madoc Mari, earned the distinction of lowest-scoring competitor for the 2019 United States Eventing Association (USEA) show season by finishing a recognized event on her dressage score of 15.3% (equivalent to a USDF score of 84.7%)! Numerous Madoc ponies and cobs have also competed at hunter/jumper shows, driving competitions, and Pony Club events.
Not only has Madoc Farm produced a wonderful line of ponies, but also many successful students who have continued to be a valuable part of USDF Region 9. There are five former Madoc riders who are currently professionals in the region: Erika West-Danque, Cynthia Powell, Benjamin Winger, Allison Cyprus, and myself. Another rider who had been at Madoc since the age of seven is Sarah (Christy) Doney. She has spent the last fifteen years as an assistant to Olympic Bronze Medalist Guenter Siedel, as well as an active professional in California. The other Region 9 professionals with ties to Madoc are Julie Madriguera, Jessica Fan, and Kalie Beckers. They have all spent many successful years competing on their Madoc cobs, and of these nine riders, seven have already achieved their USDF Gold Medals, the remaining two only lacking their two Grand Prix scores.
In 1991, I started working for Madoc Farm. I taught students in the lesson program and started and trained the young ponies. When they were going well under saddle, I would put a progression of riders on the ponies, starting with the older, more advanced kids and then working down to the beginners when the ponies were safe enough. Once they passed inspection from Mary Alice, they would be advertised for sale as safe, fun kids’ ponies. I began working with Mary Alice’s stallion Chime, who was competing in combined driving and WPCSA shows at the time. We started talking about doing dressage with Chime just for fun and to see how far he would go. He, of course, made it all the way to Grand Prix.
Throughout the 30+ years that I worked for Mary Alice, she was extremely supportive of everything I wanted to do in the dressage world. She was by far the most influential person in my life, and I would not be where I am today without her. Her knowledge as a breeder is evident in all of the fine Welsh cobs and ponies she has produced. From start to finish, Mary Alice Williams is a top-quality person!
Julie Madriguera, who owns and competes Madoc All Dun, has this to say about Mary Alice and her program: “I first became aware of Mary Alice and her ponies in the late 90’s when I received one in training. This son of Madoc’s flagship stallion, Kentchurch Chime, was a charming and talented gelding that the owners could not be convinced to sell to me. Shortly after having this pony in training, I had the great experience of watching Kentchurch Chime compete with his trainer, Nancy Hinz, in both Texas and in Florida. I watched them advance from Fourth Level to Grand Prix together. I was one of their biggest fans. Of course, there is no way to prove this, and my competition for this title would be extreme, but I believe it to be true nonetheless. Nancy and Chime drew crowds and applause and brought joy whenever and wherever they competed. They were excellent representatives for Region 9 when there were not so many people going outside of the region to compete. Mary Alice fostered and supported this partnership. Mary Alice pairing her passion for ponies with a dedicated dressage trainer helped to develop a true dressage school!
“Since developing Chime, Nancy has gone on to develop many other horses and represent the region as a US Dressage Finals winner. She is also one of our top coaches in the region and has a string of regional and national student success stories at every level, including everything from schooling shows to international Championships, such as NAYC and the US Dressage Festival of Champions. I cannot overstate the value that Mary Alice has provided to the region and its members. She produced so many sound, talented, sane ponies and small horses for people to ride and learn to compete. She also did this at a price point that almost anyone could afford! Her contribution as a breeder and dressage enthusiast has not been matched in the region and will likely never be duplicated. Those of us who had a Madoc Welsh pony will forever be in her debt – I know that I am. After many years, I am honored to have one of her ponies that has advanced to FEI Intermediate 1 and is working on Grand Prix. As a working dressage professional, my experience in investing similar sums for myself or students has never yielded the results that my pony, or many others from her breeding, have achieved.”
My main objective in writing this article was to tell the story of Mary Alice Williams and Madoc Welsh Ponies and Cobs; however, in this day of too many Safe Sport violations, I also wanted to publicize the good places that still exist. Regulations and accountability are necessary to keep children safe, but there are still people and programs out there that teach and care for children in a wholesome, productive way, and the story of Madoc is the best example I know to illustrate this point. Mary Alice told me many times that what makes her the most proud is not the ponies but the children who came through her program. Some of those same children, now grown with families of their own, will come back to visit and bring the next generation of riders to meet Mary Alice. Madoc Farm put many wonderful ponies out on the show circuit and in homes across the country, simultaneously developing riders who exhibit good horsemanship and a strong love for the ponies and sport of dressage. Many of them started the program as kids and learned how to have good manners, work hard, help each other, and becoming very respectable adults in the process. Mary Alice set a high standard for her riders and breeding program, and I am proud to have been a part of it!!
