The winsome Welsh Pony and Cob! We are celebrating these ponies as our September Breed of the Month on YourDressage!
Did you know that dressage riders who choose a Welsh Pony or Cob as their dressage mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America, Inc. is a participating organization?
Here, a rider from Region 1 shares about the Welsh Cob she found for a client, but who has now become her forever pony!
By Wendy Garfinkel
Although I am now a professional dressage teacher and trainer, I never really grew out of the “I love ponies” stage of life.
In the fall of 2021, I had a client who asked me to find him a project pony that we could share. We would either resell it, or he would keep it for his son, depending on what we ended up with. I came across a DreamHorse.com advertisement for Clearview Kedric, or “Kenny”.
Kenny was a six-year-old Welsh Cob, who had been recently gelded, in Texas. I thought, “This could be fun,” and, “omg how adorable is he?!”. Unfortunately, the client I was searching for ultimately decided to go in a different direction, but I could not get my mind off that adorable cob.
After talking to his owner Lynda Lewis, I decided Kenny had to be mine…despite the fact that I already owned a few too many horses, was planning our first winter down in Florida, and really didn’t need the added stress of another horse on my payroll. But I guess I am a professional pony hoarder!
Timing-wise, I didn’t think bringing Kenny to New Jersey would be the best thing for him, as it would be two big trips close together. So, while competing at the 2021 US Dressage Finals in Kentucky, and making quick (and looking back, not well thought-out) decisions, I got scammed by one shipper, but I finally found one who was awesome.
Kenny would be on his way to Florida within a few days, to stay with my very good friends Taz and Amber Lester, who do combined driving, until I arrived for the winter. While with them, Kenny got a lot of ground driving experience, with the intention that my mom had always wanted a driving pony, so maybe he could fill that gap.
Well, he was very adamant that he absolutely did not want to drive! By the time I got down to Florida, Kenny was ready to be a dressage cob.
For the first year of our partnership, we didn’t show that much; we worked on finding a go button. Kenny was rather laid back, a “hang out at the pub rather than go for a run” kind of guy.
By our second winter in Florida though, we were much stronger and were able to get through both Training and First Level tests, and were Open Champion at both levels in the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds final standings for the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America, Inc. As the 2024 season nears its end, we are in the lead for Second Level Welsh Cobs in the All-Breeds standings!
We are now done showing for this year and have started working on flying changes in preparation for the move up to Third Level, as well as some half steps for fun. Three days a week, Kenny also helps teach an amateur client of mine and hacks out of the arena working on his cardio fitness, which has been our biggest challenge.
Prior to Kenny, I was mostly surrounded by warmbloods, so it’s been a blast to meet the cob breeders and riders. I’ve had the pleasure of staying in touch with Kenny’s breeder, Patti Murphy, who is super passionate about the cobs and shared with me all of his baby photos and videos, and who enjoys sharing our small victories together. I’ve also visited cob breeder and rider Amy Rielly’s farm, and got to meet her majestic stallion Quillenes Authentic, and her farm full of baby cobs. This adventure was a ridiculous amount of fun – nothing beats a field full of cob babies!
I’ve ended up with a couple more cobs at my farm, with the idea of training them for resale. Let’s just say it’s hard to sell such fun, cheeky ponies, but it is still my hope for one day, as it would be awesome to see more of them in the sport horse world. I really do believe Welsh Cobs can go all the way up the levels with the right team of humans. They have the personality to learn, and strength to push off the ground and to perform the work. They may not be warmbloods, but in my experience, they try harder than most horses and are a blast to train, once convinced and they have developed the strength.
That’s not to say that Kenny won’t give me a run for my money when he decides to “cob out” or run away because he’s decided he’s done with the game, though he’s never dangerous and always stops…eventually! One who decides to take the journey with a cob must have a sense of humor.
Smart, athletic, with a hint of pony! #cobscan
