By Jeanette Knight
My name is Jeanette Knight, I have ridden dressage competitively and been a USDF member for SO long that my member number is only ‘804’! I am an Adult Amateur, and have aged right into the “Vintage” category – happily I may add!
I am originally from Maine, where my husband and I bred Warmbloods for years. We relocated to South Florida, though, so I could pursue my dressage goals. One of those goals was to earn my USDF Gold Medal. I finally accomplished this in the summer of 2024, aboard my Lusitano, Horizonte! But this is a story about two very special Cobs who can.
I have owned and ridden several Welsh Cobs throughout my riding career. I currently own and compete two wonderful Welsh Cob stallions: Taraco Mourinho and Quillane Accolade. Taraco Mourinho is an imported, smokey black, 14-year-old, and Quillane Accolade is a five-year-old perlino, who was bred in the US by a friend of mine.
Owning my first Welsh Cob happened totally by chance. In 2010, while still in Maine, a friend who owned Cobs asked me to help her with the import process of a weanling filly whom she had found in the United Kingdom.
At the same farm where this filly was, Taraco Stud, there was a striking black colt, who was just a few days old. He was already named ‘Taraco Mourinho’ (“the special one”), and was affectionately known as Mario. His name fit him from the start, and still does to this day! He had such a presence in the photos that I immediately bought him – on a total whim! I had absolutely no plan for what exactly I was going to do with him once he arrived, or for the future.
As a yearling, I wasn’t sure what to do with him for a job, so I decided to show him in the Dressage Sport Horse Breeders (DSHB) Series in New England, where, much to my surprise, he did really well, even against the warmbloods. Mario was also shown in Welsh Breed Shows, and he was ultimately named National Champion Yearling Welsh Cob Colt. In the fall of his yearling year, I decided to take him to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, Canada, where he was awarded Yearling Young Stock Champion. The Royal was an amazing experience, and I’d love to go back one day.
Fast forward to the spring of Mario’s three-year-old year, when he was put under saddle. That summer, I showed him in the Materiale under saddle classes, and in the fall, we were selected to ride in the first USDF Sport Horse Prospect Development Seminar, with Scott Hassler and Ingo Pape. I was thrilled to have been chosen with my ‘cute black pony’! It was a wonderful training experience, and Mario rose to the occasion, representing the Welsh Cob breed amongst the big horses.
He has an amazing personality, and everyone who meets him is immediately enamored with his beauty and charm. Over the years, he has matured into a handsome, talented blast to ride, and a competitive Cob stallion. I have been able to successfully train and show him up through the levels of dressage, and he is currently competing at Intermediate 1. Thanks to Mario’s recent achievements at Intermediate, he was awarded his Gold Medallion from the Welsh Pony and Cob Society of America Inc. I have also presented him to the Westfalen Verband of North America, where he was accepted into their Stallion Book 1 for breeding, earning very good scores.
Mario and I have had a very special bond from the beginning. I often liken it, affectionately, to an old married couple! I adore him and with all he has given me; he owes me absolutely nothing.
I never would have known how much fun or how talented Welsh Cobs can be until I actually owned one. I did not need another horse or project, but people say that, like potato chips, ‘you can’t just have one Cob’! So, when a friend of mine, who has a wonderful program breeding performance Cobs here in the US, had a rare colored perlino colt born, I knew what was about to happen.
I am partial to the dilutes, and had resisted the temptations for as long as I could, so on impulse, just had to have him! Along came Quillane Accolade, known around the barn as Ritz. I bought him as a yearling, leaving him with his breeder, Amy Riley, to be shown in-hand at the New England DSHB shows. He was very successful in-hand, earning many wins.
Ritz arrived to me as a green-broke, almost three-year-old. That summer, we competed in the USDF Materiale classes, and he ended up 5th for Horse of the Year! Ritz has been successfully shown at Training, First, and Second Levels, and is currently working on all of the Third Level movements as a five-year-old. Ritz is striking in color, and has a wonderful character, receiving numerous compliments at the shows. His trainability has been amazing since day one, for a young stallion.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these two Cobs who can!
