|  | What is a Welsh Cob? By: Richard Miller Re- printed with kind permission- originally appeared in the Welsh Roundabout / July-August 1985 There are often times when you sit back and think to yourself, what should a Cob look like? Am I as a breeder on the right lines?” Usually this self- doubt comes after visiting a show where the judging has not been very special or after a sale when the highest priced animal has done nothing to arouse your interest whatsoever. Quite often after a few days the uncertainty dies down and you are back to appreciating the attributes of your own Cobs I often wonder how newcomers to the breed feel when they are confronted with such diversity of opinion as to what a Welsh Cob should look like. Having owned Welsh Cobs from the age of 14 and been passionately interested in Mountain and Moorland ponies since I was old enough to take note, I have listened and seen evidence of quite a few varying opinions as to the make up of different animals, some of which I would like to share with you, in the hope that it might help somebody who has a problem with what should be what! However, before I go any further, I want to point out that I don’t profess to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination and in saying that, I hope I do not express any opinion for which people think I am not qualified. Introductions aside, what is a Welsh Cob? One often reads in pony books that Welsh Cobs are descendants of Spanish stallions shipwrecked off the coast of Wales that swam ashore to mate with native mares. Perhaps this is true, but if you read literature from all the other eight Mountain and Moorland breed societies, then the entire coasts of England, Scotland and Ireland must have been littered with shipwrecks and the beaches crammed with rampaging stallions desperate to cover the nearest mare! It is a romantic idea but perhaps just a little overplayed! It is a proven fact thought that primitive ponies virtually identical to our Exmoor ponies of today were ponies of today were present in England as the landmasses separated from the continent, forming what is now the British Isles. These ponies, having been trapped here unable to make their migratory journey to the south of France for the winter months, were with out doubt the ponies that would have crossed with the “rampaging” Spanish stallions and formed the basis for the old Welsh Cart horse and the Breconshire Pack Horse. You often heard people refer to the “old” type of Welsh Cob meaning a short, a stocky animal with a lot of bone and feather, 14.2 in height and invariably chestnut with white stocking. But under what category does King Flyer come? The great grandfather of Pentre Eiddwen Comet was dark brown with virtually no white on him, stood 15.2 and was a lot rangier in proportion. The answer is that they were all Welsh Cobs but of different strains and before you go any further in deciding what strain you prefer, you have to know what you want your cob to do for you. We have many different sorts of mares come to stud: so when they arrive, I make a mental note of what category I would put them into: riding, driving or dual purpose. This is not to say this is not to say that one cannot drive a riding Cob or visa versa but as they stand that is how I would label them. First, the driving Cob, usually descended from Brenin Gwalia, through Hendy Brenin, Llwynog-y-Garth, etc of the sort epitomized today by Nebo Brenin. They have good bone, plenty of feather, good sensible heads on a strong four square body with powerful high action and are very attractive. Secondly, the riding Cob generally descended from Cymor Llwyd thru Llanath Braint. Once again, good bone but less feather, very well laid back shoulder and on a whole standing over a lot more ground with lower, possibly more reaching action. Finally, the dual-purpose animal, which covers most of the mares that we have to stud, and combines both the type and bloodlines that we have already listed. It is here that one has to know the bloodlines before one can make any opinion on this category. Especially when choosing young stock. Reading as many Journals as you can and reading Dr. Wynne Davies book “ Welsh Ponies and Cobs” like a bible is the only way to establish in your minds eye what the older Cobs were like and what nicks with what so that you can look at an animals breeding in a sales catalogue and picture what it should look like before it appears in front of you. So often we see people with Cobs trying to do the exact opposite to what their animal is capable of. We all do it: we are so keen to get started, “rush in where fools dare tread,” then after a while get disillusioned when we have an animal that won’t perform as we had hoped. Those people shipping animals to the United States have an extra responsibility not only to them selves but also to the entire foundation of a breed in a new country and that responsibility is greater than many people seem to realize. It is here one must know bloodlines work together and what they stand for. Look at different families that have proven successful. Pentre Eiddwen Comet and his sons Tyhen Comet and Nebo Black Magic crossing with Llanarth Flying Saucer by Llanarth Braint: Parc Welsh Flyer crossing with the blood of Cahn Dafydd to produce Rosinas’ Last who crosses back well with Pentre Eiddwen Comet through Coedlilys Stardust to produce Derwen Black Magic and Derwen Supreme. Who when put together with some Caradog Llwyd produced such noteables as Hewid Cardi. It may appear very bemusing but when looking at young stock in particular, it is necessary information. Please do not make allowances for Section B breeding in a Cobs pedigree. More often than not it leads to a lack of Cob characteristics, which is exactly what you don’t want. There is an old adage: “ its not the pedigree that you buy, it’s the horse standing in front of you.” Very true but don’t you think it is reassuring to know what has gone before? Just one point here though. If in your studies or travels, you come across a Cob that does not appeal to you, please do not write it off and disregard any influences it may have or have had on the breed. So often people get stuck in one “Camp” and are totally blind to anybody else’s animals. I like to go by the rule that I like all Cobs; I simply prefer some to the rest and my opinions are quite open to change if the occasion arises for me to be impressed by an animal previously downgraded on my list. Action is another point for great diversity and again depends on what you expect your animal to do. A driving Cob will want high knee action with a definite “snatch” from the ground up to his elbow and out again. A riding Cob wants a long low action with less” snatch” and more extension. However, this does not mean it should “daisy cut” No Mountain or Moorland should “daisy cut” meaning move low to the ground pointing the tip of the toe out and downwards. This sort of action is usually paralleled with poor rear end propulsion and is not good at all to cover rough terrain. A Cob to ride should have natural extension at least up to if not beyond a line drawn down from the tip of his nose to the ground. Also make sure it can gallop. I appreciate that a Welsh Cobs forte is his trot, but nobody want to hammer around a cross-country course at an extended trot! Let him show that he can flatten to the ground and push on, not spending all of his time climbing: that is giving the appearance of using his front legs to pull himself along. I have noticed quite often that if you have an animal that trots out of its own free will when turned out to play and does not go from a jog into a jerky bouncy canter, nine times out of ten, it will have good paces at all speeds. A lot of action can be made or ruined by shoeing. Personally, I do not think that giving an animal a long narrow hoof shape is at all justified. It is the weight of the shoe itself; for your high “ snatch “ a heavy wide shoe is needed. Possible with the toe filled with lead. For the low reach all you need is a light aluminum plate, the sort used in flat racing. All Cobs at Sydenham are shod in aluminum plates for the ring with the exception of anything being ridden. They are ordinary fullered exercise plates, no heavy irons at all. Going back to our dual-purpose animal that may be unsure how it is suppose to move at all, look for something that comes off the ground. Quite often one will see a Cob that bangs along, not helped by the shoes it wears, almost appearing to be digging a trench with its front feet as it goes along the ground. See if it brings its head up, tucks its hocks under and springs forward. If it does, then this is the action in it waiting to be produced. After a little work it will soon move with that eye-catching dash. Do not be fooled by mistaking a round action for high knee action. A Cob should not bend its pasterns right up when it moves like a Park Morgan and all the action in front must come from the shoulder, not the elbow. The head of a Cob can play a great part in the forming of an opinion. Though should it? I recall the tale of a dealer showing a prospective customer an animal and on her comment, “ It has got a large head, don’t you think?” the dealer replied, “Well, ma’am, he’s carrying it not you”. So possibly it should be out last concern, but these days when horses are keep purely for pleasure why should we put up with an animal with a “shoe box” for its head? I do not think that anyone has come up with the ideal head for a Welsh Cob. Some say that they should be dished, some say not, some say that they should have large flaring nostrils, other say their noses should be small enough to fit in a pint pot. It really is what pleases you most. You and only you will have to look at it first thing every morning! A few “ nit picking “ points are to have its ears up on top of its head, not loping out sideways ( donkey ears ) and look for a big wide flat forehead, definitely without a bump. Its eyes ought to be a good size and I have heard it said very often that as long as the socket and the bone structure is present a horse’s eye will get bigger as it gets older. Another warning here is that quite often a pretty head is accompanied by a shortage of bone and when that goes you are three quarters of the way toward losing your Cob. Not only should he have more than adequate bone for his weight, he must have the knees and the hocks to accompany it. Big flat knees, flat strong hocks, able to stand up to a lot of work in all terrain. Ideally the bone below the knee should be hard and flat and shiny with a fair amount of silky (not Curly) feather. The best bone I have ever seen, was in fact, on a Mountain Pony by Criban Brenin and if you are anything like me, the hairs on the back of your neck will stand up at the sheer sight of it! Incidentally, that pony had super limbs, super length of rein and terrific action but just lost out on his head. Nothing ever works out just as it should! Needless to say, however much bone any animal has, it will not move a yard unless it possesses equally as good forearms and second thighs. Whatever head you find on your Cob, do ensure that it is fitted correctly on the neck. It is rare to find a Cob with a long swanlike neck as after all, they are basically work horses, so if the head has plenty of throat space in which to flex that will make up for any misgivings it may have in the length of neck. One could write page after page on conformation but the perfect horse has yet to exist. Some have come close to perfection but the only way to recognize what is good and bad is to look, watch and absorb. I feel greatly honored to have looked after two of the best examples of the light horse or pony alive today. The Cob, Llanarth Flying Comet and the small hunter mare Little Primrose, a Lloyd’s Bank Supreme Champions 1979,1980, and 1981. With two animals of that caliber in one’s care one cannot help learning from them. I think I learned more from just watching and competing those two than I could have ever have learned from a textbook and of course, Comet is still with us as a constant reminder in our pursuit of excellence. I have probably done nothing more than to confuse you, but in sorting this all out, it might occur to you that within the Welsh Pony and Cob Society’s description there is your whole host of different alleys that you may go along, concentrating on certain aspects that you fell rate the highest on your list of priorities within the breed. But please do not underestimate the power you hold in breeding these magnificent animals away from their native country. Above all else keep the bone, keep the Welshness and let that sparkle shine on for many years to come. > |  |