Pony Breeders Society News

PONY BREEDERS Point of View

Sarah Bostock

Sarah Bostock is the owner of successful pony stud KS Show Horses, located in Hawke’s Bay. Although still a relatively new stud, the KS ponies and horses have already won titles at National and Horse of the Year level. With her passion for pony breeding, Sarah joined the New Zealand Pony Breeders Committeemany years ago and is now president of the Society, which is one of New Zealand’s biggest and is the original registry for ponies under 148cm.

Congratulations to all the successful winners of our Pony Breeders Sashes throughout the country in the led, ridden and jumping rings. It has been fantastic to see such wonderful support for our sash classes throughout the country. Horse of the Year was once again well-supported, with excellent numbers in our led and ridden classes. Congratulations to the owners, producers and riders of these successful ponies.

Firstly, in the led ring the Pony Breeders Society of New Zealand Youngstock sash was won by the yearling KS Mister Postman, owned by Gaylene Williams, produced by KS Show Horses and led by Ryan Teece. Runner-up was awarded to KS Honey Boo Boo, owned by Sheridene Swift, produced by Ben Thomson and led by Brandon East.

In our sponsored ridden classes numbers in both height classes were excellent, and in the end 10 beautiful ponies were selected to come forward for final judging, with Aschbrooke Bobby Dazzler, beautifully ridden by Amy Vujcich, taking out the Pony Breeders Society of New Zealand Ridden sash for 2016, and runner-up going to Eastdale Diva and Trey Cadwallader. Beechcroft Martini (Ella Hansen), Brookfields Dreams Are Free (Adrienne van den Berk), Chelton Light Endeavour (Kristen Wareham), Maxwellton Penelope Pitstop (Brenna Tait), Eastdale Caberet (Lucy Norton-Collins), Linden Summer Rhapsody (Billie Roach), Beechcroft Glamour (Katelin Stuart) and Jamaican Me Crazy (Annalise Graham) rounded off the top 10.

It’s so nice to see ponies from a wide variety of studs around New Zealand in this line-up and many of them went on to success in their Open titles. In fact, all six Pony of the Year titles were won by New Zealand-bred ponies, showing how well they stack up against their Australian-bred counterparts.

Eastdale Diva continued a winning streak, again claiming the 12.2 Pony of the Year. Consistent performer Mansfield Park Magnolia, with new rider Meg Fleming, was awarded 13.2 Pony of the Year and Woodland’s Park Light O Day backed up last year’s win by taking out the 14.2 Pony of the Year. Over in the hunter section, the 12.2 Hunter Pony of the Year was won by Eden Annabell and Nanteos Autumn Gwyndaf. 13.2 Hunter Pony of the Year was won by Aschbrooke Bracken ridden by Ashleigh Everton, and Beechcroft Playboy, ridden by Grace Tripe, was awarded the 14.2 Hunter Pony of the Year. BENEFITS FOR OUR YOUNG MEMBERS

The Pony Breeders Council is very much aware that many of our registered ponies are owned by young riders. We wish to support them and encourage them to compete on their ponies by not only offering sash classes as mentioned earlier in my article, but through our National Performance Competition. This competition has been designed to support all levels, ages (of rider) and across many disciplines. On writing this, our performance convenor has received all her entries and the winners will be announced at our AGM in May.

There are numerous categories in this competition, including Rising Stars, Senior and Junior sections and individual discipline winners in Showing, Dressage, Show Jumping, Show Hunter, RTR/WPH, Lead Rein, First Ridden and Mounted Games, to name just a few! Entering is simple - once you’ve signed up for the competition you keep a record of your pony’s winnings throughout the season. Then once the season is completed, your results sheet is posted in to the convenor and the points are tallied up. You have all season to enter, and there are rugs, trophies and sashes to be won, all proudly donated by the New Zealand Pony Breeders Society or by studs affiliated with Pony Breeders. Conditions to enter this competition are minimal - your pony must simply be measured 148cm and under and be fully registered with the Society. Information can be found on www.ponybreeders.co.nz, on our Facebook page or by contacting any of our council members.

Our annual AGM is to be held on Saturday 21st May in Palmerston North at the Copthorne Palmerston North at 10am. We encourage all our members to attend for a chance to listen and have their say in all matters relating to our Society. It is also an opportunity for members to meet councillors, make suggestions or even join the Council if they wish. Many of our members forget that all our councillors hold their positions simply as they wish to give back in some way. All events run by the Society are done so by councillors. As a Society we are always looking for enthusiastic, motivated Council members who would like to contribute. You don’t have to be a breeder, stud owner or anything similar - a basic understanding of horses and ponies and a desire to help is all we ask for. Please feel free to attend our AGM, as next year’s will be in the South Island so we hope to see as many of our North Island members this year as possible. FOAL REGISTRATION

Just a reminder to breeders to get their registrations in before our cut-off date. A late fee of $50 will be charged if a foal is not registered by the 31st of July following birth. Registration forms can be printed off our website. Please contact our registration officer Viv Staples if you have any questions or are unsure if your foal is eligible to be registered. Viv Staples 75 Penrith Rd, RD 2, Napier Phone: 06 844 5549 E-mail: staples@clear.net.nz C