Competition Results
Laurel Highland Farm Wins Champion and Reserve Champion Fell Pony!
Dressage at Devon 2005 Mountain & Moorland Competition
Laurel Highland Farm Wins the Supreme Championship!
Fell Pony Stallion "Waverhead Robbie"
Walnut Hill Carriage Driving Competition 2004
East Aurora ADS Competition 2005
Fell Pony Stallion "Waverhead Model IV"
Northampton Driving Society Pleasure Driving Show 2004
East Aurora ADS Competition 2005
Friesian Stallion "Romeo"
USDF Dressage Competition in College Station,
TX
First Annual Mixed Mountain & Moorland Pony Competition!
Our Fell ponies successfully competed at this
prestigious event! With a total of 40 ponies competing,
our bay Fell mare Lune Valley Dolly
was crowned Fell Pony
Champion and was 4th place overall. Laurelhighland Jake, at only 2 1/2 months of age was the
youngest
competitor in the class but ended up
winning Reserve Champion Fell Pony. We are very proud of them both!
Laurel Highland Farm's Champion Fell
Pony mare, Lune Valley Dolly,
in the Native Pony Exhibition at Dressage
at Devon 2004. Handler is Nicole Cable.
Organized and Presented by Proceeds Benefit   
Dressage at Devon
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September 28 - October 3, 2004Devon, Pennsylvania, USA Dressage at Devon features not only the WORLD'S LARGEST OPEN BREED SHOW but also a WORLD CLASS DRESSAGE competition. Competitors from 12 nations, 29 States and 5 Canadian provinces were represented during the event, which is called “the standard by which all American horse shows should be judged”. . . For the first time in 2004, the Breed Show included a MIXED MOUNTAIN & MOORLAND IN-HAND COMPETITION*, open to all purebred, registered NATIVE PONIES, including Fell, Dales, Connemara, Welsh, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Highland, New Forest and (British) Shetland ponies. This was the first ever international Mixed Mountain & Moorland competition outside of the UK, and the first all-breed Mixed M&M competition in North America! This class was held on Thursday, September 30, 2004, and was judged by Bert Morland from the UK, a recognized National Pony Society and Ponies Association (UK) Judge who is on all of the Mountain & Moorland Breed Judging Panels. Mr. Morland has over 40 years experience in judging British native ponies and is also a member of the Fell Pony Society Council (UK). A NATIVE PONY EXHIBITION was also held on September 30, including an instructional judging clinic. The day concluded with a PARADE OF BREEDS, once again showcasing all the British native ponies at this prestigious event! *To be eligible for the Mountain & Moorland Class, entrants must be purebred and registered in their respective UK studbook or that of a recognized society. Prizes were awarded to overall Supreme and Reserve Champions, Youngstock Champion, overall top 10 placings, plus Champion and Reserve Best of Breed for each of the listed eligible breeds. This event was organized and co-sponsored by the Fell Pony Society of North America, Inc. We are very grateful to our co-sponsors of this event which include:
Personal
Ponies, Ltd.—Home of the North America’s British Shetland
Pony Registrar Glenhaven Barossa Valley, a 3yr old welsh cob that was Reserve Champion Welsh Pony in the M&M class, also won the Born in the USA Award at Devon. He had to accumulate enough points competing against imported warmblood horses (many stallions) and German Riding ponies to win the title. He had only been under saddle 25 weeks and scored 72.6% and 74% in the Materiale class. Devon is an Internationally ranked CDI*** competition (the Olympics is CDI****). The judge was Anne Gribbon who is on the Olympic team and coaches the FEI Pony Team! Not bad for a 14hh pony!!! As pony lover/breeders already know, this is just another example of PONY POWER. Mountain & Moorland ponies also very successfully competed in the Performance Division at Dressage at Devon in the FEI dressage Pony Tests. Two New Forest Ponies, Van Gosh and Zippity Do Da, represented the breed especially well. Van Gosh placed 1st, ridden by Meagan Davis and Zippity by Julia Warstler came in 4th place. This was great - the first time ponies have been allowed back in FEI level competition so it was a good showing for the natives! Some of the others that competed in-hand in the M&M class also competed in the Breed Show under saddle classes, including the Champion Dales stallion, Villiage Sovereign. Shown at left: Mr. Bert Morland, National Pony Society Judge from the UK; Supreme Champion Connemara Pony;
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2nd Annual Mixed Mountain & Moorland Pony Competition!
Our Fell ponies once again successfully competed at this prestigious event! With more than ponies competing, our Fell mare Brackenbank Poppy not only won the Fell Pony Championship but also went on to win the Supreme Mountain & Moorland Pony Championship! She competed alongside her 2005 filly Laurelhighland Athena, who at only 2 months of age was the youngest competitor in the class. Athena did her best to steal the show with her antics! We are very proud of them both!
Brackenbank Poppy winning the Fell Pony Championship as well as the
Mountain & Moorland Pony Supreme Championship at Dressage at Devon
2005. Handler is Mary Jean Gould-Earley. Poppy is a veteran in the
show ring, having earned won at many shows in the UK before export.
Photo courtesy of The Paisley
Pony.
Laurelhighland Athena (2 months old) at her first big show. Athena has
the most AMAZING trot but unfortunately she preferred to show off her
"dressage moves" with passage, piaffe, as well as "airs above ground" as
shown here!!!! Handler is Dales Pony breeder, Nan Berry. We'll have to
bring Athena back next year so she can redeem herself. . .!
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Laurel Highland Farm’s Waverhead Robbie competed for the first time at this event in July 2004, with approximately 15 large ponies in his classes. He and Nicole Cable won 1rst Place in Pleasure Turnout, 2nd Place in Reinsmanship, and 6th Place in Cross Country Obstacles, in addition to performing well in the marathon.
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Waverhead Robbie at
The Carriage Classic In the Pines in
Pinehurst, North Carolina, May 2004
Waverhead Robbie had a late start at this show but ended up
doing very well. Although he wasn't able
to compete in time for the Pleasure Turnout, he did great in the classes
he entered! Out of more than
30 competing in his class, he and Nicole Cable took 1rst in
Reinsmanship and 2nd in the
Working class.
It's a pity he couldn't make it to the first class since he might well
have had a shot at the overall championship!
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Part One of the North American Pleasure Driving Championships 2003 - The Year of the
Pony Our Fell pony stallion Waverhead Robbie |
Walnut
Hill Carriage Driving Competition 2003
August 6 - 10, 2003
Part Two of the North
American Pleasure Driving Championships
Largest Carriage Driving Competition
in the World!
http://www.walnuthillfarm.com
Both of
our Fell stallions were in the ribbons at this prestigious event,
and we couldn't be more proud!
Fell Stallion Waverhead Robbie, driven by Ray Cable,
at Walnut Hill 2003.
(Photo courtesy of My
Star Photography.)
For Lots More Photos From Walnut Hill,
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Model DID IT!!!!! In what may be a "Fell First" (in North America at least), Waverhead Model IV won the prestigious "Concours d'Elegance" against all (over 30!) other horses and ponies at this competition! He also won 3rd place for Pleasure Turnout, 4th in Timed Obstacles, 6th in Reinsmanship. |
The Knox Farm State Park, East Aurora, New York
July 2001, 2002, 2003
| We were pleased to present our
Fell stallion Waverhead Robbie at several driving
competitions during the summer of 2001 in North America.
Robbie was a great ambassador and introduced a large number
of people to the breed.
His very first competition was an American Driving Society (ADS) show in East Aurora, NY. Despite having only 3 weeks of obstacle training under his belt, he had the fastest time of any horse or pony at the show — a great testimony to the natural stamina and trainability of the Fell! He also placed second in the Large Pony class in the Marathon as well as placing in the Reinsmanship class. |
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Robbie also competed at Walnut
Hill in Pittsford, NY — the largest Carriage Driving
competition in the world. (Walnut Hill is Part 2 of the
North American Pleasure Driving Championships, with the
Canadian Classic being Part 1.) In 2001, the “Large Pony”
class was the largest ever, so the competition was tough!!!
He performed beautifully in both the Pleasure Turnout and
Reinsmanship classes and made it to the last cut in both
events — and although the crowd thought he would win, he
didn’t. But considering Nicole Cable had only been working
with him for a month — we were very proud they did so well
at such a prestigious event (for which most of the other
ponies had been preparing for years)! A few judges (very
unfamiliar with Fells!!) said that they thought his mane
should be shorter and his feather should be trimmed. Well if
that is what it takes to win — forget winning!! Trim the
feather or that glorious mane? Never! They’ll just have to
get used to it and learn what a Fell pony is supposed to
look like with hair everywhere (which the crowd loves!!)
It’s time to “break the mold” of what a pony “should” look
like at North American shows, and Robbie is a good one for
the task! The competition ended with a Sunday Pleasure Drive
— 8 miles round trip to a park and back with crowds lining
the streets the whole way. Many were shouting, “Look at all
that HAIR!!!” and “What is that?!” Almost no one there had
ever seen a Fell pony before, so we educated lots of folks
on the way.
Robbie also competed at the Walnut Hill Carriage Driving Competition 2002. He performed beautifully, earning a 3rd place in Reinsmanship and taking 1rst place the Cross Country Obstacles Class. Overall, he finished in 3rd place which was quite a feat, considering he’d only been in training that year for a few weeks before the event. We are very proud of Robbie and of course his driver, Nicole Cable, who both did a great job promoting Fell ponies! After just one year, the judges already seemed used to that look of hair everywhere! And whereas in 2001 no one had a clue what breed Robbie was since they’d never seen a Fell before, just a year later when people saw him they yelled “There is that Fell pony!!” So it looks like we are making progress educating the public about a rare breed. |
Waverhead Model IV Competes at East Aurora 2003
| Our younger stallion, Waverhead Model IV also competed at the East Aurora competition in 2003. He took 2nd (out of 11) in the Pleasure Turnout, 4th in the working class, and 2nd in the 6.2 mile X-country marathon. For such a young pony, he sure is a powerhouse! |
Walnut
Hill Carriage Driving Competition 2005
August 10 - 14, 2005
Part Two of the North
American Pleasure Driving Championships
Largest Carriage Driving Competition
in the World!
http://www.walnuthillfarm.com
CHECK OUT THE "DYNAMIC
DUO"!!!
Waverhead Robbie and Waverhead Model IV, our licensed Fell pony stallions, competed as a pair at this prestigious event, and boy did they look GREAT! They and Nicole took 3rd place in Reinsmanship, which is pretty impressive considering they had only been going as a pair for about 6 weeks! They were definitely the crowd's favorite in a very large Large Pony class! The photo here was taken during the Sunday Pleasure Drive - and 8 mile trek to the park and back, with crowds lining the streets the whole way. . . all to see the most amazing collection of horses, ponies and carriages go by! There were competitors from as far away as Australia.
Model and Robbie were put to a reproduction of a 19th century Demarest Ladie's Wicker Phaeton, driven by Nicole Cable. Passenger is MJ Gould-Earley. Harness handmade by Shanahan's Harness!
Our 6 y.o.
Friesian stallion "Romeo", who was Reserve Champion Stallion
at the 2000 Friesian Keuring, recently became "Approved" for
breeding when he passed the 50-day FHS/FPZV Stallion
Performance Test in Texas. Our Texan friends from Royal
Palm Friesians, who also attended Equine Affaire, brought
Romeo to Ohio for us so we could bring him home from there.
We weren't planning on showing him at this event, since we
were there primarily to show our Fell ponies, but Romeo is
such a beautiful animal it seemed silly for him to just sit
idle in a stall the whole time! With some last minute
planning, Romeo ended up being a big crowd pleaser at the
Friesian Horse Society booth, patiently allowing crowds of
fans to pet him and photograph him. His rider from Texas,
Dana Gilbert, rode him in one of the Friesian breed
demonstrations, doing a musical freestyle dressage
exhibition (shown above). Some of the spectators referred
to Romeo as the "'Mr. G.Q.' of Stallions!" ~ from his photos
you can probably see why!
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Waverhead Model IV with Nicole Cable at the Carriage Classic in the Pines, Pinehurst, NC, May 2003
4 year-old Model competed for the first time in recognized ADS competition and won the Pleasure Turnout in a class of 17! He was put to a reproduction of a 19th century Demarest Ladies' Wicker Phaeton (Mill Run Carriage, Pennsylvania), wearing a formal harness made by Shanahan's Harness (Ohio). (Photograph by Kelly Butler, Eagle Eye Productions)
