By far the largest number of emails I get relate to people desperately trying to trace info and or photos on ponies they have either bought / intend to buy.  At first, I could just about keep up, learning a bit more as I went, but I’ve reached a point where I simply don’t have the time to do it.

 So in future, I’ll be redirecting you all here instead!

 Searching on the web:

Check the spelling of the name in the passport very carefully, before typing it into a search engine. Lots of you send me misspelled names, which when entered correctly bring up loads of info on the search engines.

 Pay a visit to allbreedpedigree where you might get lucky and find your animal has already been entered by someone else.  Failing that, try putting in the sire and dam and work from there, because again, sometimes people misspell names.  From here, you can often find siblings, aunts, uncles etc, by viewing the progeny records too.  All this is free.

Rainhill Welsh Cobs has an exceptionally useful search facility and a catalogue of thousands of photos of welsh cobs (and some other welsh ponies too) from the last 25 years.

Welsh Cobs Info  has a wealth of photos of famous animals, and often details of progeny too.

 Of course if you are reading this, you have already found my site welsh welsh cobs.com  I think the fact that I copy and paste pedigrees from the sales draws many of you to conclude that I am some sort of welsh cob oracle.  Far from it – I am simply bookish with a touch of OCD, a nice camera and a strangely efficient memory which stores photos in my odd brain like a quirky archive from where I can access them again for my own pleasure.  Anyway, I do have a fair few photos which I have collected from recent years, from shows, sales & stud visits, so tuck in and see what you can find.

 If you feel like a chat, join a horse forum such as Saddlesoap: there is an entire section dedicated to tracing horses, or ask on the relevant part of the site ie: A&B or C&D or Part Bred. They are, on the whole, a friendly bunch, who for some reason, always seem to be more enthusiastic to help if you are willing to share a photo of the animal you are trying to find out more about. 

 If you are on the dreaded facebook, there are a number of groups frequented by fellow enthusiasts who might be able to help:

Facebook suggestion #1

Facebook suggestion #2

 or do your own search; there’s probably another half a dozen more groups to help you by the time you read this. 

 For book worms:

If you are serious about learning more about welsh ponies and cobs, you can’t beat sticking your head into any of Dr Wynne Davies’ books.

Welsh Ponies and Cobs, first published in 1990, contains a chapter on the very earliest native breeds in the United Kingdom, before dedicating a chapter each to the most important foundation stock with the 4 sections.  Most animals are accompanied by photos of at least themselves, if not their progeny too.  I very much doubt that anyone today owns a welsh pony or cob which doesn’t trace back to at least one of the welsh ponies or cobs mentioned.

The Welsh Cob, first published in 1998 follows the history of the Welsh Cob from the early foundation period to the time of publishing.  It contains many photos of the great welsh cobs throughout and for those searching for common relatives, many will find the section on Influential studs particularly useful.

One Hundred Glorious Years, published in 2001 & celebrating the centenary of the WPCS society in the same year, is made up of three parts.  The first deals with the history of the Society, detailing significant animals that won at the big shows, or were sold or exported year by year.  The second part is made up of a chronological list of studs as they joined the Society.  The third part lists each significant stud  family* alphabetically, with a multitude of photos throughout.

Sixty Years of Royal Welsh Champions, published in 2009, is as the title suggests a photographic chronicle of the Champion Male and Female from each of the four sections from 1947 to 2007.  Accompanying each photo is the year of foaling for each Champion, the name of the breeder, the owner and a full pedigree going back to the g,g grandsires and g,g granddams of each winner.

For those seriously smitten:

Stud Book Indices 

Available from the WPCS website or the lorry at a number of shows, I love the Stud book Indices (how sad is that!).  Each index lists (by gender), alphabetically, every welsh pony and cob registered within the years covered by the indices.  i.e  Volume X lists everything, its year of foaling, its colour, its sire and dam and its breeders name for the years 2000 - 2004

 If even this isn’t enough to sate your appetite, the next stage is Stud Books, again available from the same sources as the Indices, but published annually, and which list the markings of each animal as well as throwing in photos as well.  (Not succumbed this far yet – it is an expensive hobby – saturating yourself in generations of pedigrees.)

There are also more books to be had including:

The Early Years -  a collection of articles from the early journals, with a few photos of some seriously early stud book entries including:

Eiddwen Flyer II  (No.10)

King Flyer (No.35)

Prince of Cardiff (No.84)
Trotting Railway (No.529)

 (No.130)  Lady Go Bang

(No.1411) Pride of the Hills

 All of the above can be purchased from the WPCS website, or from the WPCS lorry which attends many of the big events.  You may find some of the books by Dr Wynne Davies available from other online or high street sources as well.

So off you go, see how you get on and above all else, just enjoy the animal you see before you and don't worry too much about what its relatives did or didn't do.