Sport Ponies

I previously posted on "Theodore O'Connor", a pony who is representing the U.S. at the Beijing Olympics, and ponies who are used in combined driving.

Some breeders of sport horses also like to breed warmblood horse lines into their smaller counterparts to produce a mount for children who are not at the age to be able to manage a much larger horse. Some adults could fit into this category, including myself, especially when it pertains to riding warmblood horses.

European warmblood horses come in a variety of sizes, although the majority are large and larger: at 16.2 hh or 17.2 hh or even 18 hh, with the weight to go with it. For those not acquainted with measuring horses, a hand width of 4 inches makes up 1 hh; therefore 16.2 would be 16 x 4 plus 2 inches = 66 inches to the top of the horse's shoulders (withers). These are totally unsuitable for children to even consider riding, so the German breeders developed a sport pony which they hold in high regard.

A common breed of pony used to cross with warmbloods are the versatile Welsh, which come in four different sizes, set in sections: A, B, C and D. The Section D ponies are usually cobs being more of a sturdy, well built small horse size up to 15.2 hh.

From You Tube video three representatives of well presented sport ponies: a buckskin from Germany, Der Kleine Prints,



not embedded here,

and two from the United States Wedderlie Mardi Gras (an imported Welsh Pony stallion, Section B),



not embedded here,


and an approved American Sport Pony Registry stallion,

Hot Shot MRF who is a Welsh Hanoverian cross) below:



For those unable to view embedded see here.

Egads, Inspiration!

Mars, the planet, seems to be working it's magic on me. I have begun reworking my WIP and now have new ideas springing forth like green buds on branches. That's figuratively thinking, considering Toronto is expecting a large dump of snow overnight and on Saturday into Sunday.

That, in fact, will assist in my sitting at my desk and writing whatever comes to mind. In the past, I found it easier to write in bits: taking small portions of the overall manuscript and working on that. This is akin to working on dressage movements, dividing up the figures to make a whole. If I get stuck on one section, I move to another and work on that, and afterwards I write transitions between paragraphs or chapters to make the story fit. I believe I read an article that Diana Gabaldon subscribes to this method. If it works for her, it should work for me. I hope.