BelleVale Riding Ponies

Chestnut Welsh B 12.3hh Born 1972  

(Downland Mandarin x Clyphada Periwinkle)

In the UK, KRO was leased from Keston Stud to Hever Stud and then Rotherwood Stud.  

Once he arrived in Australia in 1982, he stood at Mirinda Stud, where he established his reputation as an outstanding sire.

It was here tht he was laid to rest, next to his favourite mare, Keston Allouetta, also imported from the UK.

His sire record is unmatched in Australia, and only surpassed in the UK by his own son, Rotherwood State Occasion.

Bay Riding Pony 13.2hh Born 1981 (Twylands Troubadour x Rotherwood Peep Show)

Son of the grand matron Rotherwood Peep-Show, herself a daughter of Chirk Caradoc and should need no introduction to riding pony enthusiasts.  He is widely considered one of the foundation sires of the Australian Riding Pony Stud Book.

At the ripe old age of 26yrs young he is still so vibrant in spirit and personality and fluid in his movement, which is a testament to his breeding and conformation.

Footlight now resides at Springtime Park http://springtimepark.com/index.htm 

Chestnut 12.3hh Born 1972

(Bwlch Valentino x Solway Summertime)

Treharne Talisman was the second Riding Pony imported to Australia (after Aristocrat of Flawforth) and initially stood at Chippenham Stud until 1985. He ended up at a home in Queensland until his passing in 2004.

Whilst some Australians were critical of his importation and even his size, Talisman proved them wrong by winning over 45 championships over two and a half seasons in open company, as there were no dedicated Riding Pony classes until 1980. He retired from the show-ring in 1979 after winning a final Supreme of Show.

Treharne Talisman’s bloodlines are extremely valuable in the Riding Pony world due to the increasingly rare appearance of Bwlch Valentino, regarded as the ‘King of the Riding Ponies’ or, to quote Tom Best, ‘a Moses’. Talisman’s dam meanwhile, Solway Summertime, was a full sister to the influential sire Solway Master Bronze, also grand-sire of the influential Keston Royal Occasion.

His progeny carried on Talisman’s own show-ring success with countless Royal Show championships both in-hand and under saddle to their names. He was sire of both the Galloway and Pony winners at the 1988 Barastoc Horse of the Year Show—Portofino and Chippenham Petite—a feat not matched by another to this day.

Talisman’s legacy lives on in the Riding Pony world, which he helped pioneer before there was even a scene in Australia.