by Adrienne van Blerk
The 2015 National Championship was once again held at Beaufort West, As one has come to expect in the Western Cape the classes were very large and the competition very good. In the Section A Breed Classes there were seldom less than half a dozen ponies in a class and very often more.
For our Paddock Hill Welsh Mountain Pony Stud, the 2015 Nationals marks seven years of showing In-Hand, during which time we have produced multiple Junior, Senior, Supreme and Reserve Supreme winners at National and Regional levels. The 2015 National Championship, however, must stand out for our Stud for several reasons.
First at this year’s SA Nationals, our top show pony, Paddock Hill Sun Coquet, achieved a triple consecutive Supreme and Purebred Supreme win having taken the previous SA Supreme and Purebred Supreme Championship as well as the Western Cape Supreme Championship.
PADDOCK HILL SUN COQUET
One cannot, however salute Paddock Hill Sun Coquet without also saluting her very dapper dam, Llandilo Sundew. Llandilo Sundew was shown by us at Nationals this year for the first time and we were thrilled when she was placed Reserve Senior Mare Champion to her daughter, Paddock Hill Sun Coquet.
PADDOCK HILL SUN COQUET AND HER DAM LLANDILO SUNDEW
To the very great credit of Llandilo Sundew must also go the string of successes which her other Paddock Hill daughters have achieved over the years. At this year’s Nationals, her only son, the very lovely two year- old, Paddock Hill Sun Glitter, won the Junior Stallion Championship adding to his acquisition of this title at the Western Cape Regionals a short while ago.
PADDOCK HILL SUN GLITTER
It was indeed a very proud moment for us at the 2015 Nationals when we won the Group Class with Llandilo Sundew, her daughter, Paddock Hill Sun Coquet and her son, Paddock Hill Sun Glitter.
Paddock Hill Stud would like to acknowledge the very great debt owed by it to Jean Budler and the wonderful Llandilo ponies who are the forebears of our first and second generation Paddock Hill ponies. Her legacy in South Africa is truly a huge one.