The Welsh Part Bred is a crossbred horse that combines the blood of different Welsh sections with other breeds. The Welsh Part Bred has a minimum of 12.5% registered Welsh blood. With an average height of 14.2 hands, they combine the beauty and versatility of the Welsh Pony with non-Welsh bloodlines to create an excellent mount for all types of riding. The result is a sturdy, strong-willed mount that has been used for riding, driving, and light agricultural work for generations.
Stunning, friendly and full of character, Welsh Part Bred Ponies combine the hardiness of their semi-feral ancestors along with the qualities of other breeds that are needed in a family pony. Those planning to buy a Welsh Section A should note that height standards differ. The Welsh Part Bred stands on average 13 to 15 hands high, though some individuals can reach up to 16 hands or more. They have a noble and expressive head. These horses are known for their hardiness and willingness to please their owners, making them an excellent choice for riders of mixed abilities or those just starting out. They have docile temperaments and energetic gaits that make them easy to ride over long distances.
The Welsh Ponies originate from the Welsh Mountains, where they may have been living since the Iron Age or even the Bronze Age. They were certainly known to be living there in medieval times. Welsh ponies and the larger Welsh cobs were used principally for riding and pack work. Their reputation for hardiness and strength was known and appreciated beyond Wales. The original stock was probably provided from the semi-feral herds of the Carneddau Mountains in Snowdonia. Mountain ponies still range there today, much like the ancestors of the modern Section A ponies. Sure-footedness was a noted quality of the ponies of Carneddau, as they roamed a landscape that was rocky and full of ravines in search of nourishment. They became adept at surviving on poor grazing and through freezing winters with several feet of snow.
Hardy and agile as goats, the ponies were ideal for use as pack animals and to work on small farms. They were strong and often speedy as well. However, by the sixteenth century, these qualities were no longer what Tudor royalty thought admirable in a horse. King Henry VIII wanted larger war horses and was prepared to pass legislation to cull the smaller animals so that they could not interfere with his plans. It is said that the ponies that lived in the more remote parts of Britain escaped the cull because they were hard to find; and also that those who prized them made sure of their survival!
The ponies continued in their traditional roles for centuries. Then, as Britain became an industrial nation, the smallest ponies of Wales had a new role. Now some of them were working underground as pit ponies not only in the Welsh coalmines, but also in coalmines elsewhere in the country such as those of the Great Northern Coalfield in north east England. Riding and driving horses were still necessary to travel around in the early part of the nineteenth century.
Today, the Welsh Part Bred includes all ponies with a percentage of at least 12.5% of Welsh pony blood. In the 1960s, the general studbrook for Welsh Ponies was closed in order to breed Welsh Ponies exclusively as purebreds - But they were in great demand for crossing with other breeds, so that the Welsh Part Bred studbook was introduced.