Pendam Sally

Pendam Sally 1986 - 2013

A sad week here as our good friend Pendam Sally died suddenly in her field on Monday evening. She had spent the last 23 of her 27yrs with us at Nantgwinau and produced some good foals for us, also three lovely palomino foals when on loan to Terackie Stud.  She was a great character, a very kind mare and is much missed by us all.

Builth Cob Sale 21 October

Many apologies to anyone hoping to see Nantgwinau Rachel  (Lot 690) on Sunday - circumstances beyond our control prevented us from getting her there.  She remains for sale and can be viewed at home by appointment, please note that she has not been backed only long reined.  Some people have been surprised by her size, at 15.2hh not to all tastes but a great package!

2012 - the Rain Year

Time to start up again after a long gap!

This is very excited Sally on bat-watch - she was the first to notice that we have bats living in the overhang outside the kitchen window!  We have seen as many as 9 flying out late in the evening, zooming about in most athletic fashion in their quest for food.  Not sure what sort they are but look larger than Pipistrel.

Next we report on Nantgwinau Rachel, now 7 years old, 15hh, and in need of a new home with knowledgeable owner. At present she is away having some basic schooling and trailer training, should be backed soon and ready to start her new life.

See www.nantgwinauwelshcobs.co.uk for more pictures of Rachel and her family.

Winter 2010/11

Trying to catch up as usual - the winter was very hard but picturesque! The snow lasted a long time in severely low temperatures, then a slow thaw followed by rain and drizzle all through February combined to produce far too much mud.
St David had a good effect in March, Dydd Dewi Sant was dry and the rest of the month followed suit leading into the driest April for many a year - and of course the grass stopped growing! Our swallows returned on 19 April and are now busy refurbishing their nests in the barn, swooping around the house in their characteristic fashion, and doing a lot of twittering - the original sort!

Cadno surveying his kingdom! Above is Pendam Sally now in her 25th year, a hardy soul she lived out all winter - I think somewhat disapproving of Cadno having the use of a field shelter!

October almost gone!

Just in time to comment on October before "welcoming" November! Quite a lot of B&B guests to keep us busy and weather not bad on the whole. The main news centres on Cadno - no, not sold yet - but completed his six weeks schooling creditably, very complimentary remarks from all who saw him work. This picture shows him being ridden in the school by a (very competent) 10 year old girl.

Since then he has been shod for the first time today and taken out to join the Vale of Clettwr at their meet at Synod Inn. He thoroughly enjoyed following for an hour or so and took the road work in his stride also - there were lots of firsts on this outing and we are very proud of how he behaved.

Winter can now begin, I have Nigella's latest book Kitchen from the library to browse through - she is the only cookery writer to make me regularly laugh out loud with her no nonsense approach and real love of eating, definitely the Queen of Comfort Food! If you don't believe me try the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding, we just have and feel very happy!

Clocks go back tonight so brighter mornings for a while but the other end of the day not so good, never mind it's surprising how soon the days lengthen again once we get into January - and of course we have Christmas to lighten the gloom!

Welcome September

July and August passed largely in grey drizzle and yet again the hanging baskets, having lost the will to live, had to be taken down early. However there were two newsworthy items in July, first - the sale of 2yr old Nantgwinau Cadog, closely followed by second - his sire Geler Sparc winning the Welsh Cob Stallion Championship at the Royal Welsh Show! As can be seen in this photo Cadog has settled in well at his new home in Stockport, we look forward to hearing how he develops.






On 1st September 4yr old Nantgwinau Cadno Coch went off to "boarding school" near Newquay to be broken to ride and learn how to behave under different circumstances. It seems very strange without him in the paddock behind the house, always ready with a comment whenever he caught sight of us - usually "isn't it time for tea/breakfast/anything?" He will be advertised for sale again in a few weeks, anyone interested can view him while being schooled by appointment only.






There has been tremendous swallow activity around the house during the past week, the youngsters honing their flying skills at great speed - sometimes unfortunately crashing into the windows and two of them taking a wrong turn through the half door into the kitchen! They must be very close now to starting their journey to Africa, hopefully to return next April. The other excitement in the last few days has been spotting the International Space Station flying overhead, amazing to see this very bright object travelling so quickly across the night sky, only in view for about 5 minutes but well worth standing out in the cold for!

Where did April go?

The wet conditions of March stretched on until Easter Sunday then suddenly changed to sunny days, cold nights, and a brisk wind. Consequently the mud once more quickly became concrete and the grass stopped growing! It was nearly the end of the month before some showers and a slight increase in temperature brought some improvement, but here we are in the second week of May still dishing out hay & hard feeds to all the horses.

20 Years at Pantycelyn!
April 6th was the twentieth anniversary of our move to Pantycelyn and as usual we celebrated with fish& chips from Lloyds in Lampeter - this is because it was the first meal that we had in a very bare & rather cold house, surrounded by boxes waiting to be unpacked! Fairly soon the dining room became a very useful dog-pound and log store - Megan & Floss adapted quickly!

Here is a picture of how the house looked at that time, rather bleak compared with nowadays.



Coming up to date April 22 saw the return of "our" swallows, and the necessity to keep the garage doors shut until they have settled to repairing their old nests in the barn - much diving about and twittering!


So now we are in May, just the other side of an extraordinary General Election and still coping with very unpredictable weather - Global Warming is oddly cold at times!

Nantgwinau Magic & Nantgwinau Rebecca

The old saying about waiting hours for one bus and then two or three come along at once can sometimes apply to horses! Last week, on successive days, came news out of the blue about Nantgwinau Magic (Nebo Magic x Rhandir Farwel Haf) and Nantgwinau Rebecca (Derwen Desert Express x Nantgwinau Rosina) from their new owners. It is always a great pleasure to catch up with the lives of Cobs that we have bred and we look forward to hearing more about both of them in due course. Magic is now 15 yrs old, doubtless very different from the 6 month old foal who left here so long ago, and has only been at his new home in Bournemouth for a few days - we hope that he and Sharon will have a lot of fun together. Rebecca is now 7 yrs old, full sister to our beautiful black Rachel, and has apparently done very well at in-hand showing during 2009 - including 3rd in the barren mare class at the Welsh National Show. Ridden classes are the target for 2010 so we hope for even more success for her with Kelly.


February was quite busy with B&B guests but cold & dry so the signs of spring were very slow, no chance of daffodils out for St David on 1st March, and the ground like concrete! March very soon turned concrete into mud once more unfortunately and having now switched to Summer Time we are told to expect snow this week - Happy Easter everyone!!

Signs of Spring?

Fog and frost this morning - but yesterday the day started with the sight of the sun rising over the Cambrians before 8 a.m. which means that the days are really getting longer at last. Later on our way to the village we spotted snowdrops starting their annual display on the bank by Capel y Groes, and then some lambs in a nearby farm. Having already seen daffodil shoots and primrose plants on the move at home we are beginning to feel quite spring-like!

The Big Thaw

Very pleased to see the end of January, the last post finished rather too optimistically and we had to cope with 8 days of frozen water pipes! The problem proved to be under the road in front of the house, so we just had to wait for the thaw - it was a very great relief to see the fields turning green once more. Now of course we have mud instead of snow & frost but at least we are warmer!
February has brought quite a few B&B bookings including several house hunters so maybe there is an upturn in the market - last year unusually there were none at all.

One of the plus sides of winter horse feeding is being more aware of the bird life around, as well as the odd fox and many rabbits of course. Lately we have seen - and heard! - several large skeins of geese, I think the largest was nearly a hundred birds. Other regulars are ravens passing overhead with their dry "craaak" call, magpies and crows watching from the trees hoping for leftovers, and the much bolder blackbirds & robins hopping about quite close to the feed dishes! Other odd sightings have been: the moon setting in the west just as the sun was rising in the east; and one evening the western sky was a dirty yellow colour while in the east a green moon was rising - very spooky!

Shopping and the Big Freeze

Our first shopping expedition of the year was successful yesterday, albeit somewhat stressful because of the snowy conditions. We had to travel the first one and a half miles down our unsalted lane in first gear until we reached the relatively clear B4337 to Llanwnnen. The A470 into Lampeter was quite good but what a mess on the pavements in town - very pleased to have worn our wellies for this trip! Having restocked for ourselves and the animals we came cautiously home, heaved a big sigh of relief and felt much happier with life - big mistake! This morning we awoke to find that the coldest night of the year had done it's worst and that the mains water was frozen again (see Feb 09). Trying to keep 5 water tanks topped up for the horses is bad enough when constantly having to clear them of ice, but no water available is a real hassle. So tomorrow will hopefully bring 2 men and a machine to re-lay part of the water pipe in a deeper trench!

Still three weeks of January left and more snow and frost forecast - very pretty but the novelty has worn off!

Happy New Year!

Oops - more snow! 2010 started off well on Friday with frost but a cheerful sunny morning, however by about 4pm the snow was settling and carried on into the evening. Not a great depth but not in a hurry to thaw, and the roads treacherously icy. As the forecast is for more cold weather for the rest of the week it looks as though we shall be teetering over frozen fields carrying hay etc for some time to come - ah, the joys of horse-keeping in winter!

Best wishes for 2010 to all our readers!

Too Much Of A Good Thing!

There are people all over the world who would be glad to receive even a fraction of the rain that has fallen here during November and now into December - if only we could send them some it would be wonderful! To be fair December 1st started well with a crisp frost and fantastic colours in the sky, but that soon changed and we were back to rain/wind/hail once more. So the fields are still water-logged, the horses blame us for the weather, and we are getting through a lot of towels drying off the dogs several times a day. Never mind, the shortest day is approaching, quickly followed by Christmas and the nice clean page of a New Year - let's be optimistic for the weather in 2010!

Wild November

Far too much rain and wind so far this month - plus some fog & frost for good measure! Today started well, feeding the horses was quite enjoyable under sun and blue sky (ignoring the water-logged ground) but whilst admiring a perfect rainbow the heavens suddenly opened and we were soon very wet indeed! However, putting our trust in the forecast, we later went off to Aberaeron for lunch and were rewarded with a very pleasant drive. As usual the town makes me think of Toytown with so many colourfully painted houses, especially around the harbour, even on a grey day there is an air of cheerfullness as well as a reminder of a more leisurely age.

We had a good look at the new harbour wall with its impressive defences against the sea - the size and number of the rocks/boulders that have been put in place is truly amazing - then had a well earned & enjoyable lunch at The Harbourmaster before returning home refreshed.

Seasonal changes & Welsh Cobs still for sale!

The first autumn frost appeared last Saturday morning, so it was time to dig out the sweatshirts once more to ward off the chill! We took advantage of the lovely sunny day to drive out to the reservoir of Lyn Brianne through the beautiful Cothi Valley - a drive admittedly much easier for passengers to enjoy than drivers owing to the narrowness of the road - we had a pleasant walk by the lake with our two wildly excited dogs and then ambled home by a different route, very relaxing!

Trees are changing colour and leaves drifting down at the slightest breeze these days, the horses are beginning to look rather woolly as their winter coats grow in, the first load of hay has been ordered, we are definitely getting into a winter mind-set.

More photos of Nantgwinau Cadno Coch who has been advertised on several sites recently with surprisingly little interest in such a handsome chap - too much competition perhaps with over 1000 entries in the Builth Cob Sales last weekend. Still it would be nice to have someone come and take a look at least! We also still have the yearling colt Nantgwinau Cadog - see previous post - all reasonable offers considered for either of them.

The Stud Visit 2009

We seem to be having Summer at last, the last 10 days or so have been largely sunny and really enjoyable. This was especially so on Thursday 17th when we were visited by 14 members of the South Western Association of the Welsh Pony & Cob Society - a very friendly happy group at the start of their stud visiting tour of Ceredigion. In spite of having only 6 Cobs to show them they were very appreciative, with much chatting & photographing nearly an hour and a half sped by before they had to leave. We really enjoyed their visit and were surprised but delighted to receive a large Stud Visit 2009 Rosette, plus a bottle of wine! A very happy occasion indeed, best wishes to all Pony & Cob people in the South West.

Farewell Summer?

Well, after a really sunny weekend, the weather has become a little grey once more - but still dry thank goodness! The last of our swallows left on Saturday, we think there were three broods in the barn this year and a couple of young ones caused some excitement during training flights by flying into the kitchen by mistake. The Last Night of the Proms was also on Saturday, it always makes me feel that summer is really over and that it is time to start thinking about Christmas and surviving the winter!

At the moment we are making preparations for a visit from members of the South Western Assoc. of the Welsh Pony & Cob Society on Thursday. It is quite a while since we have hosted a stud visit and will certainly be a shock for our Cobs to see so many people (about 15) at one time! Here's hoping for good weather and that our visitors will like what they see - a report on the event will be posted as soon as we have recovered!

Welsh Cobs for sale and "Trust me, I'm a Dealer"

Dear me I had a senior moment there and forgot to mention our other young Cob for sale, that is Nantgwinau Cadno Coch, a very handsome 3 year old gelding who would really appreciate some one-to-one attention. More details are on our updated Nantgwinau website but here is a photo to whet the appetite!

Now then, more horsey news - Paul Martin of "Flog It" fame has started a new show called "Trust Me, I'm a Dealer" and in tomorrow's episode (Wed 2 Sept) will be seen at the Elisabeth Curtis Centre for Disabled Riders, Bromham, Bedford, trying to help raise money for a new pony. I spent many happy years helping at that Centre before we moved to Wales in 1990, and I am looking forward to seeing how they get on with their quest. You can find the Centre website on our links page, a very worthy cause to support.

Another washout Summer!

Well here we go again, another summer when our hanging baskets had to be taken down before then end of August - too much wetness & wind, not long enough warm dry spells to encourage the plants to perk up. Also the canopy on our swing seat was more often collecting water than protecting us from the sun - in fact the birds became quite used to bathing in it!

However earlier in the year was more cheerful, and at the end of June we were lucky enough to have a lovely weekend to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary with a family dinner party at the Falcondale Mansion Hotel in Lampeter. Excellent food and relaxed atmosphere there as usual, a lovely occasion all together. So we are now "golden oldies" how time flies when your are having fun!

Welcome home Pendam Sally

Well Pendam Sally is home again after spending 2 years at the Taraco Stud in Kent. As reported in an earlier post Sally was put in foal to the very handsome Danaway Desert Storm and produced a lovely colt early last year, but very sadly he died soon after birth. She lost condition and had to have quite a few teeth removed but came through last winter quite well - however she then lost condition again and it was decided that she should come home into retirement once more. Very many thanks to Tara & Simon for all their devotion and excellent care, just such a shame that the result was not what we were all hoping for.