Top prices paid for Welsh performance

Proving that Welsh breeds are in demand as performance animals, the most interest at the recent Brightwells sale was shown in ridden and driven animals.

The top price of £5,600 was paid for the ridden nine-year-old palomino section D mare, Janton Merry’s Maid.

Merry’s Maid is by Janton Meredith, a well-known performer who won at the Royal Show and Ponies (UK). She was ridden in the sale ring by her vendor, Julie Cuming from Hampshire, and was bought by the Thomas family of Townhill, Swansea.

Another ridden section D, Jane Vosper’s 10-year-old stallion Maylands Sid, was sold to Cumbria for £4,900. A son of Llanarth Welsh Flyer, Sid won at the Royal Welsh Show, is a former Olympia finalist and is also broken to harness.

The top price for an unbroken animal was the £3,700 paid for a daughter of the Royal Welsh champion Danaway Flash Jack by event rider Sara Ackers.

• This report was first published in Horse & Hound (8 June, 06)