The Gayfields Foundation


Pickwick Shan, dam of
Gayfields Vida Blue
 Our first four mares included two old imported mares (Downland Icicle and Fronwen Nel) given to us by Anna Behrensmeyer, long the editor of "Welsh News" for the WPCSA. We bought Honor Pennant (a Criban Pledge granddaughter) who was gentle, broke and our first show pony and Pickwick Shan (Rockburn Toy Soldier x Shan Cwilt a Royal Welsh winner). After a few years of borrowed stallions we bought our first herdsire: Coed Coch Prydydd (Coed Coch Glyndwr x Coed Coch Pioden by Coed Coch Glyndwr).
Our first Prydydd foal crop was 1970 and Gayfields Prydydd Laureate, a star of that first group, grazes now in our front pasture, still full of personality. Nineteen seventy was important for another reason, Jean Branch decided to lease her mare, Criban Old Silver (Bowdler Brewer x Criban Old Gold), to us so that she would be bred to a purebred stallion. The foal at her side when we picked her up was by one of Jean's Arab/Quarter Horse stallions. The foal was way past weaning age. We weaned "Liberty Bell" the day we picked Old Silver up and, of course, left him there as he belonged to Mrs. Smith. Eventually he won pony hunter honors ridden by Greg Best. With all this Section A broodstock we found out in due time that we were B breeders: the foals kept going over 12.2!


    Of all the original mares, Old Silver turned out to be most important in today's herd at Gayfields, thirty years later. During her lifetime she produced three foals by Prydydd·all well known in the Welsh rings of their day, Prydydd Bonnie Jean, Gayfields Silver Poet and Gayfields Silver Poem. She also had two by Findeln Blue Danube and, by accident, one by Brockwell Spider. *Criban Old Silver was only shown once. In a huge class of Sec. A broodmares at the very first American National Welsh Show in 1977 she placed second and went on to be Reserve Champion Mare, at the age of 19. Her daughter by Findeln Blue Danube, Gayfields Blue Gown, was Jr. Champion Pony with Honor Pennant's Blue Danube daughter, Gayfields Bluzette, Reserve Jr. Champion Pony.

     Our daughters rode and drove all three of the Prydydd/Old Silver ponies, doing most of the breaking and training themselves, and then Bonnie Jean went to Miriam Williams at Madoc "on loan" and Poet taught a number of kids from Tennessee to Texas to ride, drive and jump during his lifetime. Poem died comparatively young but left us Posh (from Sleight of Hand's first foal crop).
 Gayfields Silver Poem




     Bonnie had foals by Brockwell Spider, Findeln Blue Danube, Sleight and Pendock Masterpiece. We kept Gayfields Old Glory (one of our most important broodmares) and Miriam Williams-Gerdes has her last filly, Gayfields Bonnie Bach.
Old Glory Bonnie

Gayfields Old Glory

Gayfields Bonnie Bach

    One of Bonnie's sons, by Blue Danube, was Gayfields Blue Nile, perhaps the most famous hunter pony we have produced and Bonsai, her last and orphaned foal, is winning good ribbons in the hunter world today as Gayfields Peter Pan. Poet died recently and was buried in a corner of our pasture now known as "Poet's Corner"·.a place where one can express whatever opinion one may wish to voice (but where one shouldn't expect an audience such as the one in the original Poet's Corner, London)! Gayfields Silverado is our last remnant of Old Silver's production.



Turn the page