Amy always enjoyed riding and competing ponies and when an opportunity arose to buy a young pony (Westfalia Milanian) bred by Heike Miller, Amy jumped at the chance. Milanian was from the German imported pony mare Mona. This started a fascination with the German Riding Pony, a beautiful pony with the movement, talent and conformation of their larger counterparts the warmblood hack. Amy and Andrew believe the German Riding Pony is the perfect solution for the shorter stature adult or talented child wanting a quality smaller mount but not willing to compromise on quality. Amy and Andrew felt there were more riders in NZ that would enjoy these ponies, so the search began for a suitable stallion to start the stud. This led Amy to Hilken's Stud Farm in Germany where she found the premium licensed stallion "Hilken's Denali". The two-year-old stallion was second reserve champion of his licensing and features some of Germany's most famous pony bloodlines. Amy and Andrew feel privileged to own such a lovely pony stallion and look forward to his first competitions (as a four-year-old) in New Zealand with rider Nicolette Barrett (2009-2010 season). A D Pony Stud's goal is to breed quality equines for all markets with a view to seeing more adults considering ponies as a competition mount. The main focus of the stud is to consistently breed and produce quality full size ponies suitable for all disciplines, and capable of competing at the highest level.
|
