Welcome to Rosemarkie Highland
Ponies.
Our stud is situated in the
border ranges near Stanthorpe, Qld. When we bought our first highland
pony, a gelding named Dougal, we had no idea what an impact this hairy
pony would have on our lives. We were very impressed with his forthright
character, intelligence and steady nature, but at that stage setting
up a horse stud wasn’t in the plans and we certainly had no idea these
ponies would become such a huge part of our lives.
We had never heard of this
breed before meeting Dougal, but once we had, it became an obsession
to find out more. In 1996, after many phone calls, we were lucky enough
to track down a group of broodmares in foal and these became the nucleus
of our stud. I will always be grateful to Tom and Betty Peel for offering
us this incredible opportunity.
Finding a stallion proved a
lot more difficult but at last we were able to purchase a beautiful
stallion, Barrymoor Jagirdar. He has produced some wonderful foals
for us over the years and carries very old and valuable bloodlines.
Jag was joined in 2002 by our
young stallion, Barrymoor Macgregor. Robbie is a real stunner and
wins everyone’s heart. Both our stallions have the typical highland
temperament and both are thorough gentlemen.
Our original broodmares were
all very obliging and in that first year all produced fillies. These
fillies were all by a beautiful mouse dun stallion called Barrymoor
Banner. This was an incredible boost to our breeding program and later
we bought a magnificent black filly by the imported stallion Maverickdene
and more recently a gorgeous grey mare, Croft Cnoc Clover who has since had an
equally stunning filly by one of the newly imported stallions of Scott
McGregor's.
The Highland pony is a very
ancient breed, native to Scotland. They are traditionally associated
with deer stalking, being strong and well-balanced. Their sure-footedness
and docile nature make them ideal mounts for work in rough country.
And our country is rough! The majority of our place is very steep traprock,
backing onto Sundown National Park, which is renowned for its rugged
beauty. The highlands have proved they are the ideal horse for us. They
have feet like flints and despite the sharp rocky terrain, our horses
march over it with their rock-crunching hooves and have never pulled
up lame. I think it would be a crime to shoe these ponies. If they can
handle this country they can handle anything. They keep themselves very
well, always in good nick even when you look around and wonder what
on earth they’re living on. We worm them and provide mineral blocks
and apart from that they pretty much do their own cooking!
As you can see I have become
quite one-eyed about my highlands. Is there any other breed? Not if
you ask me!
