2025 Alvesta Foals

This year, we had five Welsh foals: two Section A and three Section B, and only one colt in the bunch.

The year started with the final foal from one of our favourite crosses, as sire, Delami Red Legend, went to Jenna Ponzo in Ontario immediately after breeding Alvesta Gwyneth (Nerwyn Gwyn x Alvesta Lil Gumdrop by Brookside Ambassador). Full sister to our retained Gwynevere, Alvesta Gwenllian is so like her: well balanced, big mover, with an ultra sensible, friendly nature. If we didn’t have her full sister, she’d certainly be staying home.

Our other Welsh Mountain Pony foal was our only colt: Alvesta Rhys (Sunwillow Alfonso x Alvesta Caris by Nerwyn Gwyn). Out of one of our best mares, 18-year-old Caris, he is one of her foals most like her. How fortunate that towards the end of her breeding career, she’s produced another quality colt to carry on her bloodlines. The Nerwyn Gwyn x Lianna L S Snow White cross that produced Caris, Swyn, Brenin Arthur, and Shem Jones was one of our best, and now with our new boy, Sunwillow Alfonso, we get to cross it with some of our favourite bloodlines that we’ve admired for many years—including Dukeshill Magnum and Sunwillow Dido, Sunwillow Quest and Randan Walter. We’re very happy with the type and quality of Alfonso’s first foals.

Our three Section B fillies are very closely related, all being sired by Thistledown Arctic Lore and out of Llanarth Tarquin daughters, out of Cadlanvalley Pirate daughters—with generations of our mare lines going back to Alvesta Virigina Belle, foaled in 1978.

Alvesta Novella (Thistledown Arctic Lore x Alvesta Naiya by Llanarth Tarquin) is the third from this cross and the first bay. A filly with her own look, after two elegant black siblings, Arctic Nymph and Nikos, who were two peas in a pod. This is another super pretty, lovely mover, with her sire’s bone and looking like height as well. She’s a big, sweet girl—like her mom, she’s a lover.

Alvesta Alys (Thistledown Arctic Lore x Alvesta Angelina by Llanarth Tarquin) is the second from this cross, her sister being a lovely black filly, while Alys went grey and will get considerably bigger. She is perhaps our pick of the year: just the type of filly we’d hope for from our Lore and Cwyrtycadno Cymro lines, taking the best from each. Like her dam, she has a gorgeous trot and is so very pretty, plus dad’s bone and height, being the tallest (so far) of her year. We feel the linebreeding to the lovely old Talhaearn Eirlys y Pasg through her two great sons, Cwrtycadno Cymro and Cwrtycadno Cadfridog, accounts for some of the extra Welshy type on some of these Lore x Tarquin-daughter crosses.

There’s no pony sweeter than Alvesta Sophia (Thistledown Arctic Lore x Alvesta Silver Lustre by Llanarth Tarquin), first foal for her 12-year-old dam, who was previously in BC driving with Shelley Todd. An all-around lovely, balanced filly who can point a toe, she is also the one who hangs around the longest and is always there, waiting for attention. She’s such a special pony. Our Sophia will soon be on her way to her new home to join relatives.

For more pictures, view our 2025 foals.

Next year we look forward to more foals from Thistledown Arctic Lore, Nerwyn Gwyn, and Sunwillow Alfonso—alongside our new import, Cadlanvalley Bobby Sox!