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A "Welsh" Trip to Scotland...
Please be patient while the many photos load - they are worth it!

Early in March, on a cold, rainy afternoon, I happened to find a photo online of a most lovely colt. I admired him, and shared the photo around with the rest of my family. You see, he wasn't just any colt, he was a colt born at Wedderlie Farm, the birthplace of our star, *Wedderlie Mardi Gras.

Over the years I have had great fun keeping in touch with our friends at Wedderlie, sending them the latest news of Mardi's successes, and photos of his foals. So it was only natural that we'd be curious about this beautiful bay colt, Wedderlie Marmaduke. E-mails raced back and forth across the ocean and we became more and more enamored with Marmaduke. Eagerly awaiting up to date yearling photos of him, we finally convinced ourselves that a trip to Scotland, to see him in the flesh, was in order!

I've done many fun things throughout my life, including a trip to Wales, but I've NEVER been so excited as in the weeks before our trip to Scotland. Like a hummingbird flitting around the house, I was rushing about getting ready far ahead of time! The waiting was excruciating! We would get to visit our friends at Wedderlie, Mardi's birthplace, meet his dam, and his full sister (Marmaduke's dam) as well as Marmaduke himself! Also planned, and long dreamed of, a visit to Waxwing Stud, who so graciously allowed us to purchase Mardi from them shortly after he was Champion at the Royal Welsh as a yearling. Waxwing is the home of Mardi's sire, Eyarth Beau Geste, and we also have two beautiful girls here at the farm from Waxwing -- *Waxwing Garland and *Mynach Miss Daisy.

Friday, May 8th, the day of our trip started early. We live approximately 4 hours from our "local" airport, so we were up bright and early to make the drive up to Portland. I had no trouble getting up to THAT alarm going off! Suitcases were quickly loaded and my parents, Charlie and I were off on our adventure!

Our flight was long, but that was certainly not unexpected. We flew first to Amsterdam, which was a fascinating stopover -- very international! -- and I saw the most beautiful bouquets of tulips! I wish I had taken photos! From there, into Edinburgh, which proved to be a nice sized airport and fairly easy to find our way around. We were quickly settled into our rental car -- and away we went!

If you've never traveled in the UK, the fact that they drive on the "wrong" side of the road is not only shocking, but fairly disorienting! Couple that with the fact that your flight was "overnight" and it's now the next day, and you didn't really get a night's sleep -- well, that makes it a little tougher! Not to mention that the streets through the villages are very narrow, and folks there park right in the lane you are supposed to be driving in -- and that is quite exciting when meeting oncoming traffic, facing the same situation on their side of the street! But we arrived at our self catering cottage in the town of Peebles with all corners of the rental car still intact!

We title this photo "Look Out!" -- an example of the oncoming traffic, though this particular spot was much wider than so many of the others we ended up in!

This brings us to an interesting story! When we made the decision to travel to Scotland, I e-mailed my friend from high school, Wendy, who has been to Scotland several times, as she raises Scottish Highland Ponies. When I was in high school, Wendy and her family were our closest neighbors, 2 1/2 miles away. They also had the closest telephone, and Wendy and I spent many, many happy times riding ponies together through the golden hills of Northern California. So.... I had e-mailed Wendy with the exciting news of our trip. A few days later I got an e-mail back from Wendy saying "I'm IN Scotland!" Well, that was exciting and surprising news in itself, but imagine our surprise when we discovered that not only was Wendy in Scotland, but she was staying in the very town we were headed to! Peebles! Peebles is the most lovely little town located in the Scottish Borders, and lies along the very scenic River Tweed.

The River Tweed, left -- Peebles Church tower, right -- our time in Peebles was marked by the beautiful chiming of the church bells every 15 minutes!

Neidpath Castle, outside of Peebles

My first phone call upon arrival at the cottage, was to Wendy! It was pouring rain and we had no idea exactly where we were in the town yet. Wendy thought she could find us with her Peebles walking map, and I stood out on the front step of the cottage and waited to see her. Before long, here came Wendy through the rain! Soaked, but there we were together in Peebles! Who could have ever dreamed that up?! Wendy ended up staying with us at our cottage for the remainder of our stay, which was so much fun!

Gretchen and Wendy on Wendy's newly purchased bit of Scotland!

On Sunday morning Wendy and I headed to a riding stable in Peebles and rented ponies for a ride. We figured we hadn't actually gone on a trail ride together in something like 20 years. Wendy and I agreed that it was one of the most fun things we had ever done! Neither one of us could wipe the smiles off of our faces as we galloped through the hills of Scotland! What was touted by the stable owner as a walk/trot ride, ended up being a ride alternating walks through shady forest, speed trotting up lanes, and galloping through the hills to the top of the mountain and down again! Wendy was mounted on a pretty dun Connemara, while I was riding a hefty Dales Pony mare, who had the smoothest trot I think I've ever ridden. She also had the hardest mouth of any equine I've ever sat on! I soon gave up trying to rate her speed. She had a definite walk, trot and canter, but forget it if you thought you were going to slow it down or change it any! However, she was kind and steady, and we had the most delightful time, and rode up to the top of a mountain that overlooks the River Tweed and all of Peebles. It was spectacular!

Sunday afternoon, we set out for Wedderlie Farm. The drive through Scotland was memorable and absolutely breathtaking. I'm certain that I've never seen anything more beautiful as the rolling hills, green, green grass, stone fences and occasional castles and keeps that dotted the landscape. Just spectacular. Our drive took us through tiny villages, up narrow lanes, and over heather covered mountains where the sheep grazed right up to the roadway. Everywhere was a picture, and the spectacular landscape did not end when we got to Wedderlie! What a truly breathtaking location -- thousands of acres of well tended grassland, dotted with Aberdeen Angus cattle, Texel sheep, a commercial group of ewes and lambs -- and a couple of the world's finest Section B Welsh mares, bred from the same damline since 1943!

We were warmly welcomed at Wedderlie, meeting John and Marion Tilson in person. What a pleasure! After exchanging so many e-mails with Marion over the years, it was great fun to get to meet her, finally. We had the most delightful dinner, discussing everything from ponies to politics, cattle, sheep and life in Scotland and America. Marion is an absolutely wonderful cook, and just outdid herself serving us the most delicious lamb dinner! It was a most enjoyable evening, with truly great company!

Monday morning dawned early! Around 4 am each morning there was already light peeking in around the curtains of my cozy bedroom. The days are long in that part of the world, with dawn and dusk coming much earlier and later than what we are used to at home.

It was with great excitement that we set out for our second trip to Wedderlie on Monday morning. This time to meet the ponies! We first met the GREAT Wedderlie Marianne, dam of Mardi Gras, Maradona and Mariota, among others. To be able to see Marianne in the flesh was very special. Though she is 24 years old, she is the loveliest of mares, and it was very intriguing to see which aspects we enjoy of Mardi that came from her.

Wedderlie Marianne, age 24

We also met Mariota, Mardi Gras' full sister, the dam of Marmaduke. As I expected, Mariota is an absolutely beautiful mare, and if I could have fit her in my suitcase I would have gleefully brought her home!

Wedderlie Mariota

After our visit with "the ladies", we had a quick tour of the farm, which is....beautiful. Actually, it is even better than that, and there just are not words to describe it. See for yourself:

Beautiful scenery across Wedderlie Farm

Angus cattle,  happily grazing on the most beautiful grass!

Isn't that the prettiest grass ever?!

John's fabulous Texel sheep

A part of the "old" part of the Wedderlie keep, built in 1258.

The 500 year old "Hanging Tree" where the raiding English were hung! It is HUGE -- the stone wall in the foreground is well over my head.

The next stop on our itinerary was a drive to Marion's sister Ray's home. Ray also lives in a beautiful location, and did a wonderful job keeping Marmaduke in preparation for our visit. Visiting with Ray and her husband Harry was delightful! We had tea, then headed out to see the long awaited Marmaduke!

Side note: Have you ever seen a "Ha-Ha"? We never had! Harry and Ray have their very own! What is it, you ask? Here's a photo - can you tell what it is?

How about now?

The above photo looks down the length of it! I was completely intrigued with it, and wish we had a place for one here! Wikipedia describes it better than I can: "The Ha-ha is a slang word that refers to a garden, pleasure-ground, or park, designed not to interrupt the view and to be invisible until seen from close by. A ha-ha consists of a trench, the inner side of which is vertical and faced with stone, with the outer slope face sloped and turfed, making the trench, in effect, a sunken fence or wall." The effect being that you have a beautiful, uninterrupted view, yet the animals stay inside the fence!

One of our first glimpses of "The Boy", Wedderlie Marmaduke

And finally..... what we had traveled halfway across the world for! Marmaduke greeted us sweetly in his stall, then lunged for us very politely, then posed (such a family trait) before romping around the field.

As you may have perhaps guessed by now, we made the decision to bring Marmaduke to America! We are looking forward to his arrival this fall! We feel that he will be a valuable asset to the Section B Welsh gene pool here in the US, and look forward to using him on our mares. Our thanks to our friends at Wedderlie for entrusting us with this very special colt.

Click here to go to Marmaduke's page, where there are additional photos and his full pedigree.

On Tuesday, May 10th, came the long awaited visit to the Waxwing Stud. We owe a lot to Tom and David, having purchased Mardi from them, as well as the beautiful *Waxwing Garland and *Mynach Miss Daisy, a full sister to multi Royal Welsh Champion Mynach Miss Prim.

Tom and David are just delightful, and to get to see their absolutely fabulous herd of ponies was a real treat. I can say that I truly enjoyed every single minute we were there. Not only do they have the most wonderful and practical setup, but the most beautiful ponies I've seen anywhere in the world.

Above and below: Some of the beautiful mares and foals at Waxwing

Above, Mynach Mary Rose (Downland Rembrandt x Mynach Mayflower), dam of our *Waxwing Garland

I got to meet my spectacular new filly, Waxwing Martini (Eyarth Beau Geste x Wedderlie Martina [Eyarth Rio x Wedderlie Marianne]). She was every bit as fabulous as I hoped she would be! She is a 7/8 sister to Mardi Gras, and both her sire and dam are Royal Welsh Champions!

Click here to see more of Waxwing Martini! She will arrive in the fall with Marmaduke.

Tom very aptly described the location of the Waxwing Stud as "a little slice of heaven". I have to say, I agree!

We also met Marmaduke's sire, Moelview Mohawk. What a correct, typey stallion, and he has been a fabulous producer of many champions. We were very happy to see him in the flesh. Here he is at age 15:

While touring the farm, we spied a very flashy 3 year old by Eyarth Beau Geste. In the course of conversation, it came up that she was for sale -- and not only that, she was the only Beau Geste x Mynach Mayflower filly ever offered for sale! Only one other Mayflower female has ever been sold, and Mayflower has been a truly fabulous producer for Mynach/Waxwing, producing one champion after another when bred to Mohawk or Beau Geste. As Mayflower is no longer producing.... well..... introducing Mynach Manilla, who brings MARE POWER with her!

Manilla will ship over in the fall with the two yearlings. She's been bred to Moelview Mohawk for 2010! Mohawk crossed with her dam has yielded consistent and excellent results, so we are very excited! Click here to see more of Manilla, plus her excellent pedigree!

We had the pleasure of meeting the GREAT Eyarth Beau Geste, the sire of Mardi Gras, Mariota, Garland, Miss Daisy, Martini and Manilla! What an amazing producer this stallion has been! He is the sire of many Royal Welsh Champions and a Royal Welsh Champion himself. I'm sorry to say that these photos do not do him justice -- he is even MORE spectacular in person. It was amazing to see how much Mardi is like him -- even down to very similar mannerisms!

We had such a wonderful visit with Tom and David that it was very hard to leave. Like I said above, I enjoyed every single minute we were there. I could have sat around the kitchen table listening to stories forever! Thank you Tom and David for such a wonderful visit, your continued friendship, expertise, and for allowing some of your very best to come to America!

We reluctantly headed home that evening, full of ponies and pedigrees, stories and information.

The next day saw us make one more quick trip to see Marmaduke, then we rushed off for a bit of shopping and sight-seeing. One of our stops included the beautiful Thirlestane Castle. They had many interesting exhibits, though sadly didn't allow photos inside the castle! Here is a photo of the outside:

Our trip to Scotland was the very stuff dreams are made of, but it ended all too soon. Awakening the next day at 2 am at our cottage in Peebles, we reluctantly packed and headed for the airport and flew away from Bonnie Scotland.

I could write for days about the wonderful time we had in Scotland - the most beautiful place I've ever been. There are two million pictures in Scotland, and I only took 1100 of them. I have to go back and take the rest....

 

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