Royal Welsh Show: Dutch breeder's love for Welsh cobs

Breeder Hank Van Dyk is at the Royal Welsh Show for Welsh cobs day

A Dutch horse breeder who developed a love for Welsh cobs while living in Wales has spoken about the thrill of showing them at the Royal Welsh Show.

Hank Van Dyk, from near Rotterdam, bred the animals in Llanpumsaint, Carmarthenshire, for eight years before returning to the Netherlands with them.

He believes he now has one of the best breeding stocks of Welsh cobs outside Wales.

Wednesday is cobs day at the show, the highlight of the week for many.

Breeders will be hoping to secure the top award, the George Prince of Wales Cup.

The animals will run across the main ring in front of the grandstand, with football-style crowds cheering their appreciation.

This is something Mr Van Dyk first experienced in 1979, when one of his stallions was placed seventh in the stallion class competition.

"It was thrilling, but you have to be fit because the horses can really go," he said.

"You have to perform and the horse has to perform and when the crowd cheers the horse reacts."

Mr Van Dyk owned his first Welsh cob in the early 1970s, and visited studs in Wales to learn about the animals.

He moved to Llanpumsaint in about 1978 where he ran a farm with his family until 1986.

"When you start farming you have to earn money with sheep and cattle, but we kept a few cobs," Mr Van Dyk added.

Top prices

"We came here to learn from the Welsh breeders."

His horses came from the Nebo stud in Llanon, Ceredigion. He sold his farm in Wales in 1986 and returned to the Netherlands with his horses, and started breeding them as a hobby.

He says he now has one of the best breeding studs outside Wales, with 28 animals, and his horses have fetched top prices at cob sales in Builth Wells.

His most successful cob was Tewgoed Rosebud, which won several top awards including three Dutch championships.

He will be in the Royal Welsh Show's main ring once more on Wednesday, taking photographs of the cobs for Dutch and German horse magazines.