we visit Dartmoor breeders at Newoak Stud
Joyce and Jacky Newbery’s Newoak Stud is among the leading Dartmoor pony studs. Rebecca Haywood discovers the secrets behind the success
ACHANCE phone call which led to a bit of “hobby” breeding has resulted in a mother-anddaughter team producing some of the best Dartmoor ponies in the country.
“It’s just wonderful that so many people are out there doing fantastic things with our ponies,” says stud founder Joyce Newbery as we tuck into a delicious spread on a sunny day.
The stud, which now has around 50 Dartmoor ponies, is situated on the outskirts of Exeter city centre in Devon. Joyce and daughter Jacky, who started the Newoak
Stud in 1990, can look back on the past two showing seasons with a great sense of pride and achievement. The duo saw numerous Newoak ponies qualify for some of the most prestigious shows and were awarded the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) Kellythorpe Stud’s leading Dartmoor breeder of the year in 2017, 2016 and 2012.
Some 14 Newoak ponies have qualified for this week’s Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) and two — Newoak Furious and Newoak Balladier — are already through to HOYS in October.
Some of the main contenders flying the flag for the stud include Furious, who won the HOYS 2017 mountain and moorland (M&M) ridden Dartmoor/Exmoor/Shetland pony of the year final with producer Sam Roberts, HOYS M&M mini reserve champion Newoak Designer Edition (Milly Lockhart), and HOYS lead-rein finalist Newoak Rambler.
“To have two wins in a week was just phenomenal,” says Joyce. “Winning with home-bred ponies made it very special for us.”
“Furious has been a long-standing front man for our stud and proves a gelding can be just as successful as any stallion or mare,” says Jacky.
“He’s been to HOYS every year since he was four years old. Dezzy [Designer Edition] is out of the first Dartmoor we bred — Newoak First Edition — and is also sired by our homebred stallion, Newoak Prosper, so he’s highly thought of in our eyes,” adds Joyce.
THE walls in Joyce’s Devon cottage are adorned with pictures of the family’s favourite stars, both from native ranks and former show ponies, where Joyce first discovered her love of showing.
“I think coming from a show pony background has meant our sort of Dartmoor is a real quality type,” says Joyce.
The 40-acre site of Newoak Stud also incorporates Oaklands Riding School.
“I’ve lived here all my life,” says Joyce, who was born into a horsey family.
Joyce’s brother Tony Newbery is a former Olympic showjumper and the pair travelled the country competing for many years. Joyce opted for the showing route and her love of teaching people to ride led to the opening of the riding school in 1972.
“I returned home from my honeymoon to find six ponies waiting for me,” she says. “My father had decided I needed a career, and teaching was a good option. He said I couldn’t carry on travelling around to shows and I needed to do something where I was at home to look after my husband.”
The stables are divided up between the stud yard and the riding school.
“We have the show/stud stables at the front and the riding school ponies are in our second yard at the back,” explains Jacky, whose husband Paul is in charge of farm work as well as updating the website and other admin tasks.
The family currently has about 55 working horses and ponies for the school, and they aim to breed 10 Dartmoor foals a year. There are about 150 on site altogether.
The arena is used for the stud and show ponies’ ridden work in the mornings, while the
riding school takes over in the afternoons. “I do believe in strapping the ones that are going in the show ring, so this usually takes place in the afternoon,” she adds.
AS well as Joyce, Jacky and Paul,
Newoak has six full-time staff members helping out with both the riding school and the stud. One of those vital team members is Jamie Densham, 34, who has been working for the family since he was a teenager and is in charge of handling the youngstock both at home and at shows.
“Jamie’s been full-time for eight years now,” says Jacky, who helps Jamie with the breaking. “He met his wife here and they have four-yearold twins together. We have an array of parttime staff, too. Routine is our biggest thing as we have to stick to it. We’re such a busy yard and can have so many people going through every day that we have to be extremely tidy and organised.”
Jacky adds that each pony is looked at individually in terms of its needs and they’re grouped into different time slots for turnout.
“The ones that need a lot of grass are out by 8.30am, whereas others are out for shorter periods during the day,” she explains.
The stud’s youngstock are turned out in rented fields on Dartmoor, over about 100 acres, and are split up between colts, fillies and geldings.
“We’re lucky we have such lovely land over there,” says Joyce. “It’s peaceful and quiet, too. The ponies are handled well at weaning and then we leave them untouched for two years. They are left to mature and grow before being handled again when they come in. They soon come round nicely when we’re doing them every day.”
THE breeding history of the stud goes back to that first phone call when Joyce was asked to sell a Dartmoor mare on behalf of the White Willows stud.
“We started showing her and totally fell in love,” recalls Joyce. “Her amazing Dartmoor character had us hooked and she was the start of our love for the breed, which has now taken over our lives.”
White Willows Bewitching, as she was called, became their foundation mare
and was the dam of the stud’s first Dartmoor foal, Newoak First Edition — marking the beginning of the Edition line. The second mare to the stud was Jurston Parke Eliza.
“She came to us after a friend saw us showing Bewitching,” says Jacky.
Joyce adds: “They were both fabulous mares and definitely became the start of it for us. We have tried to keep the lines going and, even now, the ponies are direct descendants of those two mares. They were quality mares for their time.”
The stud has had three main stallions: Lickfolds Snowstorm, who won at HOYS in 2008; Newoak Prosper; and their senior stallion to launch the stud, Shilstone Rocks Day Of Fury, known as DOF, whom they lost last year.
Joyce and Jacky are eager to pay tribute to the black stallion, who is the sire of many successful Newoak ponies in the show ring.
“DOF had a huge influence on the stud’s sustainability,” says Jacky. “He sired stock such as Furious and Prosper, while Snowstorm is a grandson.
“His kind nature came through in all his foals and when we lost him last year, we dedicated our HOYS leading breeder award to him. This year, seven of the 14 Newoak ponies qualified for RIHS are by him and one is a grandson by Prosper.”
Unlike many studs, which like to breed a filly, Joyce and Jacky are always pleased to find a colt has been born.
“We love our colts,” says Joyce. “We’re probably the only stud that wants to go out and find a colt. The reason we prefer colts is because we find they mature better and, when we bring them in as three year olds, there are so many options for them. We look at them objectively and have a sort-through to see which will make either a ridden stallion or a stallion at stud, or they can be cut to make a lead-rein or first ridden pony.
“We aim to breed quality riding ponies for children for the ridden market rather than the breeding market,” says Joyce. “Our ponies aren’t just showing, they are out doing Pony Club, dressage and side-saddle — every pony has a job, it’s finding a job for the pony.”