Celebration of Celts
Epona's Horses
Celebration of Celts is pleased to prevent a very special exhibition of horse flesh called the Horses of Epona. Epona was the ancient Celtic horse goddess and the horse to the Celts was as rare as gold. The Horses of Epona will showcase two very rare breeds the Exmoor Pony, the direct DNA descendent of the North Atlantic Celtic Pony and the beautiful and elegant Dublin Gypsy Horse.
Exmoor Ponies
Exmoor Ponies are very special survivors. They are descendents of the Celtic Pony from which all British native pony breeds have been created. This rare and ancient breed has lived on the Southwestern Moors of England for over 10,000 years and remains basically unchanged. In the 19th century, via human intervention Oriental blood was introduced to the breed which helped to establish semi-feral herds from which today’s stock is descended. Like the famous ponies of Chincoteague, today’s herds of Exmoor Ponies are a managed herd, but still run wild. The Celts were the first to train the Exmoor as chariot ponies and their heritage is so old that they are mentioned in the Doomsday Book (1086 CE).
Exmoors are sturdy and small to medium they can be ridden by adults, but with a great temperament are also perfect for a child. Their conformation is deep through the heart girth and wide through the chest. They have very strong legs, which makes them great for junior jumpers. Their heads have small ears to prevent hearing loss during the wet and wild moor winters, they have “toad eyes” and the eyes are very large and they almost like as if they have applied eye make up.
(Pony photos by: Ona Kiser © 2004)
Irish Cob Horses (aka Gypsy Horses)
These are truly horses from which dreams are made. Today they still are seen on the back roads of Ireland pulling caravans, but also seen in the show ring being driven by fancy dress carriage competitors or hurling over fences as if lifted by the wind. These too are extremely rare in the United States and are indeed poetry in motion.
Sometimes known as Romany Horses, Colored Cobs, Gypsy Vanners, Irish Cobs or Tinker horses, the Gypsy horse has been bred and used by the Romany and other Gypsies in Europe for hundreds of years. The horses were bred to be as colorful as the wagons they pulled. They are strong and heavy boned, but more important they are docile, sensible and very hard working. Because of their very distinct look, black and white or brown and white with long flowing mains and feathers above their hooves they were very difficult to steal or swapped. The Gypsy horse has its roots in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The early ancient history of the Gypsy horse is unknown, they probably descended from several breeds of draft horses and pony breeds. Many think that Shires, Clydesdale’s, Dales Ponies and Galloways’s became part of the early make up of the Gypsy Horse.
The Drum Gypsy Horse, standing 17 hands (4” to the hand) or larger is named for the fact that they were a favorite of the Queen of England. They got their name because the were used to carry the drummers in Royal parades in England and Scotland and these wonderfully spotted heavy horse were the horse of choice for the enormous drums played during Royal Parades.
