Horseytalk.net Special Interview

Marlene Davey

"Whatever people say, it is an emotional business.
You do it for love.
Sometimes it’s thrilling.
Sometimes you have a cry.
When Great Expectations won the Horse of the Year Show, I couldn’t stop crying.
I couldn’t believe it.
It was fantastic."

Marlene Davey is one of the leading pony breeders and producers in the country. For over 50 years from her stud in Ninfield, East Sussex , she has been sending out pony after pony to win one major award after another.

Her home, which she literally built with her husband, Martin, is covered with hundreds if not thousands of rosettes and cups and trophies. In the kitchen. In the hallway. In the living room. Talk to her today and she recalls one triumph after another.

Wingrove Minkino "For many years, in the 1980s and 1990s, he was the leading pony sire in the country. He sired more ponies for HOYS than any other stallion"

Ninfield Great Expectations. "She is a brilliant mare and outstanding as a show brood mare. She's won all the big championships. In-hand. Under saddle. She was Pony of the Year at HOYS in 1991. She had two daughters, who also won HOYS. Every one of her seven foals also qualified for HOYS."

<< Great Expectations

Wingrove Stormaway "She was the dam of Expectations. She won everything, practically everywhere. HOYS. Royal International. She was British in-hand champion."

She is equally enthusiastic about her next generation of stallions.
Ninfield Eureka "He’s Great Expectations’ foal. He was by Vean Cockalorum, a very famous pony stallion, especially for breeding small ones. He loved Werther’s Originals. If I had one, he’d know immediately. He’d keep on, Mother. Give me one. But instead of crunching them, he’d suck and suck and suck. He’d dribble everything all down his front."

Ninfield Mink Legend "He is proving himself. Such a lovely temperament. A child could cope with him. He liked Werther’s too. But he only learnt from Aurthur. That’s what we called Eureka."

Ninfield Mink Legend >>

Then, of course, there were the characters.
Ninfield Millionaire "He is my favourite stallion. At the end of the day, you couldn’t leave his stable door without giving him a goodnight kiss. Once he had his goodnight kiss he was happy."

Ninfield Midnight Mink. "He loved his afternoon cup of tea. We had to get a big, old mug for him so he could have his tea with us when we had our afternoon cuppa. We used to call him Bob. One of his favourite things was to pull my headscarf off. He used to say, Mother. I don’t like you with a headscarf on. He was a monkey"

<< Ninfield Eureka

Ninfield Mink Supreme "He loved his ice-cream. He wasn’t fussy about the flavour. But it had to be in a cone. We sold him to Australia. He’s now one of the best stallions they have in the country."

 

In racehorse terms, Marlene would be an Aidan O’Brien. Ninfield Stud would be held in the same awe and respect as the legendary Coolmore Stud, probably the greatest breeding operation in the world. The value of her ponies would run into millions and millions. But breeding and producing ponies is not the same as breeding and producing racehorses. "Pony breeders should be better recognised than they are," is all Marlene will say. "I’m not complaining. I’ve had a lovely life. I’m very satisfied with the way it has all gone. I would do it all again"

Wuthering Heights >>

And to think it all started one day at the old Royal International at the White City in London in the l950s "I saw this pony, Pretty Polly. She was one of the most famous riding ponies at the time. As soon as I saw her I thought, What a lovely pony. I’d like to breed ponies like that."

Her keen eye she puts down to her up-bringing with horses. Her father, a dairy farmer, used to hunt with the East Sussex. Her mother was a happy hacker. From an early age, she and her sister, Jennifer, who is four-years younger than her, had their own ponies. When they were children, the whole family used to hack out together. Marlene and her sister started competing at all the local shows. They even competed regularly at both the Royal International and the Horse of the Year Show. During the school holidays, she also used to help her uncle, Charles Godden, who ran the Gables Stud at Mayfield. The old Queen Mother gave him her old chaser, Manicou.

<< Ninfield Millionaire

In 1961 Marlene got married. It was time, she decided, to start a high-class pony stud. "I bought this pony, Jane Eyre, for £500. I bred from her. Out came this filly, Ninfield Game Pie. She went to the top of all the Pony Club events. She even competed in the All England Pony Club event team. Eventually, I sold her for £9,000, which was a lot of money in those days. It could buy you two semi-detached houses. This gave me the money I needed to really get going. There was a famous pony in those days called Minkino. He was 13. He was at the Keston Stud in Dorking, Surrey . I spoke to Janet Mayo who owned the stud and said that I heard that he was for sale. She said that he was but there was one condition. Whoever bought him had to promise to keep him for life. There was no problem. I promised to keep him for life.   When we went to pick him up, I saw another pony, Wingrove Stormaway, a mare. She was already in foal. She was also for sale. I bought her as well and sold a half share in Minkino to my sister, Jennifer Newham, who now owns the Moorhall Stud, which is also in Ninfield."

"Out of Wingrove Stormaway came our star, Ninfield Great Expectations. She was funny. She didn’t whinny like other ponies, she squeaked. So we called her Pip Squeak. Then we called her Pip. Then, of course, we called her Ninfield Great Expectations. She is a great pony. She did everything a mare could do. She had two daughters, Ninfield Wuthering Heights and Ninfield Love Story. Both were HOYS champions. In fact, every single one of her nine foals qualified for HOYS and were placed. If she was a racehorse she’d have been worth millions."

Marlene with her ponies >>

So how can you tell if a pony is going to be a winner or not? "From the moment it’s born," says Marlene. "The first thing is its head. Then the bone structure. You can tell immediately if it’s going to be alright. If it’s going to be good. Then it’s got to have the right conformation, the right temperament.

<< Ninfield Mink Legend

But you’ve then got to channel them in the right direction. Super stars can be born but they’ve got to be produced properly. Feeding is also very important. I’m old-fashioned about bringing up horses and ponies. I think the feeder is one of the most important people on the yard. You’ve got to be able to see almost from one day to the next whether a pony needs more conditioner, if they’re putting it on too fast. Balancer Horse Feeds are very close friends of mine. They’ve helped me a lot over the years. I’ve always used their standard feeds. Sometimes we’ve changed them slightly and made up our own special mixes for different ponies. I think their food is excellent. It should be very widely used in the pony world."

"All the time you’ve got to think long-term. From the beginning you’ve got to handle a foal to teach it to lead on a rein. You’ve got to teach it to lift its hoof. You’ve got to make certain it likes being groomed. If it has any faults, you cannot hide them. Most important of all, you’ve got to develop an eye for what a pony should be and look like. “That’s what I like about breeding ponies. You’re creating. I like putting the act together and seeing the results. It’s exciting."

Great Expectations>>

But there are also sad times. "I think one of the saddest times," says Marlene, "was when we had to have Minkino put down. He was such a wonderful pony. He was 26. He had cancer, We left it as long as we could. Then one day the vet said to me, The time has come. If we don’t do it now he will begin suffering dreadful pain. So we put him down. I cried and cried and cried."Marlene looks out of the kitchen window across the fields. "He’s buried there on the farm. With all my other favourites."

Today after a life-time of successful breeding and producing some of the best ponies in the country Marlene is slowly winding down. Her husband, Martyn, died a few years ago. She is having problems with her health. Instead of 50 ponies, she is now keeping around 18. But her enthusiasm is undimmed. How would she like to be remembered? "As Minkino’s mum," she says.

<< Marlene with some of the cups trophies
and rosettes her ponies have won.