A quick call to ... Ellen Wijdenes

Each week, Dieke Slingerland tries to take a few moments to call a Welsh breeder, user and/or enthusiast for the ‘Just a call with ...’ with whom she calls depends on what is current at the time.

After her success at the welsh field day in both North and Central and the national mare judging, it is of course time to call Ellen Wijdenes. Ellen Wijdenes has had multiple successes with her pony Wrentall Red Fox (by Brierdene Ben Hur) ‘Teddy’, as Ellen affectionately calls the 1.12m measuring pony.

Now what does Ellen's team consist of?

Marianne, my sister is our groom. We really do everything together. We always train together and actually can't go to competitions without each other.

Are you going to ride in the show section more often?

It was enough for this year. In the winter we always slow down a bit. Maybe next year again.

Is Teddy your first riding pony?

No, I have another shetlander that I ride. I will compete in the Z level tomorrow at the Hippiade. Teddy also goes with me. I ride in the L class and my sister in the B class.

How did Teddy come your way?

I had a riding horse but I fell off it a few times and because of that I became a bit scared, then I started driving with Roos our shetlander and she is getting older now, so 2 years ago we started looking for a small welsh pony, also for the authentic ring stabling which we often participate in. Teddy was offered to us through an appeal. Some children rode him and after that I started to harness him and he did very well.

Teddy is not big in size do you notice any of this during competitions?

No he is already bigger than our shetlander. He has enough strength to keep it all up.

How often do you train?

We only really train 2x a week. Other than that, we often ride some outside rides along the road. And the club lessons we go to every week. We also take lessons with Gerard Leijten about once every 6 to 8 weeks.

What are your goals with Teddy?

Achieve ZZ of course, then maybe try some marathons. He is now 6 years old, so he is still young enough. But he is not leaving, Ellen says laughing right after!

Source: NWPCS

Photo: Private property/ Theo ten Brinke