u BROADLANDS BRIGHT SERAPHIN (imp)

Chestnut born 1967
Sire: KNIGHTWOOD SPITFIRE NS03121 - Dam: MUDEFORD PERFECTION III NM11811
Bred in the UK by Mrs A Harmsworth and exported to Australia in 1971

When Alison Charlton and I decided to import Seraph from England in 1971 we had no idea of how the New Forest breed would be accepted in Australia. Riding ponies didn't exist.
We were disappointed by the lack of larger ponies registered with the APSB and we did not think that an Arab or Thoroughbred cross was the best way to obtain a bigger pony. With the predominance of Welsh blood in the APSB ponies, we could only see them getting smaller.
My sister, Sue Officer, was living in England at that time, so she visited many New Forest studs to see if she could find a stallion to suit our aim of breeding big, sound, sensible ponies.
Seraph was not chosen for show qualities- he was best described as handsome, but he did manage to win three Supreme Champion show awards, much to the amazement of some of the pony " showies ". It was the older, more traditional judges, who valued bone and temperament who dared to place him first in open company.
He was also placed second to the famous "Sandman", ridden by Max Urquhart, in a working stock horse class. This was when the Victorian APSB stud show shared the Royal Showgrounds with the Australian Stockhorse Society for a show.
In early December 1971 we had a heat wave. We collected Seraph off the wharf in Port Melbourne in 103F heat, so clipping had to be arranged immediately to get rid of his English winter coat. He had been confined in a box 7ft. x 5ft. for five weeks, and fed like a thoroughbred, so it is a wonder he didn't founder. We loaded him into our open float and on arrival home, let him go in the round yard. All he wanted to do was roll and roll. Already a 3yo, we had him mouthed and under saddle in a matter of weeks, and his stud life began, with a wide variety of mares, registered and not.
Seraph was a bit of a Jekyl and Hyde- absolutely obedient in hand or under saddle, but known as the equine bulldozer in the paddock. He hated coloured ponies to the point that he would not serve a coloured mare- maybe he knew that broken colours are not permitted!
His hatred of our 11.2hh skewbald " Fair Deal " ( who died aged 34 ) caused Seraph to bend many gates which is how I came up with the idea of using hot tape across the bow. In fact, it was because of this that Bob Piesse of electric fencing fame, came to use our farm as a test site for electric fencing for horses in the early 70's.
We did just about everything known to equine sports with Seraph- I hunted him with Findon Harriers, Alison used him extensively for stock work, he was placed at Melbourne Royal under saddle, he won the first APSB Vic. Stud Show Activity award, jumping 3ft., I used him as a lead pony at the Lilydale Hunt Club childrens hunt, he was placed in the pair of saddle ponies at Yarra Glen show (that caused a stir !), the boys used him as transport to the local footy matches, and all the children used him as a diving board in the dam. When a person came to "Pahake" looking to buy a saddle pony, we always tried them out on Seraph first, to see if they could ride.
Seraph knew more than the vet. when it came to serving mares. We had 11 mares all in season at once. The vet. manually examined each one (ultrasound hadn't been invented in the 70's) and he gave us a timetable for serving. Seraph totally refused to co-operate so we tied all the mares up around the yard and let him take his pick. Morning, noon, and night for a couple of days, we managed to get them all served with every mare conceiving. He was so laid back about serving, and so greedy about food, he was known to have got off a mare halfway through the act, having spied a piece of hay on the ground, eaten the hay and then finished the job.
Seraph was a sabino chestnut, hence the flashy white markings which are still evident in his descendants. His partial blue eye traces to Brookside David. He also threw several "cat back " foals- eg Dalriada Glen and Madlo Faberge.
Seraph died quite suddenly, probably from poisoning, aged 17yrs. He was a real character.
Janet McBain
Forestway Stud (formerly Pahake Stud)