About us

We that are:

Katharina,	Johanna,
Regina	and Klaus

There has always been horse breeding at our old farm in Niedenstein Kirchberg. As all my forefathers were farmers, first mainly working horses were bred for the farm work. After 1950 my grand farther was successful in breeding riding horses (Hessen). As the grandson of a horse enthusiast it wasn’t long before I got my first pony. It was a Shetland Pony mare for riding and harness, and later this Shetty produced some foals. According to my grandfather Shetland ponies were not the best choice for riding. Therefore the Shetland Ponies were exchanged for riding ponies. As I became too big for the riding ponies I got my first riding horse. At the end of my school days I had to go to the army and afterwards I continued with my studies. Consequently I didn’t have enough time for the horses and a ‘horse free period’ of about 10 years took over at our farm until my girlfriend Regina came along with her riding pony mare “Hatti” at the end of the eighties. At a regional pony show in 1990 we saw, for the first time, a Welsh Cob stallion. It was the impressive German bred black stallion “Bimberg Acer” from Mr. Alfred Sebode, Friedland. After this show event we were hooked on Welsh Cobs and started to collect as much information on Welsh Cobs as we could find. In 1992 we started to breed Welsh Cob Part-breeds under the prefix “Bergtor”. These were mainly sport small riding horses which were registered as “riding ponies” by our local breeding association regardless of their height, which was more than 150cm. In the 1990s Welsh Cob stallions were unfortunately no longer allowed to be used in riding pony breeding by our local German breeding association. Therefore we switched our small stud in 1997 over to pure Welsh Cobs and founded our Welsh Cob Stud Bergtor with 3 mares and the 2 stallions Flavo Cliff and Widukind Conbrio.
The stud has now grown in size and we currently have three Welsh Cob Stallions at public stud. We also keep around ten mares which have all been carefully picked as part of a strict breeding plan. Fortunately our daughters Johanna and Katharina are also interested in our stud. Both of them are enthusiastic riders and Cob owners. They already have their own ideas about how to breed the best Welsh Cob.
The aim of our Stud is to breed quality Welsh Cobs which can perform well in the show ring, in hand and under saddle in performance disciplines such as dressage, jumping, trail, endurance or driving. Today the mares and stallions have been chosen for their proven blood lines, conformation, temperament and action. Our Welsh Cob breed is focused mainly on the typical Welsh Type, solid bones, good movement and character. All our Cobs are broken to ride and some have also been driven.
In order to improve the riding properties and to follow the “modern style” in the direction of riding ponies some native breeds have lost important, typical racial characteristics. This short-sighted tendency can also be seen in some breeding associations for the Welsh Cob. From our point of view a Welsh Cob foal should be easy to spot within a big group of riding pony foals. The Welsh breeds are known for their versatility and full advantage is taken of their willingness and fine temperament - there are none better, whatever the section. Therefore there is no necessity to change the direction of Welsh Pony or Welsh Cob Breed.