" We aim to bring the FUN back into showing and breeding! "

The Association was founded by Mr Richard Broad, Mrs Medwin Broad & Miss Jayne Vowles (retired 1999).

The Association runs a very full programme of shows starting in February/March, and continuing with shows in April, May (festival), June, July,  September (championships) and October at various venues in the South West and Wales region. At all our shows we try to offer a wide range of classes for all types of equines and hold a wide range of NPS, PUK, Equifest and Royal London qualifying classes, with Breed Society affiliated classes for British Spotted, Shetlands, Highlands, Miniature Horses, Exmoors etc. At our Welsh Show we hold a full range of Welsh Medal classes along with qualifiers for the The National Welsh and Part Bred Welsh Championships, and all our shows hold a full range of our own SWPA qualifying classes. Since starting we have added many new Championship classes to cater for the wide variety of equines our members have.

Our continuing success meant that in 2002 we had to move our Championship Show to a larger venue, and relocated to The David Broome Event Centre at Crick, near Chepstow. Since then the show has grown with over 320 classes and in 2007 the show was extended to run over three days.

Our SWPA Kitt-Kraiburg Supreme In-Hand Championship and SWPA Fire Alarm Consultancy Ltd Supreme Ridden Championship continue to go from strength to strength, with exhibitors eagerly trying to qualify for these prestigious events. Qualifiers for these two championships are held at SWPA shows from April onwards and selected affiliated shows. Our Mountain & Moorland In-Hand & Ridden championships, now sponsored by Showing Gems also remain very popular.

We run 'Evening Performance' classes on both Friday & Saturday at our Championships and include, Adult & Child Ridden, Concours d'Elegance, Ridden Pairs etc. We also have classes for Lorry Dogs and 'fun' classes such as Horse & Hound relay and Wheel barrow races. Within the Championship Show we run a full range of open classes under the ‘Show within a Show’ series banner, which have grown from strength to strength and have become very popular with SWPA registered and non registered exhibitors alike.

At our 2008 Championship Show we ran an experimental class called the GwynBeth Open, offering a 'winner takes all' cash prize to equines exceeding 148cms. This proved to be very popular and in 2009 Ms Gwyneth Edgar and Miss Beth Jenkins (GwynBeth) decided to try and make the competition larger with a much increased prize fund. At SWPA we were delighted to be offered the chance to run this competition which proved to be a great success. Looking forward to 2010 it is hoped that we can run the same type of competition but for Mountain & Moorland ponies not exceeding 148cms. Watch the 'Latest News' page for updates regarding this and other new competitions.

So come and join an Association, which aims to bring the FUN back into Showing & Breeding.

Please follow the links to find out more about South West Pony Association.