Having made the move from England, Gina Feakins is Australia’s only Fell pony breeder. But even as retirement beckons, it doesn’t mean she will be walking away from her passion. RICK BAYNE reports.
Gina Feakins might be contemplating retirement, but she isn’t about to hand over the reins of her beloved Fell ponies.
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Gina’s passion for breeding the ponies has crossed countries and put her in touch with royalty and Hollywood horse trainers. It’s a lifelong commitment that shows no signs of wilting.
In 2007 when Gina and her husband Kevin came to Australia from Herefordshire in England, they used four planes to transport the horses.
Their farm near Warrnambool in south-west Victoria is also home to cattle and sheep, but it’s the ponies that capture Gina’s heart.
“All of my family has been involved with horses in some format or other — it is part and parcel of our blood,” she said.
“When I was growing up, I pursued a number of fields, particularly eventing, so I needed the larger horses of 16 to 17 hands. However, I was, in many cases, buying a lot of problems from other people, so I decided to breed my own eventers and, alongside the eventers, I eventually took up the mantel from the family to continue on with the Fell ponies.”
Gina and Kevin moved to Australia after being hit by foot and mouth disease in England.
“We were the 21st farm to be taken out with foot and mouth and when that hit, we decided to move to Australia,” Gina said.
It wasn’t an easy process, but after a six-year battle they arrived, settling and purchasing three farm stations on the northern tablelands of NSW.
They set up a Blonde d'Aquitaine beef stud, a French cattle breed known for its double muscle and lean meat, similar to what they used to breed when in England.
“They are beautiful cattle but it wasn’t long before we realised it was the wrong breed to concentrate on. Europeans want a lean meat, Australians do not, and once you taste Australian beef, you soon begin to understand they know exactly what they are doing for quality and flavour,” Gina said.
“So we decided to sell all the Blonde d’Aquitaine and took a leaf out of the Australian farmers’ book and followed suit on a much smaller scale.”
However, when the drought started to bite, it was an ideal opportunity to downsize and semi-retire, so they decided to move further south about five years ago.
Some of the key criteria for a new farm was to be tick free, with good grazing and the capability of growing an annual hay crop for the stock.
Kevin retains a small commercial herd of about 35 to 40 Dexters.
They also bought embryos of a French breed of sheep called Charollais. Although not a big breed in Australia, numbers are growing rapidly and they remain Kevin’s primary enterprise and his passion.
But it’s the ponies that keep Gina motivated.
Traditionally in England, stud prefixes are named according to their locality, However, Gina brought the Llancloudy Fell Ponies name with her when she emigrated to Australia and registered the prefix with the Australian Pony Stud Book, although still registering the foals with the Fell Pony Society UK.
Having bred the Fell pony for 50 years, the prefix is known worldwide.
The success of the stud included fielding inquiries on behalf of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who used the Llancloudy stallions at stud for the Balmoral herd and is famously known and documented for riding her beautiful mount Cartonlima Emma well into her 90s and selling to clients that train horses for Hollywood movies.
Gina had a second stud, but recently had a full dispersal sale of the world-famous Watermark Gypsy Cob stud and is now concentrating on the Fell ponies.
The Fell pony stud is still going strong with about 25 horses, 15 breeding mares, three active working stallions, young stock and foals yet to be born this coming season.
“When we started, as in the family, we wanted to help a native breed of Britain and selected the Fell pony, which is listed as a rare breed,” Gina said.
“It was vital the criteria had to suit our personal needs as we tend to be rather competitive and we soon found the Fell pony is suitable for any equine discipline.
“We found them to be the most versatile of the native breeds. There’s not a job they cannot do, whether it’s combine driving, eventing, show jumping and endurance, or a pony to hack around the country lanes with.”
A number of Fell ponies have won the Golden Horseshoe in England, a 100-mile event, beating the top Arabians from around the world.
“They’ve got a lot of heart and once they are trained, their stamina is unsurpassed,” Gina said.
For example, during a recent veterinary inspection at a three-day combine driving event, while other horses had a 45-minute recovery time and were being monitored by veterinarians through this process, the Fell pony team was ready to go after seven minutes.
“They are very sure-footed, honest and hearty there are not many trails you can’t take them on,” Gina said.
Getting them Down Under wasn’t easy due to an outbreak of equine flu in Australia, with all equine flights suspended and Australian equine movement changing daily.
“It was tricky navigating the new, shifting export regulations. It was a logistical and financial nightmare, but with IRT (International Racehorse Transport) guiding us, organising the correct tests, documentation, quarantine and flights, they made it as easy and as painless as they possibly could under a very difficult set of circumstances,” Gina said.
“I’ve flown horses to America to show them and then fly them home.”
The US, New Zealand and China are her major markets outside of Australia.
“I’ve achieved a lot in my life and my pleasure is producing the best conformed and best natures for clients to enjoy, which has been recognised by clients that have purchased the Llancloudy Fell Ponies and have subsequently become repeat purchasers,” Gina said.
“The reputation has been built with lots of hard work, dedication, honesty, integrity and with following the strict guidelines of the FPS UK to ensure we always reach breed standard.
“I’ve always had a strong market all over the world.”
Gina describes herself as a purist when it comes to breeding and will continue to strive to meet all the criteria of a good Fell pony breeder. She regularly imports new bloodlines that complement the stud in Australia.
“I’m the only Fell pony breeder in the country,” she said.
“I’m holding on to those reins quite tightly and making sure they are going in the direction the Fell Pony Society wish them to go in, which is keeping them as pure as the driven snow … even if they are black.”
They also come in grey, bay and brown.
The ponies are on a fraction of the land and restricted for their feed intake.
“They are very, very hardy and exceptionally good doers – restricted grass intake is imperative to keep a good weight and not allow them to become obese,” Gina said.
Fell ponies’ homeland is Cumbria, England. They are classified as draught ponies and a rare breed and grow to a maximum height of 14 hands but weigh up to 550kg.
“There’s a lot of bone underneath them,” Gina said.
“I still like riding them and they’ll carry me all day long.”
The property is for sale through Elders Warrnambool, but if and when Gina and Kevin move further into semi-retirement, the ponies will still be part of her life.
“The horses are an absolute must,” she said.
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