The caption at the foot of the print reads: THE TURF PONY of Christopher Wilson, Esqr. Painted by L Marshall. Engraved by E Babbage.
I bought this copy of the print on eBay after seeking the original for more than 10 years! The seller thought it must have come from an old "Sportsman" magazine, but he was not sure, and its size and the lack of text on the other side suggest it is a book plate. It is shown in Sir Walter Gilbey's 1903 book "Thoroughbred and Other Ponies" in which the caption reads: "A Pony Hack: A pony well known on Newmarket Heath and North Country racecourses, about 1828." The house at Rigmaden Park would have just been completed. The costumes of the two riding figures in the background support an early Victorian date.
In 1822-23, Christopher Wilson of Abbot Hall, Kendal, bought Rigmaden Park outside Kirkby Lonsdale. He commissioned fellow Kendalian, George Webster, to design a new house built on the site of the "ancient manor house". "It is now a splendid mansion, standing upon a lofty eminence, which rises rapidly from the west side of the Lune, and commands a fine view of the vale." (Mannix).
He used Fell-type mares to breed "turf ponies". (Richardson) These ponies were seen at most race meetings before grandstands were built. Owners, spectators or press could take up a position on the rails (if they existed!) and gallop alongside the runners for part of the race. Turf ponies needed to be short and stocky to carry portly gents, but fast and enduring. They may have been a cross with the Thoroughbred or Arab onto the local "Galloway" stock. North Country Galloways were part of the foundation of the Thoroughbred.
Shepherds would meet annually at some convenient point to exchange sheep which had "come astray". James Clarke visited a meet on the flat saddle-like summit of High Street in the 1780s:
"Neighbouring shepherds ... held festival, during which there were horse racing, wrestling and other such-like country diversions." Thomas Allom recorded a similar event in his print shown here (published by Son & Co in 1835).
Riders were traditionally served bread and ale before they raced, and the winner got a barrel of beer. (Richardson)
The traditional date of the shepherds' meet on High Street was 10th July. According to Garnett it was held until about 1835.
In the 1860s Tom Jones Evans of Craven Arms, Shropshire, brought his father's brown (dark bay) Welsh cob stallion "Comet" up to compete against the trotting Fell ponies. Comet was foaled in 1851 and has been described as "a heavy cob standing nearly 15 hands in height". Trotting Comet was sired by an older Trotting Comet (834 HHSB); this older horse was "one of the founding fathers of Welsh Cobs" and was bred out of a mare named Black Bess, by Cauliflower. He was probably registration 1411 in the Hackney Horse Stud Book (Fitzgerald).
Trotting Comet (junior) spent a winter at Orton in the care of a farmer named Bell, who lived at New House, (more recently known as The Kennels). This is just down the road from Bousfield, Orton, where Comet himself was kept. His portrait is said to have hung in the house at Bousfield: "a rough looking, common headed cob; you would never think, to look at him, the speed he must have had." (P Metcalfe) This may however have actually been a picture of Comet II or "young Comet" who was owned and bred by William Hully and could trot a mile in three minutes. Hully produced Fells to win local show classes in 1903, and also bred Hackney or trotting galloway types from the Comet line. Comet II's son Daddy's Lad was exported to Argentina. The family has bred Dales ponies up to the present day.
The next year, Comet was matched against time over a very stiff course from Shap toll-bar to the top of the turnpike over Shap Fell, and back. He covered ten miles in 33 minutes carrying a 12 stone man. (Charlton)
Comet remained in Westmorland and, although Evans would not sell him, he was used extensively on the local stock (Richardson). Linnel ponies trace back to him through Daddy's Lad, eg Linnel Boy and Linnel Lingcropper. R B Charlton (1952) remarked that Comet's descendants inherited his energy, soundness and stamina. However, there could be a down side to this bloodline, as some of "the Comet horses" were known to be "a bit crackers". One ran away in harness into Orton with Bell's grandson at the reins; just outside the shop, it ran into the back of a wagon and killed itself.
Sir Walter Gilbey, writing in 1903, quotes Mr William Graham:
"The village of Dufton ... was quite a centre of pony breeding, and for many generations the Fell-side farmers in the district have been noted for their ponies; they bred them to the best Fell pony stallions, most of which were trained trotters of great speed." (ref)