Maryland Pony Breeder of the Day: Severn Oaks Farm

We here at Horse Sport Maryland set about writing up Severn Oaks Farm as our Maryland Pony Breeder of the Day a few days ago, but then two things happened. The first thing was that yours truly sustained a mildly incapacitating back injury coming off a very non-pony-sized horse (a 17.2 hand OTTB), which knocked us off our surfboard for a time. The second thing was that we found that much our work had already been done exceptionally well by Peggy Ingles, who published an article about Severn Oaks in the January 2009 issue of The Equiery.

Ingles’s article was written in memory of the foundation stallion Severn West Wind, who died in 2001, and says more than we ever could about the farm so we are re-printing a great deal of it here:

A Family Commitment

By Peggy Ingles

Severn Oaks Farm was founded in 1947 near the Severn River, north of Annapolis, by Doctors Charles and Elizabeth Iliff. The former Elizabeth Haines met her future husband in the 1930s while both were attending Johns Hopkins Medical School. Charles had a horse that he boarded in the city, and she had always wanted a horse, thus the match was made.

Dr. Elizabeth Iliff began by breeding Shetland ponies but soon changed her focus to Section A Welsh Mountain Ponies. The current breeding program began when Dr. Iliff purchased one of the few Welsh mares available for sale in the United States, *Coed Coch Ebrill (Revolt x Coed Coch Eirlys), from a breeder in New York. Ebrill was a wonderful riding pony, but could “run away” with her rider at the trot, her favorite gait.

In reviewing Ebrill’s papers, Dr. Iliff saw the name of the mare’s breeder in Wales, a Margaret “Daisy” Brodrick of the Coed Coch Stud, and wrote a letter to her, asking to learn more about these beautiful, hardy creatures. Her overture paid off. The following year, Dr. Iliff imported nine mares from Coed Coch Stud . . . These nine mares, plus Ebrill, became the foundation of the Severn Oaks breeding program, establishing a dynasty that is still going strong.

Dr. Iliff also bred Arabian horses, but on a much smaller scale. Concentrating on domestic Crabbet bloodlines, she utilized stallions from the Maryland-based Al-Marah and Maryland-bred Never Die Arabians . . . .

All six of the Iliff children participated in the pony business, but the oldest embraced it most. After her mother’s death in 1985, Mary “Tiz” Benedict began to carry on the Severn tradition of thoughtful breeding.

Now a carded United States Equestrian Foundation and Welsh Pony and Cob Society of America Welsh judge, Tiz was also very active with the Severn ponies in her youth. She remembers when, back in the 1950s and 60s, the Maryland State Fair was the biggest Welsh show in the United States. “The show would commonly have upwards of 12 ponies in the stallion class,” she recalls. She rejoined the business actively after a break to raise her family.”

It would be a serious undertaking indeed to list all of the champion ponies that Severn Oaks has produced since 1947, nor is it possible to understate the influence Severn Oaks has had on the breed in the U.S. The farm produced two of the most significant pony stallions in the country – Severn West Wind and his grandson Severn Merrymaker – and the family is now focusing on their current sire, Severn Bay Rum, himself the son of Merrymaker and great-grandson of West Wind.

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Severn Oaks has three entries in the Section A division at this year’s futurity:

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Several Severn Oaks ponies have also very recently won three significant accolades:

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There is little doubt that at least one Severn Oaks pony will bring home an honor or two at today’s Maryland Pony Breeder’s Futurity.

The question is, which one?