Interviews
During the preparation for Riding the Trod one of our aims is to conduct interviews with people who are familiar with riding (especially on Welsh cobs) over the bog land and mountains which define the local topography. We will also be interviewing people from different stakeholder groups about issues which are directly relevant to the Trod project, such as access to the Trod, perceptions of the local environment, the symbolic importance of cobs (and other indigenous flora and fauna), the importance of Strata Florida within the local community, the agricultural traditions of the Cambrian Mountains region, and so on. Some of these interview will be conducted by students from the Department of Archaeology, History and Anthropology at the University of Wales Lampeter during a ’Research Experience’ module (see the Community and Heritage page and also the student blog: www.anthropologyresearchexperience.wordpress.com)
“During the eight years I have lived in Wales, I have regularly been alerted to the cultural importance of the native Welsh breeds (see Hurn, 2007, 2008a and b). The following quote is taken from an informal interview with a local farmer at Llanybydder horse mart which I conducted several years ago, around the time that I acquired my first cob (Psyche).” (Dr. Sam Hurn);
“They had a purpose, and still do. In the past they were used in agriculture, but they also meant that people who were isolated could get about, you know. Cobs were able to pull a plough, cart, or trap to market and chapel, and have the agility to carry a rider up the mountain to check the grazing stock, or across the bog to get supplies or visit family and friends. Before tractors they were a necessity. I remember riding the work horses to sell at Llanybydder as a child – no-one had tractors back then so the money we’d get for a work horse was more than a year’s wages for a labourer you know. The farms just couldn’t function without them” Going the distance
The following audio clips are taken from an interview conducted with Chris Jones on 10th March 2010. While she now breeds and rides thoroughbreds and part-breds (see www.rjtgwndwntonto.co.uk) Chris is one of the few people to have successfully competed in national endurance competitions on a Welsh cob (or rather, three Welsh cobs – Caron Gambler, Caron Dafydd and Caron Dewin). In the first and longest clip, Chris explains that she was introduced to long distance riding, and the versatility of Welsh cobs, by the late Veronica Lott who, like Chris, lived on the Cambrian mountains near Tregaron. |
Riding the Trod |
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experimental archaeology / ethnography / oral history |
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Interview with Chris Jones (10.03.10) Background |
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The second interview conducted for the project was with farmer and Welsh cob breeder Mrs Sabrina Johnson. Sabrina was suggested as a potential interviewee because in addition to her passionate enthusiasm for the Welsh breeds, she also regularly rode to west Wales from England during her ‘student days’. Unfortunately, the digital voice recorder ran out of power while we were talking and so there are only a few short clips arising from this interview. |
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Interview with Sabrina Johnson (31.03.10) Introduction and pros and cons of a pack pony |
