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About
Northern Twilight Farm
Our Farm
Ethically Raised Ponies
Since 1973
At Northern Twilight Welsh Ponies, our mission is to produce ponies of the highest quality through ethical breeding practices, aiming to create a pony for everyone. We want our ponies to live long healthy lives and make a positive impact on the lives of their new owners and their equestrian community. Our goal is offer exceptional ponies that meet your needs and exceed your expectations regardless of the job you have planned for your new Northern pony, from family friend to competitive show pony!
Our Story
A Local Family Farm
Northern Twilight Farm was founded by Leolla Helps in 1973, when she purchased a welsh mountain pony mare as a riding pony for her 9 year old daughter, Holly. Holly had had a traumatic fall from a horse and refused to ride any horse but an aging mare named Trixie. In search of a new mount for Holly, her mom, Leolla Helps, found the welsh pony mare, Illini Nickole. Nickie came home and Holly was restored to the saddle, and Leolla was hooked on the versatile Welsh Mountain Pony.
In 1977 Leolla purchased the Welsh Mountain pony mare Kayruss Peaches and the next year the stallion, Jet Arrows Brynowan. Kayruss Jewelette soon joined her sister Peaches and these ponies were the beginning of 50 years of welsh ponies for Leolla and her family.
During the 80’s Holly attended Olds Agricultural College in Alberta and The Pacific Horse Center in California. She taught riding lessons from the farm as a young adult using the Welsh ponies that her mom was now breeding. She went on to train horses full time and worked as colt starter for 20 years while raising a family.
In 2007, Holly and her kids moved back to Northern Twilight Farm making it a 4th generation farm. She ran a very successful horse camp business using the Welsh Ponies that Leolla was still breeding, showing and enjoying as driving ponies. Holly needed bigger ponies to work as school horses than the section A Welsh that Northern Twilight Farm was raising. In 2014, Holly purchased HEW My Choice and Legend Eternity Ring, both Section B Welsh mares. Soon the search was on for a complimentary stallion and North Peace Coolhand Luke was purchased in 2017. Now there was a Section A breeding program as well as a Section B breeding program to produce those much sought after 13.2 hand ponies!
In 2014 Holly decided to include some section B ponies in the breeding program to serve my busy horse camp and riding lesson business. HEW My Choice was purchased as a broodmare and Holly was soon hooked on the versatile section B ponies. In 2017, she leased the Section B stallion North Peace Coolhand Luke from Yvonne Charlesworth of Rose Prairie BC and as soon as his first foal crop hit the ground, Holly knew she had to own him. Holly continues to carry on the tradition of breeding welsh ponies with a change of focus from the traditional Welsh Mountain Ponies to the larger Section B ponies, which are ideally suited as riding ponies.
There now over 80 Welsh ponies and partbred ponies recorded with Canadian Livestock Records that carry the Northern prefix.
2020 brought changes for everyone. Holly’s kids were moving out of the area and it was time to refocus. She decided that it was time to retire from full time riding instructor and spend more time with the welsh pony breeding program that she and her family had invested so many years into developing.
