Danwood Stud
IN October 2018, mother and daughter Linda and Hannah Atkinson achieved the ambition so many breeders strive towards when they put their first mare in foal - to win at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) with a home-bred pony.
Their victor was the Welsh section C gelding Danwood Llewellyn (Lewi) who, when ridden by Linda, stormed his breed class before clinching the overall reserve mountain and moorland (M&M) ridden pony of the year sash. It was a dream come true for the North Yorkshire-based family and the triumph cemented that knowledge, dedication to a breed and striving for quality over quantity is the recipe for success.
This year marks 20 years since Danwood was founded, and since its humble beginning, the stud has produced Welsh ponies across the four sections, with a focus on Welsh section As and Cs. Poignantly, the prefix “Danwood” was chosen after Linda and her husband Ian sadly lost their first son Daniel, so “Dan” was suffixed with Linda’s maiden name, “Wood”.
“My mum used to breed a
