D.P.U.K. is Lancashire based husband and wife team, who share a love of dressage and ponies- Myself, Gill and my husband David who is a produce merchant but who has worked tirelessly 24/7 to built up our facilities over the last ten years. Along with our 4 children and a superb, dedicated, extended family of talented trainers, riders, students and friends who have helped us with so much, from advising on bloodlines, designing our website to taking fantastic creative photos.

Our website is popular and we have made friends all over the world through that. My background in horses goes right back to my roots in Portmarnock, County Dublin which was where my love of breeding quality horses stems- We had glorious stud farms on all sides and from a tender age I helped at several of them including Pat Monaghan's family's yard - producers of show jumpers, eventers and hunters. Here I learned the fundamental importance of steady fittening work for young horses , horses were long reined for weeks along roads and tracks then trotted and cantered over fields, ditches walls and gates to and from the beautiful Portmarnock beach to build muscles and stamina- lameness was rare and horses were bomb proofed from an early age , being exposed to a wide variety of situations and surroundings which they were quickly learned to accept and trust. This approach has stayed with me and I am determined that every animal we breed and train will be trustworthy, safe and confident when exposed to unfamiliar situations, for example- today my three year old mare Boo helped me bring in the wheelie bins and peg the washing out.

 

My own first pony, bought for  me at the age of 8- largely because my mum quickly became bored watching me careering around at the local riding school in Malahide, thought a pony would be a good idea" to keep the grass down, [we had a 2 acre garden] and to give her a permanent supply of manure for her roses. a 13.2hh , 5 year old Connemara mare ensued who jumped 5ft with ease and believed she could keep up with the racehorses from the Wheatfield stud whom she led into the sea to cool off after their gallop. She used to get down and roll with me still on board regularly on the sand dunes when she thought she had done enough galloping and then shoot off  home with me in hot pursuit- all elbows, huffing and puffing, Thelwell style . She had an aversion to the nuns from the local convent who liked to have a pony ride in exchange for a bar of chocolate! It was the billowing habit as they mounted that worried her.! I once got her stuck in my friend’s kitchen and had to take her into their living room to turn her around to get her out of their house!!

In 1974 my parents bought a dairy farm in rural Lancashire, based there I ran a small riding school and amongst other young horses bred the eventer Keyspools Spectrum, I took my BHS exams, became interested in dressage, as a result of a Sandra Pearson- Adams clinic, and then went to work as a groom in the Loire Valley close to Saumur. and trained with a former Ecuyer of the Cadre Noir, Le Commandant De Padirac and his wife at their Riding Academy near Saumur. Total immersion in pure  French classical dressage or Academic Equitation as it is known in France ensued and a humility and realisation of how little I understood and a desire , which has stayed with me, to train horses quietly , firmly, patiently, without force  and in a way that enhances their natural beauty. Whilst at university studying Modern Languages I returned to Saumur two years later to study further the teachings and methods of   Le Commandant De Padirac  and the  Cadre Noir and was so privileged to be welcomed by such masters as the Ecuyer en Chef Durand, le Capitaine Franqueville and L'Adjudant Chef Donard who was responsible for the training of the "Sauteurs", the horses who perform the spectacular classical airs above the ground. I spent countless hours observing and talking to the Ecuyers about their training methods and philosophy. I was lucky to have friends working at the French National Stud who showed me the very progressive French breeding programme set up in the 1980s to develop and improve  the Sel Francais- now a highly respected and sought after animal in the show jumping and eventing world. I was impressed by their highly selective, calculated approach . At the time the Cadre Noir were about to move just up the road to Terrefort to the National Equestrian Centre where they remain. If readers are in the Loire it is well worth visiting Saumur- for the Chateau which houses a museum of the horse, and wander around the former town centre grounds of the Cadre Noir- evocative of a bygone classical era, where horses were trained in a systematic academic way according to methods laid down centuries ago My study of the writings of la Gueriniere, Baucher and the modern Portuguese master , Nuno Oliveira fed my thirst for a deeper understanding of the art. I am fulfilling one of my goals in life at the moment by translating and publishing from the French the very special book - Équitation La Tradition Classique by Le Commandant de Padirac.

Now 25 years on, in an equestrian world very different from that of the Manège des Ecuyers in Saumur, I embrace the challenge of training horses more than ever. I love working with ponies- their brightness and enthusiasm to please makes them a pleasure to handle and train. I admire the methodical way in which the Germans breed, grade and train horses but find it ironic and so typically British  that the Germans dominate the international dressage circuit with fundamentally British ponies and that the British go there to buy. I studied the bloodlines at great length, made many stud and performance sale visits and got busy!!! The Germans still have the edge because they train horses using a system that works and with such rigour , we are endeavouring to address this at D.P.U.K where the emphasis is very much on getting the basics firmly established.

Fortunately for my family I am not competitive so I can enjoy the time consuming training side and leave my daughter, 13 year old Ellie who lives and breathes dressage to represent us out there in the competitive world that is modern dressage. She is a keen member of B.Y.R.D.S , North West which has given her amazing opportunities , training and support as well as being loads of fun. Currently she is on the BYRDS National training programme which has enhanced her depth of understanding  and given her fantastic training opportunities. Her determination and total love of the horse is awesome and it is a delight to never have to push her at all. She is competitive for herself- not to beat others. She is just like my brother, the Olympic yachtsman David Wilkins, who  went on to represent his native  Ireland in four Olympic Games, winning a silver medal in Moscow and Fifth in Munich-  The horse I have lined up is our mare Boo2u2moo and I think I had better keep a foal for her out of our fabulous sport horse mare Mama Mia, herself still in work and competing aged 17. She rides three times per day most days and loves helping with the young ponies She is very fortunate to have three   fantastic dressage ponies- Helmeast, who aged 22 will be representing England this year as they did very successfully last year, winning at Necarne, Keysoe and the Home International, and two stallions ;Surprise,  148 cms  chestnut  German bred Domingo x Going East and Copybush Charlie Whiskers . Our daughter Charlotte is a whizz with young ponies as being a laid back, easy going person she hacks them out on the buckle end and makes them completely relaxed and confident on the road and cross country. Together with our son Jacob and our eldest daughter Rebecka, our three older children  are in charge of keeping everything ticking over smoothly whilst we are away at competitions. We are really fortunate to have miles of quiet lanes, tracks and gallops on our doorstep.

So where does our breeding programme and ponies fit into my ethos and to answer the    BIG  question WHY!! and WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE? We are prepared to spend a huge amount of time and effort to produce able, sound, big moving, athletic ponies that are also sane and a pleasure to own - we love our ponies and we really enjoy training, riding and competing them. Everyone who visits our stud, comments on our ponies trusting calm temperament and on how easy and well handled they are. I know that this is not something that has a high monetary value. We are breeding ponies that are able to and want to perform- quite simply.   Temperament is our number one priority.

 Every pony has all the movement, frame, soundness and trainability of a miniature dressage horse that is designed to last all the way to Grand Prix, should the owner so wish. Quality is paramount. The 5 foundation mares are from the very best British riding pony and Welsh B,C, and D bloodlines Downland, Valentino, Bylch Hill Wind, Rotherwood, Sydenham Dragon to name but a few, giving them the  proven, tried and tested soundness, strength, forwardness, movement and beauty so vital for high level dressage. I know realistically only a few will make it to the top just like every talented young tennis player does not make it to the Wimbledon final but that does not mean they should not  enjoy tennis. If I could have one wish granted it would be for parents to buy their children a pony that is well within their riding capability.  So many children give up because they are over- horsed. Our mares themselves have had successful careers, not just in dressage but jumping and showing as well. Our Connemara mare "Dunnit Again.is by the superb stallion  Arrow Javelin. We have Arab and Thoroughbred bloodlines in our mares too. We have introduced continental blood for enhanced movement, trainability and aptitude, favouring German ponies such as Deinhard B by Dornik B and Conrad Schumacher's former pony stallion Top Yellow, Wurlitzer[ Weltmeyer x Lucky Boy ] is a superb stallion and one of our best youngsters, the 14.2 Wurlwind, is by him, out of our Section C Tynycae Osprey mare who was featured in the April 2009 edition of the British dressage magazine- British through and through.

 We have purchased a young stallion by the outstanding German dressage pony Domingo closely related to of numerous German team ponies and out our daughter's former ride T.S. Sunrise- a Going East mare Look at the pedigree and you soon see that we are quickly back to are back to the best British pony bloodlines- Bwlch Valentino, Catherston Red Gold, Downland Chevalier He has all the graceful elegance and powerful movement you would expect from such a parentage as well as a tremendous willingness to please. We have several B.E.F. winners- fillies and colts by the K.W.P.N.Grand Prix stallion Mooiman , who has injected an even more trainable temperament and given huge shoulder movement and superb fronts to our youngsters. Last year's BEF champion dressage pony colt, Duvalier has inhereted the most fantastic frame and movement from his parents[ again Tynycae Osprey] and the Reserve champion Da Vinci has inhereted lovely looks and graceful elegance and effortless movement from his Downland dam and his sire the Oldenburg Sandro hit x Rohdiamant stallion Santana. We are looking forward to using these two colts in the future.