The Start of MHS Ranch
Todd and Bonnie Barbey and their two young sons, Daniel and Nathanael, wanting to escape the congestion of southern California, chose Durango, Colorado as their ideal town in which to live. Wanting to be outside the city, they searched far and wide and ultimately found what looked to be the perfect piece of undeveloped land on which to build their dream home. They began construction in the autumn of 1991, purchased a few trail horses, included a barn and some pastures in the plans, and moved in just before Thanksgiving in 1992. Never dreaming of what was to come in the near future, they settled in for the record breaking winter of 1992/93.
The Story Begins…
The MHS (Mynydd Hir Stud, L.L.C) story begins back in 1993. Todd and Bonnie had been looking for a small horse or large pony for their young son to use as a good mountain trail horse. Bonnie was hoping to find a Welsh pony cross because she had very fond memories of the two Welsh ponies from her childhood neighborhood. While waiting in a doctor’s office, she picked up an old magazine that had a cover photo of what looked like a beautiful Welsh pony. The headline was, “The Welsh Cob…The Remarkable Horse From Wales”. Welsh? Horse? Sounded perfect! She read the article, asked if she could have the magazine and took it home to show Todd. They contacted a USA breeder which resulted in them buying a mare and foal with the mare bred for the next spring.
The following spring, Bonnie contacted another USA Welsh cob breeder who said that there was an exceptionally nice colt in Wales that might be available. Photos, videos, pedigrees, and many discussions later, the deal was sealed. That colt, a Royal Welsh winner, was Minyffordd Megastar, now MHS’s senior 25-year-old stallion. That year, a trip to Wales resulted in a huge leap in learning about true Welsh type, getting to know the major breeders and bloodlines, and the purchase of Trefaes Belladonna, now their senior broodmare at 24 years of age.
