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The Home of Josethdene Champion Ridden Highland Pony Stallion
Pictures, left: Philippa Burgess and Upperlochton Fergus. Fergie was purchased as foal at foot with his mother, Glentrowan Belina, by The Morrich Stud. He is sired by Coulnacraig Highlander. Fergie was reared at Morrich Highland Ponies and received his early education here. For more about Fergie, do a search on YouTube for Upperlochton Fergus.
The Versatile Highland Pony: If you are curious about Highland ponies (Le Poney Highland!) and what they can be trained to do, I strongly recommend looking at the videos produced by The Highland Show (no, nothing to do with The Royal Highland Show!) at http://www.highland-show.com. A remarkable performance by a young Frenchman and his team of Highland ponies!
The Ponies: The Highland Pony breed is comprised of several types as ponies have been selected for various tasks. There are now families of ponies which excel at performance, others achieve success in the show ring, most fulfil the role of a useful, hardy, family pony with a wonderful temperament that can perform a variety of roles. In former times ponies were selected for croft work -- smaller versions of the working farm horses if you like. The Morrich ponies are bred from old traditional multi-purpose lines though our stallion, Joethdene, is more the performance type. Because they are bred and reared on fields close to home, we are probably better able to give them handling and exposure to every day sights and sounds from an early age.
I am probably best known for my interest in working English pointers which I have bred, trained, and worked for over 45 years. Since my teens I have successfully trained and flown most of the species of raptors commonly used in falconry and where possible have hunted them with my dogs. So I have a serious interest in training and animal behaviour. I even trained a bumble bee to amuse a classroom of school children (oh yes, it can be done!<vbg>) and, in London during my student days, for want of a more appropriate subject, I was reduced to training the family cat!
A lot of the enjoyment I get from my ponies is interacting with them and applying the knowledge of animal behaviour that I have gained over a lifetime's experience. I believe in "environment enrichment" and a light touch, building a solid foundation with my youngstock using their own instincts so in the future they can make a seemless transition to a long and useful life -- whether that be as a deer pony, in competitions, or as a useful family pony. As an estate stalker looking for a deer pony recently remarked, "You've an ideal set up here. Most of the work has already been done for me". With the farm sited next to a Ministry of Defence Weapons Training Area, some could say that our ponies are even bomb proofed -- but maybe not quite! I qualified as a chartered surveyor (ARICS) and practiced for many years managing large Highland sporting estates and on my own account. I am also an author, journalist, film maker, and publisher.
The Morrich Mhor is the name of a large sandy area where my farm is situated. It probably means "the big sandy area by the sea" in Gaelic and was apparently created when a large piece of Norway fell into the sea causing a tsunami about 7,000 years ago. Sea shells are regularly trawled out when the ditches are cleaned. So it seemed logical to name the stud, The Morrich Stud, after the area. The name of the farm, "Miller's Place", is less easily explained though it is possible a corn mill was sited here many years ago. The site is certainly very ancient as flint tools have been found in the fields.
For more general information on the stud and ponies, click on the links at the top of the page. News Items Now on a separate page so the site loads faster. Click here.
This page is under continual and regular revision!
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The Morrich Stud is a
small herd of pedigree Highland ponies located in the far north of the Highlands
of Scotland where the breed originated. The foundation stock is carefully chosen
from traditional lines with the aim of breeding primarily for temperament
but with a careful eye for conformation and performance. 
These hardy ponies are noted for their
willing and generous natures which enable them to compete in their own right at
all levels or to produce a great cross. But their greatest quality is
probably to make a first class family pony suitable for all ages which is
economical to keep and live with.
Training: With an interest in animal behaviour and training you may enjoy reading how we tackled the
problem of training two mares bought in as bad loaders and how we make sure the
problem does not occur in our youngstock. Morrich Darach, for example, was
encouraged to walk into the trailer from an early age, then he was given some
stress-free training in the round pen before travelling 500 miles south to his
new owner. See how he got on by viewing his video on the Training page. When the
lorry arrived, it took less than ten minutes to get him in from the field and
loaded onto the lorry although he had never travelled in his life before. Click here:
