uphill miles from Cardiff to Dowlais. The best ponies could complete this feat in under three hours, never breaking gait. Formal breeding stock licensing was introduced in 1918, but before this, breeding stock was selected by such trotting tests. In 1901 English and Welsh breeders established a breeders' association, the Welsh Pony and Cob Society, and the first stud book was published in 1902. It was decided that the Welsh Stud Book should be separated into sections divided by type and height. Welsh Ponies were originally only classified as Section A, but in 1931, with the rising demand for riding ponies for children, Section B was added. In the first stud books, the Section B was the Welsh Pony of Cob Type, and the Welsh Cob was Section C and Section D. The upper height limit for Section D Cobs was removed in 1907 and in 1931 Sections C and D were combined as simply Section C. The current standards of Cobs as Sections C and D were finalised in 1949. Until the mid 20th century, the British War Office considered the Welsh Cob so valuable that they paid premiums to the best stallions. After World War II, only three stallions were registered in Section C, but numbers have since recovered. A small semi-feral population of about 120 animals still roams the Carneddau mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. Welsh ponies were first exported to the United States in the 1880s, and large numbers were exported between 1884 and 1910. They adapted easily to the terrain and climate variations they encountered in Canada and the United States. An American association, also named the Welsh Pony and Cob Society, formed in 1906, and by 1913 a total of 574 ponies had been registered. During the Great Depression, interest in the breed declined, but made a comeback in the 1950s. The population continued to grow: in 1957, when annual studbooks began to be published, 2881 ponies had been registered; by 2009, the number was more than 34,000. All Welsh ponies and cobs in the United States descend from ponies registered in the UK stud-book. Foundation lines The stallion Dyoll Starlight was credited with being the foundation sire of the modern breed, and was a combination of Welsh and Arab breeding. From his line came an influential stallion of the Section B type: Tan-y-Bwlch Berwyn. This stallion was sired by a Barb and out of