By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

WATERFORD – She’s been given the rare opportunity to judge Welsh cob shows in England and South Africa, is renowned for her taste in breeding stock and has a knack for matching up the right horse with the right buyer.

When people learn she’s bound for a cob auction in Wales, rarely is she not asked to make a purchase on someone else’s behalf.

And 20 years ago, says India Haynes of Waterford Welsh Cobs on Sweden Road, people barely knew these horses existed.

“There were so few Welsh cobs in the country, if you wanted to buy one you had to go to Wales,” she said while giving a tour of her farm on Tuesday.

Now there are thousands of Welsh cobs across the United States and in Canada. Many say Haynes has been instrumental in helping draw attention to and grow the breed, which is known for its sturdiness and versatility.

Lisa Landis, executive secretary-treasurer of the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America, wrote in an e-mail Wednesday that Haynes “is a very well-respected breeder and judge.” “She also serves on our national Cob Breeders Committee, which promotes the interests of all Welsh cob breeders in the U.S.” Landis said.

Longtime friend Claudia Novak of Fletcher Hill Farm in Dunstable Mass., who breeds Welsh ponies and cobs under the Tangwyllt prefix, attributes her love of the larger Welsh breed to Haynes.

“India has just been a total inspiration for me,” she said in a phone interview Thursday.

It was on Haynes’ advice that Novak bought her first Welsh cob, and she has since become an avid fan.

A native of California, Haynes spent much of her childhood in Surrey, England, where she rode with a pony club and later ran a cob with the Old Surrey & Burstow and South & West Wilts hunts. She became certified as a British Horse Society instructor, jumped competitively, and even raced horses in England and Ireland before returning to the United States. She settled in Maine at 18, met husband Bill Haynes in Waterford, and by 1981 was giving riding lessons, boarding and training horses on their farm.

When Haynes decided to breed horses, she remembered the cobs she had known as a girl. The breed seemed perfectly suited to Maine’s rugged terrain and harsh winters, she said. Soon she was touring the remote countryside of Wales, meeting with farmers and studying pedigrees she would have to become familiar with in order to institute her own breeding program here.

“Cobs aren’t for everyone,” the 45-year-old Haynes joked Tuesday. “I spend, actually, a lot of time talking people out of them.”

She noted the breed shares traits with ponies – they seem capable of sneaking out of most enclosures and often have strong personalities. Also, Haynes said, “Cobs believe in an economy of effort, so you have to show them the wisdom of doing what you want them to do.”

But such quirks have not put her off. Instead, Haynes is thrilled that when she shows one of her animals today, people recognize the breed rather than asking, “What’s that?”

She imported her first stud and brood mare more than 20 years ago, she said, and since then, her stock has landed everywhere from the West Coast to Canada.