Stallion
Colour: Dark chestnut, white star
Breed: Arab-bred
Type: Polo and riding pony
Foaled: 1921
Height: 13.2 hands
MOSSY FACE Supplement 1923 (to Volume 17 of the National Pony Society)
COLTS
MOSSY FACE
Dark chestnut, white star, snip, few white hairs on face. Foaled 1921 Height 13.2
Measured December 19th, 1923
Owner, Frank J. Balfour, Staverton Court, Cheltenham
Breeder, Mrs J. Oscar Muntz ……..
Sire: Riyal 971, bay, 14.3
Dam: 3120 Cup Moss, chestnut, 13.0, by Lord Polo 135, chestnut, 13.2
G.dam: Violet (Dartmoor Pony), bay
Exported to the Argentine
Sent to the Argentine in 1924.
MOSSY FACE National Pony Society Volume 21
POLO AND RIDING PONY STALLIONS
MOSSY FACE 1764 (Supp 1923)
Dark Chestnut, star, snip, few white hairs on face. Foaled 1921 height 13.2
Measured March 15th 1931
Owner, Frank J. Balfour, Estancia “ El Colorado,” Washington, Argentina
Breeder, Mrs J. Oscar Muntz …….
Sire, Riyal 971, bay, 14-3
Dam, 3120 Cup Moss, chestnut, 13.0, by Lord Polo 135, chestnut, 13.2
G. dam, Violet (Dartmoor Pony), bay
ALPHABETICAL INDEX TO STALLIONS
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MOSSY FACE 1764 Page 15
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Mossy Face was 50% Arab, 25% Dartmoor, 25% Thoroughbred (and possibly Welsh.)
He was foaled in 1921 and stayed at Foxhams until he was bought by Frank J. Balfour, (when he was President of the National Pony Society in in 1923).
Mossy Face was exported to the Argentine, arriving most likely in early 1924 and in
1925 a Bay Gelding was foaled dam (6241) Dardanela
1926 a Chestnut Colt dam (6241) Dardenela
1926 a Bay Filly dam (6238) Beatrice II
1926 a Chestnut Colt dam (6237) Adela
1926 a Bay Filly dam (6242) Dorothy IV
1926 Mimosa II dam Butterfly
1927 a Bay Colt dam (6242) Dorothy IV
1927 a Chestnut Filly dam (6238) Beatrice II
By the time these foals were four, five and six years old in 1931, Mossy Face was registered as a stallion his number with The National Pony Society was, 1764.
In extracts from a published letter to the President of the National Pony Society, Frank Balfour says
“ In the Argentine the Polo-bred pony is much more satisfactory to use as a stallion than the thoroughbred, which is apt to get them too leggy, tall and narrow, All the polo-bred sires sent to the Argentine have done well – ……… one can see ninety or a hundred young ponies from three to five years old, all running together, those by the polo-bred stallion to my mind stand out very conspicuously from those by the thoroughbreds, being on shorter legs and showing more character, and they are much more level in height.”
By this time Mossy Face was ten years old and I have no reason to think he did not continue to be successful.
Frank J. Balfour was one of the most successful breeders in the Argentine.