Mission

Feathered Foothill is dedicated to the preservation, promotion and breeding of quality Fell ponies, native to the British Isles from imported, hill bred stock from stud farms in Cumbria, UK. Our herd includes Greenholme, Drybarrows and Bybeck ponies. We have two performance and riding ponies: Littletree Matador (imported) and JKL Istas (our only American born Fell pony).

About Feathered Foothill

We are welcome to visitors on appointment, please contact us! Always happy to meet folks at the shows and clinics we do as well, which is a nice time to showcase the pony.

Jane Snar, owner of Feathered Foothill has a full-time career in the field of neurology / neurosurgery.

Breeding, raising, training and showcasing Fell ponies is a hobby endeavor and passion project come to fruition, a dream come true and a decade in the making.

Her sister, also a nurse, took her on her first trail ride when 12 years old. Her father (her biggest supporter, before he passed a few years ago) had a pony when he lived in San Francisco, helped care for horses in his twenties and always believed Jane would have her own horses one day, no idea how he knew, but he did. Her mother had and still has many lovely stories to tell of riding trail horses on Belle Isle in Detroit as a teenager in the 1950s, as well as about an unruly pony her family once owned on Harsen’s Island on her parent’s land. He’d escape often, a good thing he lived on an island.

Raised in the suburbs, opportunities to ride were far and few, but an early college courses in English riding with a steadfast jumping horse in Michigan, along with fits and spurts of trail riding over the years, sewed an early seed that would grow and bloom much later in life with a new career that made it possible.

A little manifest destiny moving westward bound to the great state of Oregon and setting up a homestead on 20 acres on a steep foothill with gorgeous views, plenty of forage and a lot of beautiful trees for shelter allowed for possibilities.

Little did Jane know, as at the time, ponies were not part of the original plan for this landscape when moving in, but it was definitely kismet and meant to be.

Jane met her first Fell pony by happenstance while jogging at Mt. Pisgah, in Springfield, Oregon in 2014. Mary Ka, a trainer Jane had been in contact with had recommended a few beginner-friendly breeds, and just by chance, the Fell pony was one of them.

Connecting the dots from breed recommendation, to a Google search, and to a lovely 4-year-old mare for sale, only twenty minutes from home - that beautiful bay mare at the park being ponied was “thee” pony Jane was looking for. JKL Istas was born at Kathy Haines’ farm, owner of the JKL prefix, and hails from the coast of Oregon. Istas was acquired by Kathy while in utero to her dam, MustaHevonen Rhegeds inkeri, after a herd dispersal sale, after the untimely death of the beloved Wendy Ihlang of Musta Hevonen farm. Wendy was an early Chair for the Fell Pony Society of North America in its early years.

Unsure of whether the match would be suitable and just coming off a bit of a bad fall without injury with another horse that had to be walked away from, Jane spent a month with Istas. She spent time on the ground at eye level with this docile mare, healing inside and out by her side, learning to trust again, then purchased her in the late fall of 2014, without ever having ridden her. She was started to saddle briefly by Get Grounded Equine. The rest is history.

A green pony for a green rider with a broken ego; not the wisest decision at face value at the time, but the surest winning bet, as the last decade with Istas has been grand.

Jane has been working with Fell ponies close to a decade now, completed an apprenticeship in Natural Horsemanship locally, has attended many horsemanship, dressage, Mountain Trail and ranch riding clinics over the last six years taught by trainers such as JR Robles, Brent Graeff, Julie Fisher, John Saint Ryan, Clay Wright, Kim Ewalt and many others, in addition to attending a yearly seminar in equine neuroscience and behavior lead by Stephen Peters, the co-author (with Martin Black) of “Evidence Based Horsemanship.” Jane currently practices positive reinforcement training and is learning more from a trainer she’s worked with in the past and is currently starting Feathered Foothill’s second imported Fell pony, Bybeck Victoria to saddle. Full circle to that special trainer, Mary Ka, that recommended the Fell so long ago.

Ambassador, Council work and Performance:

Fell Pony Society of North America & Mile Challenges:

Ponies residing at Feathered Foothill have also participated, since 2018, every year, in the Fell Pony Society of North America’s (FPSNA) Performance Points Awards (PPA) program.

Jane serves as a Zone 5 representative for the FPSNA which includes portions of Canada the the West coast.

JKL Istas earned the All-Rounder Award in 2023, achieved with combined points for both showing and breed ambassador work, winning many ribbons along the way and participating in “100 mile challenges” with the FPS in 2022. Littletree Matador joined “Team Dreamhayven” for the Queen Elizabeth II’s Memorial “96-mile Challenge” in 2023. Greenholme Peggy & Littletree Matador had their first PPA entries for 2023 approved as well.

JKL Istas was an ambassador at the Western States Horse Expo in a Rare Breed show hosted by SANA and the Akhal Teke Foundation in 2019, and represented Fell ponies at the Mother Earth Magazine Fair in Oregon in 2018 and 2019 working in partnership with the Livestock Conservancy. Their mission is to “To protect America’s endangered livestock and poultry breeds from extinction.”

JKL Istas participated in a Working Equitation Clinic over three days at the Northwest Horse Expo in 2023. Both rider and pony had a ball trying a new discipline and Istas was so relaxed with all of it. Jane has a goal to return to WE in 2024. She hopes Istas agrees!

Mountain Trail:

The Pacific Northwest is the birthplace of the discipline of Mountain Trail in 2001 at the Oregon Horse Center, and this is the discipline Jane has chosen to focus on. It showcases the calm disposition, athleticism, agility and curiosity of this wonderful breed and this work can well be applied to the rugged wilderness of our region. There are no limits to style of riding in Mountain Trail. Jane and rider friends that join in the journey of promotion, ride both English and Western and show in-hand.

Mountain Trail is challenging, fun and rigorous. We find that Fells are well-suited to it.

JKL Istas, as stated above, her first Fell pony, a 13yo Fell mare, earned Champion and Reserve Champion titles in riding and in-hand showing at the National Mountain Trail Show at the advanced level at the Oregon Horse Center in 2022. Jane has been showing for six years.

Littletree Matador earned his first ribbons in 2022 in the Oregon Horse Center’s Summer Mountain Trail show. He has particular talent in ranch riding which was part of the summer show.

Greenholme Peggy, her 2yo first imported filly, just showed in-hand obstacle at the Nationals in 2023 and had a splendid first go at it.

Breeding, Raising and Training Foals:

In the spring of 2022, Feathered Foothill experienced its first Fell foaling out of Felllegend Betony. Feathered Foothill Fjola is now living a joyous life in a mixed herd being raised in Kansas currently.

We welcomed Bybeck Victoria in foal to The Reggae King, imported in utero with her lovely brown filly, Harrison Winter Skye, at her side in 2022. We congratulate Victoria on her foaling of a lovely, friendly seal brown filly on June 14, 2023.

Drybarrows Havana and Drybarrows Illicit, bay and grey fillies, respectively, will join us in 2024, coming from Cumbrian hill breeders, acquired through the Northwest Auction’s “Hill Gem” Sale. Greenholme Peggy was Feathered Foothill’s first imported filly in 2021, from the Fell Pony Society NWA auction.

Mentorship, Ongoing Education and Travel:

Coming full circle to the true discovery and exploration of the Fell’s origin, travel to Cumbria has been essential to understand the breed and its future.

In 2019, 2022 and 2023, Jane joined a tour group, “Ponies and Pints,” lead by Melissa Kreuzer, of Dreamhayven Fells. A small tour group of like-minded adventurers embarked on a journey learning about the herds, hill breeders and their history.

This includes attending the annual FPS Breed Show, visiting the the Fell Pony Museum and enjoying the Appleby Agricultural Fair in the past. All this along with the obligatory castle tours, seeing an old pack pony bridge, and the actual lakes of the Lake District, and learning about the region’s (mostly the the Lake District but as of 2023, including Scotland) culture.

Greenholme, Bybeck, Drybarrows, Dalewin, Brackenbank, Carrock, Hades Hill, Lownthwaite, Ashbeck, Bracklinn, Runsedales and Peepings studs have provided fascinating learning opportunities to meet ponies, observe behavior and listen to stories told by the breeders themselves including family (as it’s almost always a family affair and some inherited herds) about the Fells and their people in natural habitat. Contrast and comparison, in 2023, a Dales pony breed show was also attended.

These insightful and meaningful visits took place during the 2022 Centenary Celebration (100 year anniversary of the Fell Pony Society) with daily activities for learning and lectures on history and conformation at the Court House in Shap were attended and were very thought provoking. Lownthwaite and Carrock (two favorites that went “all-out”) hosted educational farm visits in the centenary year. Our tour group was the first to go hiking with Fell Pony Adventures in 2019 and again, we joined them in 2022.

Venturing to Scotland in 2023, we visited Bracklinn Stud. This was an incredible trip and we were so welcomed by these beautiful ponies, Alistar and family. A bonus to that visit: meeting the legendary stallion, Carrock I’m Yer Man.

Training Philosophy:

Jane's horsemanship is a blend of learned truths, strategies, and wisdom gleaned from spending time practicing with mentors, exploring on her own with her ponies, and utilizing what strategy works for the equine on the equine’s time clock, as well as reading as much as she can about equine behavior and physiology. A firm believer in “Evidenced Based Horsemanship” type philosophies.

She believes the path to knowledge is achieved via a life-long journey with these ponies, and there is an infinite learning curve.

Jane's life partner, Robert, a.k.a. in-house Renaissance Man, Lead Trail Excavator and Lord of Land Management, has been along for this crazy ride from the get-go and is a practicing neurologist along with the other hats he proudly wears and has been a tireless and at times, tired, supporter. The ponies show him the most unconditional love without a doubt.

Jane and Robert have called Oregon home going on two decades now.

The Future:

We look forward to a more active breeding program when all these lovely fillies grow up. Plans are in the works for a 2025 foal from Bybeck Victoria. Greenholme Peggy will be 4yo that year and if her potential shines through, will be the next shining star for a 2026 foal. And so much training in the middle.

Thank you for visiting this site and being interested in Fell ponies! Feel free to reach out anytime for more info.