Australian Palouse Pony Association return to Dubbo for 40th National Show

"[Our pony] Pride is at the colt age so he has the attitude of a 17-year-old bloke, but once they get through that they're quite a great companion," Mr Crawford told the Daily Liberal.

"We've got another stallion at home who's under 30 inches at the shoulder and people often ask what would you use them for."

"Today they're using them as companion animals and they can use them similar to a guide dog. They are capable of learning intelligent disobedience."

Palouse ponies are horses which are under fourteen hands high but display the same coat patterns as the appaloosa horse - an American horse breed best known for its colourful spotted coat.

David and his wife Sharon - who has been breeding Palouse ponies for 21 years - were some of the dozens of pony owners from around the country who gathered at the Dubbo Showground on Sunday for the Australian Palouse Pony Association's 40th national show.

The Singleton couple were showing their pony 'Almighty Spectacular Moment Dot Com', or Pride as he is better known around the stables.

"We call him that because when he was born I said 'that's my pride and joy that one'," Ms Crawford said.

"He won his halter class and then he won supreme."

Travelling all the way up from Geelong to show three ponies were John Davis and his family - three generations of pony enthusiasts.

"I'm here with my daughter and my granddaughter, she does a lot of riding. She's got autism and her therapist said if she starts riding horses it might help and it has really brought her out of her shell," he said.

Mr Davis has owned Palouse ponies for almost five decades now and has been attending events with the Australian Palouse Pony Association since its inception.

He said he was happy to see the event back in Dubbo after a long time away.

"We used to always have the national events in Dubbo. But this is the first time we've been back in Dubbo for a long time - it's good to be here, it's changed a lot since we used to come," he said.

Mr Davis said, among Palouse owners, miniature varieties have been growing in popularity but the larger ones still make great riding ponies for people of all ages.

"A lot of the original people that did the shows are getting older and they couldn't handle the bigger ones so they moved to the miniatures," he said.

"What makes Palouse ponies so special is their temperament. Little kids can jump on them. When my daughter was little she would jump on the ponies in the paddock."

"And their colour definitely stands out a bit too."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: