The history of Imperial Stud truly starts with the founding of Bullen’s Circus in the 1920s. A travelling family circus, with elephants, big cats and horses, Imperial founder Mark Bullen grew up amongst the tents and animals, riding horses from the age of four. Between bonding with the circus’s matriarch elephant, Peggy, and sharing a couch with a tiger, Mark has always loved animals and learned how to interact, how to train and how to treat animals from a young age. He started performing riding tricks as a child and was involved in the circus until his late 30s.

When Mark was 12 years old, the circus came to town in Penola, South Australia, and Mark’s father met an old man called Mr McElroy from the Loch-Sloy Stud. Mr McElroy bred Welsh Ponies and Mark’s father purchased three yearlings to train for the circus. These ponies proved very trainable, very willing and easy to get along with. Best of all, they were easier to transport than horses. Mark worked with the ponies and an obsession began to take root. When he was 14, he used his life savings at that point (about $800) and bought four mares in foal and with foals at foot from the Loch-Sloy Stud. Mark and his father decided that Mark would keep the filly foals, and the colt foals would be used in the circus. Mark’s obsession with Welsh Ponies and Welsh Mountain Ponies thrived and this wise teenage purchase blossomed into the Imperial Stud of today. 

Mark kept the Loch-Sloy ponies for a couple of years and wanted to improve their progeny, but Australian studs were less plentiful in those days so it was difficult to buy a top class pony in Australia. In 1976, Mark went to Wales and bought two stallions – a Welsh Mountain Pony and a Welsh Pony – and two Welsh Mountain Pony mares. From there, Imperial’s stock blossomed, with Mark returning to Wales many times to select ponies to import to refine his stud.. Most of Imperial’s female lines go back to the Revel ponies he imported and most of his ponies have stallion Clan Pip’s blood in them. Mark modelled his stud on the ponies he admired, and at least four bloodlines go back to those original imported mares. Another clever import was Waxwing Herrod, a rare stallion that produces equally good male and female progeny, creating strong bloodlines for Imperial.

Like all breeders, Mark dreams of the perfect pony. He attributes a lot of the success of Imperial Stud to his eye for importing top quality stock and his emphasis on bloodlines in breeding. Having watched generations of ponies come and go for over 50 years, Mark balances the animal with the pedigree and his experience has given him a good eye for balance and the knowledge that good breeding will come through. 

Imperial Stud and the Welsh Pony and Cob Society of Australia both celebrated their 50th anniversaries in 2019 and Mark has been a supportive member of the Welsh Pony community from the start. He has been the Chairman and Chairman of Finance and a member of the Welsh Pony and Cob Society’s Committee of Management. Mark’s years of experience with Welsh Ponies and Welsh Mountain Ponies has led to an extensive amount of show judging, including all Royal Shows across Australia, and shows in New Zealand, Holland, Wales and the United Kingdom, including Horse of the Year shows. 

Mark Bullen is always looking for the perfect pony, and as Imperial Stud moves beyond 50 years of operation, Imperial ponies will continue to stand for excellence in breeding. Growing into the future, Imperial Stud wants to be a source of inspiration and information for the Welsh Pony community in Australia and around the world, and plans to document industry knowledge from Mark and his peers, ready to be passed on to future generations to continue to progress the breed.