Thank you to all those who have offered their ponies as equine models for my native pony shoot.  There are still a few spaces left if you are interested in contributing – please just email me a couple of pictures to pippa@ponyportrait.com

A few people have asked about the native pony project after having a look at the Native Ponies section of the website so I thought it would be useful to explain it a little more. The aim of the native pony project is to create a collection of photographs of native ponies covering all aspects of their lives. This will include photographing ponies in their native habitats for those breeds of ponies that are free to roam the moors of Britain and at the other end of the spectrum, I will also be working with studs that breed HOYS champions in a more controlled environment.

I would like to cover all disciplines to show the versatility of our native ponies – from the miniature Shetland garden ornament to the Welsh Section D working in harness. It will include the mischievous Shetland, the sensible New Forest pony, the pure and ancient Exmoor, the Highland weight carrier and many more. The project will include the happy hackers, those competing in dressage, cross country, endurance and show jumping for example, as well as the Fell pack horses and the many ponies still driven in harness. It will include the lead rein ponies that many of us learned to ride on as children and the family ponies that are so trusted and reliable; the riding school stalwarts and those that take their riders to the top of their disciplines. Essentially, it will show the versatility of our wonderful native ponies.

This will not be a history project – it is important to me that this is a contemporary photographic record of how these ponies are being used in the 21st century.  I would like this project to be a celebration of our native ponies. It will be fun to complete, and I am sure I will meet many wonderful people and ponies along the way.

The project does however have a serious side. I have a PhD in Sustainable Land Management awarded by the University of Aberdeen.  I am concerned that policy makers are not giving our native ponies the attention they deserve. It is important that all native breeds are represented in this project to highlight the versatility and diversity of the gene pool. Some of our native breeds are under threat and I want to demonstrate that these breeds are worth saving and that it is imperative to keep a strong gene pool for each breed. I believe we should have a national policy to encourage the retention of the gene pool backed by financial incentives to support it.

The equestrian heritage of our country is something to be proud of, and the issues facing these ponies need to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, these wonderful children’s ponies are often written off as being merely a leisure pursuit of the wealthier classes – how wrong is that view!

Great work is currently being done by the various breed societies across the country; and with this project, I hope to be able to bring together the ideas from all these organisations to form an overview of the commonalities as well as highlighting the differences and diversity.  Individually, some of these societies have a weak voice standing alone whereas collectively they may be able to achieve much greater recognition.

This will be a comprehensive body of work and therefore may take several years to complete and I would like to thank all those who are offering to help me, whether providing useful information about the ponies, offering access to their ponies for photographs or just words of support. You are not just supporting me, you are helping to preserve our internationally renowned diverse population of native ponies. 

This is an ongoing project, so I hope to provide regular updates on the progress of the project so please sign up to become a VIP and receive my newsletters and please look out for updates across my social media channels… follow me on Facebook and Instagram.