Last week I have started the photography sessions with the volunteers for my native pony project. To start the ball rolling, I had a great morning photographing a couple of Exmoor ponies. These wilful little ponies, mother and her baby, were something of a challenge as their owner Becky explained that they didn’t like to be separated.
Exmoor ponies are one of our oldest native breeds and probably possess more natural native instincts than any of the other moorland ponies. The ponies in North Devon still live in very defined herds on Exmoor, their native habitat and now a national park, where the stallions run with the mares all year round.
Seventy years ago, there were very few Exmoor ponies left on the moors, but efforts by a few individuals have ensured that the breed is still surviving today. In the last couple of years, Exmoor pony numbers have risen to over 300 taking it out of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s ‘Critical’ category. Their status is still ‘endangered’ but the hard work of those involved has ensured that these ponies are now recognised for their importance in maintaining our moorlands.
The Exmoor pony is ideal for conservation grazing and they can be seen across the country helping to keep down the grass and encourage the growth of wildflowers. In East Sussex a herd of Exmoor ponies can often be seen grazing between Beachy Head and Birling Gap, and at other times they are at Arlington Reservoir or on the downs at Bo-Peep. I have also seen Exmoor ponies helping out on the commons at Chailey and Ashdown Forest.
One of Becky’s ponies, the 18-year-old mare, Ulex, came from the University of Edinburgh’s Trekking herd. This herd (Herd 2) was established by breeding a stallion from a mare that was acquired in 1920 from the original anchor herd on Exmoor. Unfortunately, Ulex didn’t enjoy being a trekking pony so moved south with Becky when she left Edinburgh University. Ulex is much happier in her new life with Becky as she is very much a one-person pony!
Teazle, Becky’s other Exmoor pony, was homebred. When numbers are so critical, it is vital that mares like Ulex can add to the next generation and continue the line. The pair are inseparable – their natural herd instincts are very strong despite the fact that Teazle is now 7 years old so not really a baby anymore!
