Exmoor Ponies graze their way to their Renaissance

The Moorland Mousie Trust was set up to promote and conserve the endangered Exmoor pony; the oldest and purest of our British Native breeds. There are now less than 1200 left in the world. With the right handling they make wonderful family ponies.

The Trust takes the surplus colt foals from Exmoor in the autumn. The colts are surplus because a herd only needs one stallion; colts require castration and therefore are less desirable than filly foals (which can always be bred from). We take foals bred on Exmoor in order to support the moorland breeders and guarantee them a reasonable price for their young stock. This in turn encourages them to go on breeding and registering them with the Exmoor Pony Society.

Many of the ponies are eventually rehomed as riding ponies, but this is usually at 4-5 years of age. Environmental grazing gives the Moorland Mousie Trust the opportunity to allow the ponies to live a natural life as they mature, whilst improving the sites they graze.

Many pockets of land require grazing for a variety of reasons: to preserve particular habitats, to encourage wildflowers and to open up sites for ground nesting birds. Since foot and mouth, farmers have been reluctant to graze these areas with cattle and sheep because of the paperwork involved.

Exmoor ponies, that require no complicated forms, have filled this gap very successfully. From weaned foals to 4 or 5 years olds, these ponies run wild and free on a variety of sites doing what they do best: eating! They are selective grazers and leave wildflowers alone whilst munching their way through reeds and grasses.

The ponies arrive in the North East by lorry in the autumn as totally unhandled, incredibly wild, frightened creatures.

From experience I don’t just let them out as they gallop straight through the fences but get them used to hard feed and following a bucket and contact with humans
Where they are going will affect how much handling they get; if the site has public access, they get minimal handling so they then don’t bother people but fade quietly away into the undergrowth;

if they are going onto a site with no public footpaths but possibly the access is limited, then they need to be taught to lead. They are then delivered to the area and turned out. Sometimes they are there for a few months only; sometimes they stay permanently, depending on the grazing requirements.