The History of the Exmoor Pony

Val Sherwin

The ancestors of all our native pony breeds came overland from Alaska approximately 130,000 years ago and became widely distributed throughout what is now the British Isles. One hundred thousand years later mankind appeared on the scene and discovered their natural source of protein, not to mention their skins and fat from the ponies which were an indispensable as part of the Winter survival kit . Dramatic climate changes about 9,600 years ago began to restrict the amount of open grazing, mainly to mountain and moorland areas of Britain, thus herds became isolated on the uplands and the British Hill Pony developed as a result. First domesticated by the Celts, these herds of ponies can trace their history largely through their first contact with Man. From the Doomsday Book onwards there is little written evidence of the Exmoor Pony but records from the 1500 s onwards reveal that the equine population of the moor varied in numbers rising to as many as a thousand at times. The moors, as part of the Royal Forest were controlled by wardens who ran native stallions there but it is known that non-Exmoor mares were sometimes allowed to roam with these herds.
In 1818 the Crown sold the Royal Forest to John Knight but the outgoing warden, Sir Thomas Acland, fortunately took 30 of the ponies and found the Acland Herd, (now known as the Anchor Herd), whose descendants still roam the Winsford Hill. Farmers from Withypool and Hawkridge who had worked alongside the warden also bought stock at the disposal sale and founded several herds of which No s 1, 10, 12, 23 and 44 still exist.		Descendents of the original Acland Herd are still found on Winsford Hill.
...the boundaries to the commons were secured and it was safe for the ponies to roam again.		John Knight made an unsuccessful attempt at improving the breed by introducing an Arab Stallion Katerfelta . The resulting produce lost the hardy characteristics needed to survive Exmoor s harsh winters, and this line eventually died out leaving no lasting influence on the breed.
The Exmoor Pony Society was founded in 1921 at The Lion Inn in Dulverton by breeders concerned that Exmoor ponies, should not risk being sacrificed to fashion or improvements and to protect the foundation herds. Several years were spent with highly experienced breeders inspecting ponies for acceptance into the Stud Book as foundation stock. In the 1930 s there was something of a boom time for the ponies. They became very popular children's ponies, due in no small part to the success of Moorland Mousie - the story of the life of an Exmoor Pony.