Exmoor ponies: the ancient breed looking for a stable future

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Ponies grazing at the Exmoor Pony Centre Credit: Jay Williams

With its strong neck and its mealy markings, the ­Exmoor pony calls to mind the primitive horses that grazed the land during the Ice Age. The semi-feral herds on the North Devon and Somerset moors appear like throwbacks to a time before horses were tamed and bred by man.

That they still wander the moors as they do is a wonder. In 1921, The ­Exmoor Pony Society was set up to protect the breed from extinction. But only 50 (including four stallions) survived at the end of the Second World War, due to rustlers carrying them off in the night for food. 

Now, thanks to the likes of the ­Exmoor Pony Centre, their numbers continue to grow to the point where there are believed to be over 2,000 worldwide. The centre is run by the Moorland Mousie Trust, a charity formed 17 years ago to save the many unwanted moor-bred Exmoor ponies, mainly colt foals, which were being slaughtered every year after the annual pony gatherings.

Over the past ten years alone they have taken in and rehomed more than 300 unwanted ponies. For Linzi Green, who runs the centre, it is a project of passion that sees her working 80-hour weeks, living on site and doing everything from the office admin to mending broken fences. 

Yet until earlier this month, despite welcoming 5,000 visitors and 600 ­riders a year, Linzi faced the very real prospect of having to see the centre’s gate shut in September for good. 

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Centre manager Linzi in the paddock Credit: Jay Williams

Operating at a deficit and without a sustainable income, she resolved to have one last glorious summer holiday season of riding classes before closing. 

It was a bleak prospect for Linzi, who has spent her life nurturing not only the ponies that pass through her care, but arguably the whole breed. 

“People see the ponies out on the moor and think how wonderful they are, but they don’t know about the work that takes place to keep them there,” says Linzi.

Indeed, the number of grazing ­ponies on Exmoor is defined so the landscape is kept under control but not overgrazed. There are currently around 400 ponies on the moor and each year unwanted stock is removed. 

It was when co-founder Val Sherwin went to purchase a filly foal in 1998 that she also ended up taking home a male colt that would otherwise have been ­destroyed. A meeting of minds with ­another local, Sue Wingate, led to the founding of the Moorland Mousie Trust (named after the eponymous ­Exmoor Pony made famous in the book by Golden Gorse in the late 1920s) and in 2000 it became a registered charity. Sue died last year and Val left the ­charity four years ago. However Abbi and Yorrick, the two original ponies, still live at the centre and are part of the 15-strong riding team. 

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The ponies are known for their uniform brown coats and mealy eye markings Credit: Jay Wiliams

The centre currently has 26 yearlings taken off the Moor between ­November and mid-February. As well as essential veterinary treatment, the centre neuters the colts, and accustoms them to being head-collared and led.  

The market for Exmoor ponies, like their New Forest and Shetland counterparts, has been hit by a slump in demand. But against the odds, Linzi has placed hundreds with foster homes or with conservation grazing schemes.

Only last week, she took a group of ponies up to Northumberland to be ­rehomed. Another 14 were found a home in the Czech Republic in 2015. 

It’s incredible work, achieved on a non-existent budget. While the charity received a National Park Authority grant in 2005 to fund the opening of the centre, plus one through the Rural Enterprise Scheme, they receive no contribution for ongoing costs. 

“Since the centre was set up it’s had to be self-sustaining. The riding lessons cover this, as well as people who sponsor our ponies,” says Linzi.

But with an income last year of £50,000 and outgoings of £60,000, Linzi wasn’t sure if she, along with her board of trustees, could sustain the ­centre for much longer.

“Up until four years ago, something always came through like a legacy or a grant application,” says the 32 year-old. “Our costs are reduced as tight as we can go – we can’t reduce them further. Already we rely on about 10 regular volunteers. We’re so lucky that people locally are willing to give their time so generously.”

At the suggestion of a volunteer, Linzi set up a Crowdfunding campaign, and at the beginning of June she ­succeeded in smashing their £20,000 target by £15,000, with donations from over 800 supporters, ensuring that the centre’s work can continue.

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One of the ponies up close Credit: Jay Williams

It’s been a huge relief for Linzi who says: “If the centre had to close I would be devastated. It has been a huge part of my life and everyone who helps and supports us would feel so sad that we wouldn’t be able to take in any more foals, leaving so many potentially ­without a future.”

The campaign has been a lifeline, but Linzi is now determined to find a viable financial future for the centre. “You can only say, ‘The end is nigh’ once, in my opinion. We need to make it work.”

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The centre has 15 riding ponies available for lessons Credit: Jay Williams

At the heart of it all are the ponies and their incredible connection to the landscape. “We know from skeletal ­evidence that animals of their shape and size were here tens of thousands of years ago. We just don’t know if they were the same colour.” 

The Domesday Book provides more evidence that ponies were here in ­Norman times. “But it’s only in the 1800s that we know they’re brown ­Exmoor ponies.”

Making people realise just how ­special the Exmoors are will, she hopes, encourage more people to become long-term benefactors of the centre.  

“We’re competing against Bengal ­tigers and flashier animals that aren’t in the UK. I think we need to support the UK breeds, and for us it’s about raising awareness of the ponies.

“What makes them so wonderful and versatile to me is that they’re so strong and can live outside in all weathers. I know I’m very biased, but I think they’re beautiful.”

That people visit the centre and meet the breed is integral. “We want people to come to Exmoor and make that link with the ponies. Then we can actually give the ponies a future that they otherwise won’t be offered.”

moorlandmousietrust.org.uk 

 

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