The Highland ponies lovely colours

There were only 3 ponies at this location a very dark bay, a bright bay and white, so these ones weren't that unusual.  Some Highland ponies come in very unusual colours, and many of them have a dorsal stripe and zebra markings on their legs showing how closely related they are to the ancient breed.

Here is what the breed description says about the colours: 

 "A range of duns-mouse, yellow, grey, cream. Also grey, brown, black and occasionally bay and liver chestnut with silver mane and tail. Many ponies have a dorsal stripe and some show zebra markings on legs. Shoulder stripe often present. A small star is acceptable but other white markings are discouraged. Foal coat often changes and many ponies change colour gradually as they grow older, especially those with grey hairs interspersed with the original colour. Others show a slight seasonal change in colour between winter and summer coats. Broken colours are not allowed"

 

Dark Highland pony

Bay Highland pony

White Highland pony

I will be putting up more photos of different Highlands in different colours from our other photographing trip in Dalwhinnie, so be sure to check back soon.

 White pony in black and white

White pony in sepia

Many of these and other images are available to purchase in my Etsy shop

Lovely horse photos for sale

Highland ponies and deer stalking

 Native highland ponies

 The highland ponies we saw at Glen Feshie were very large and chunky for a pony, as you can see from the photos - they are more like a draft horse build.

 Highland pony

 They have been intentionally bred to be like this, so that they could be used for their many jobs in the Highlands of Scotland.

Their strength and size would have made them a suitable mount as a war horse, as far back as the days of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. It is said that Robert the Bruce faced the attack of the army of King Edward II, sat astride a Highland pony.

Other jobs they have had over were as pack ponies, transporting goods in large wicker panniers attached to a wooden pack saddle. They were used on farms, where the crofters used them for ploughing, forestry, and haulage. In later years, Country Estates found the Highland pony useful for bringing game and deer down from the hills.  The ponies handlers are often called ghillies and the ponies are called garrons.

This is a job some of them still do - as was mentioned in my last blog 
The ponies of Glen Feshie

Their size ranges from 13hh - 14.2hh (132cms - 148cms) but they are very very strong for their size.  It is said they can carry up to 17stone.  A full grown stag could easily weigh that much and they carry these across the hills after a days hunting.

 

White Highland pony

If you want, you can pay lots of money to one of the large Scottish estates in the Highlands and try this for yourself ( not the carrying of the stag - but joining a shooting party ! )

Deer stalking in the highlands 

 

Article from 'the field' shooting magazine 

I would just like to mention that although deer stalking is regarded by many as a necessary part of Scottish life, I do not personally endorse it - I am against all blood sport.

 

Beautiful Highland pony

Please click on any of the photos to see them larger.

If you want to purchase my horse prints, many of them are available to buy from my website or my etsy shop

My website

My Etsy shop

Spot the ponies...

So, I'm back on track with the British native pony blog.  I have been away a bit too long, but I'm planning on writing more regularly now.  I have lots of lovely horse and pony photos to share.

Highland ponies are next on my list.  I have a few from a trip we made to Loch Ericht Estate, near Dalwhinnie, back in April.  We also went away last weekend to the Glenfeshie Estate near Aviemore.

There are no Highland ponies in the wild any more, so the only way to really see them roaming free in their native environments (not in paddocks) is to go to one of the large Scottish estates where they keep Highland ponies.  Most of these estates still have the tradition of deer shooting during the hunting season.  A lot of them invite their shooting parties to stay and go hunting for sport.  Many of them still keep Highland ponies for carrying the deer back to the house.  When they are not being used during the hunting season, they are often turned out to live semi feral out on the Highlands.  The estates own 1000's acres of land covering mountains, glens, moors and lochs.

We had researched and found that there are usually Highland ponies living out semi feral on the Glenfeshie estate near Aviemore.  There is a long glen (valley) with a wide river running through the middle.  Usually the ponies are to be seen on the East side of the river so that's where we decide to look for them.

The Glen is private land so you can only go in on foot or bike.  We were walking.  We parked the car and started our walk along the river.  The day was lovely and sunny and great for photos so I hoped we would find the ponies.  It is very scenic and it was a very nice walk, but we had to walk for over 5 miles before we got to the end of the glen, and we still hadn't seen the ponies.  Then we spotted them...but, they were the other side of the river.

Spot the ponies...

The river is quite wide, and very cold so we didn't fancy crossing.  There should be a bridge about 1 mile back, but it had been washed away a few years ago, so there was no way to get to the ponies.  How frustrating.  The only thing we could do was walk all the way back and try again the next day, but on the other side of the river, so we walked all 5 miles back along the river.

Typically, the next day the weather was dull, and overcast - not great for photos, but we decided to go anyway and hope it cleared up.  We walked the 5 miles the other side of the river to the grassy spot where the horses had been the day before, but they weren't there.  They had walked down to the river.  Thank fully they hadn't actually crossed back over, but they were standing in the stony dry river bed, which isn't as photogenic as the lovely bit they had been in the day  before.

Anyway I did my best and took some photos.  It was just really frustrating that the day before they had been in a much nicer place and the weather and light had been way nicer - but that's what being a photographer is all about !

Here are two photos of the ponies - more to come soon.

Bay Highland pony

Highland ponies

*You can click on any of my photos to see them larger.

  

The many jobs of the Fell pony

The Fell ponies have an interesting history, and have had many jobs through the years.   They are native to the fells of North West England, and it's thought that the breed was established as far back as the Roman times, when they would have been caught and tamed from their natural habitat, and would have been used by the Romans for transportation of materials to build Hadrian's wall.

About Hadrians wall 

 Fell ponies on the fell

In the winter of 1492-93, 11 Kendal traders made a total of 14 journeys to Southampton with pack horses carrying loads of cloth - a journey of about 300 miles, which even on today's modern roads would be a tough journey !

 Fell ponies were even used for transporting the deceased to graveyards (they are still used today, by undertakers who conduct traditional horse drawn funerals).

Over the years the Fell pony's more domestic duty would have been as a pack pony, transporting minerals from the mines and corn to the mills. They would also have been used on farms for general duties such as harvesting, haymaking and carrying a shepherd across steep terrain.   They were also used to hunt wolves that might have been a threat to the sheep on the fells.

matching fell ponies

It is said that during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Cumbrian smugglers would have used Fell ponies for transporting their contraband from the coast.   

The Post Office also used the Fell pony to deliver the mail to the most remote areas. 
During the late 1800s, trotting races grew in popularity at social events such as shepherds meets and fairs. Many Fell ponies excelled at this sport, with some Fell ponies even attracting local fame.

 Mum and baby

Hello...

ps - if you click on the photos you can see them larger (and better) :-)

Grey Fell ponies

I have now learnt something very interesting about Fell ponies - I had always thought Fell ponies only came in black, but while up on the Fells I noticed quite a few of the ponies were grey - there were a few that were very dark steel grey and a few that were light grey.

Dark grey Fell pony

I asked the owners of the ponies if they were all Fells and they told me that they were, and that Fell ponies come in brown, black, bay and grey.  Black is the predominant colour, although dark brown used to be the predominant colour many years ago.  They also mentioned that the grey used to be quite rare, but they are now becoming more common.  They own a grey stallion.

Light grey Fell mare

It was interesting to hear about their herd and how they manage the ponies that live on the Fells.  Carole told me

"We have approx. 16 breeding mares on the fell together with young females who will in time be bred from as the older mares cease to breed.  There  are also one or two geldings which we offer for sale. The stallions (2) are  kept down at the farm as there are bridle paths across the common and it would not be safe for riders to encounter stallions and also we want to be sure  which mares are mated with which stallions.  The herd stays on the fell for most of the year.  The mares are brought down to foal in May / June and to be covered again by the stallion, after which they are returned to the fell until late October, when they are brought down in order for the foals to be weaned.  The mares are returned to the fell and the filly foals are wintered inside for the first winter.  Colt foals  (apart from any being kept as future stallions) are sold at the Fell Pony sale at the end of October at Penrith."

Grey Fell pony

Some of you readers might not have read my older posts, where I mentioned that many of the British native breeds of pony are on the 'Rare breeds survival trust' watch list.  This is a list of the breeds of British ponies that are at various stages of being endangered.  It goes from 'critical' to 'at risk'.  The fell pony is on the watch list as 'at risk', which isn't as bad as some of the British breeds, but is still not very many - it means there are only 900-1500 breeding mares in the world.  This isn't really a huge amount, so its good to see that there are several studs like Lunesdale  still breeding and promoting this lovely breed, as well as a breed society

The Fell pony society

Hopefully one day these beautiful ponies will be off of the list all together.

The RBST equine watchlist

Beautiful grey Fell pony

Finding the Fell ponies

2 beautiful Fell ponies

Shawn and I decided at short notice to have a week in the lovely lake district in Cumbria, as it's only 2 hours drive from where we now live, and we hadn't been there before.  This is the area that the beautiful Fell ponies originate from.  I couldn't visit that area and not try to find some feral ponies to photograph, so I did a quick bit of research to see where I might be able to find some.

I emailed the owners of Lunesdale Fell pony stud - they are Fell pony breeders that have grazing rights on Roundthwaite common, and asked if there were any Fells out on the common that I could photograph.  They said there was, and I was welcome to go to the common and look for the ponies, but they also mentioned that they may be hard to find.  What I hadn't realised was the common is really large - over 6 miles long and quite wide, including many hills and valleys.  They normally go out on a quad bike to find them and even then it can take hours !

The huge area where the Fells roam

Well, I really wanted to see them so Shawn and I (it was me really) decided to go for a drive around the area and see if we could find a way up to the common and decide if it was worth looking for them.  We drove to the area through some country lanes and into a little village.
I looked up onto the hills ahead, and guess what - I spotted some tiny black dots on the horizon.  Shawn thought they might be cows, but I was convinced they were ponies.

We stopped and asked a farmer if we could get up to where they were, and he said the best way was to go back down the road, and then up through some fields onto the ridge, and then to walk along the ridge.  So we parked the van, near the place he had pointed out and got ready to walk up.  Just then a cross looking man came out of his house and asked what we were doing, he then said the way we wanted to go up would involve walking through his field, and he told us he would not allow us to go through his land !  We were a bit disappointed, and headed back towards the first farmer.  He very kindly took us to one of his fields further along and showed us another way up to the ridge.  The field was really, really steep, and I was a bit worried as he said there was a bull in the field somewhere !

After about 1/2 hour climbing up the hill we got to the stone wall around the common and climbed over.  The ponies were right there :-)  I felt so lucky that I had found them.

I very quietly took a few photos from a distance, as I didn't know how tame they were.  They tolerated me but as soon as I tried going closer they ran away.  So I took a few more photos from a distance, then this time got closer and closer very slowly.  They let me get quite close, and I just watched them and took photos for ages.  After a while they realised I was no threat, and got quite inquisitive - quite a few of them, including some foals, came right up to me and sniffed and nuzzled me.  It was such a lovely feeling that they felt that safe with me.

 Fell pony saying hello

 Inquisitive Fell pony foal

I had a lovely time being with these beautiful native ponies, and it is great to see them in their natural setting, looking healthy and as nature intended.

Please look back for the next blog as I have lots more lovely photos, and I will be writing about Fell ponies, and their origins, characters etc

Happy new year

Happy new year to you all - I hope you had a good time over the holidays.  

I really must get back to the blog now.  I have lots to catch up on - I already have the Fell ponies and New Forest ponies to write about, and this year I would like to visit Shetland or the Highlands to photograph them, and I also want to go to Yorkshire to photograph the Dales ponies.  Then that just leaves the Exmoor and Dartmoor ponies.  I'm not sure whether to include the Irish Connemara ponies in this project as I'm not sure whether they are British ( as far as I know they only roam feral in Southern Ireland, although they would have once been all over Ireland, and Northern Ireland is British ! )  What do you think - please leave your thoughts in the comments as I would love to hear your opinions on this. 

Just one last blog with photos on the Carneddau Welsh mountain ponies:

 

White Welsh pony mare

The wild Welsh mountain ponies might have an uncertain future, but the section A Welsh ponies, which are the closest  to the wild mountain ponies, are very popular.  There are also 3 other types of Welsh pony categories ranging in size from under 12hh to exceeding 13.2hh with no upper limit.

The Welsh Stud Book contains registration details of four "types" of Welsh Ponies and Cobs.  These types include the Section A Welsh Mountain Pony, Section B Welsh Pony, Section C Welsh Pony (Cob type) and Section D Welsh Cob.  Each Section, or type, has specific characteristics, but all retain the pony character, versatility and excellent temperament of the Welsh breeds.

Because these ponies were the hill farmers' main means of transport, herding sheep and wild ponies over rough and mountainous country, they had to be hardy, balanced and fast.  This ensured that only the best were bred from. These qualities, combined with a natural jumping ability, and the temperament of their Welsh Mountain Pony forebears make the Welsh ponies and cobs really great riding ponies and all rounders.

You can read about the breed standard and characteristics on the Welsh pony and cob website

Welsh mountain section A and Welsh pony section B 

Welsh pony cob section C and Welsh Cob section D 

I think this Welsh mountain stallion is beautiful and even though he is wild and a bit unkempt he really shows  where the different types of Welshies get their looks from.

Welsh mountain pony stallion

Some last photos from Carneddau - they seem to be very itchy ponies !!

You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours

Little foal in the middle wants a scratch too

Its my turn

 The stallion has to scratch his own bum !

Just one last photo - what do you think of this ?  It was an experiment, but I think I like it :-)

Welsh pony in pink

I'm really looking forward to writing the next blog - it will be about the beautiful Fells of Cumbria.  I have some great photos of them, so please come back to read it.