Camo ponies

 When we first arrived at the Exmoor National park we drove through some pretty villages, and then we went over a cattle grid, so we knew we were into the open part of the park and that the Exmoor ponies would be somewhere - but it's a huge area and there are only small numbers of ponies, so we had to drive really slowly and look very carefully.  The Exmoor ponies are very camouflaged amongst the colours of the moor.

Thankfully, due to my well tuned 'pony radar' I spotted something moving in the bracken.  We slowed down and spotted a few more dotted around.  It was a herd of ponies.  I was so pleased as we had come a long way for these ponies !

 Exmoor ponies

As you can see from the photos the Exmoor pony is well fitting for their environment.  Their colouring falls within a limited range of bay, brown or dun, with black points (with no white markings) and as such they blend in very well against their native background of heather, grass and bracken.  They should have mealy markings on the muzzle and around the eyes.

Exmoor pony

It's not just their colouring that is suited to the environment - they are very well adapted to survive out on the open and sometimes very bleak moors.  The ponies are very stocky and strong, with deep chests and large girths, the large capacity of the digestive system is important in winter as they consume large quantities of rough material which provides them with internal warmth.

The prominent flesh around the eye provides a defence system against harsh weather, and is known as a "toad eye" .

The ponies have neat, hard feet, and their legs are short.   They have well laid back shoulders and a deep chest. The ribs should be long, deep, well-sprung and wide apart, with a broad back and level across the loins.

In summer their coat is close, hard and bright, but in winter they grow a coat in two layers - the hairs next to the skin are quite fine in texture and form a layer of insulation; the outer hairs are coarser and greasy giving waterproof protection.

The tail is neatly set in and the fan of short hairs near the root of the tail is called a snow chute . The mane, forelock and tail are thick and full, and also shed water efficiently.

Exmoor pony

It's sad to think that these amazing British native ponies, who are so adapted to our environment, are so rare and are on the rare breeds list as endangered.  And what's even more tragic, is that many of the foals born on Exmoor are unwanted - no one wants to buy them and many end up as zoo food !  Thank fully many of the breeders and a charity called moorland mousie trust are working hard to change this.  More about that in my next blog, so be sure to check back soon.

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An ancient breed

Last month we took a really long drive down to the South of England, to the county of Devon. In Devon are the large areas of wild and bleak moors called Exmoor and Dartmoor.  Both of these areas are home to large numbers of wild roaming ponies - the Dartmoor pony and the Exmoor pony - both completely separate breeds.

First I will write about the Exmoor ponies, as they are the oldest of the two breeds.  They are actually a very ancient breed - they have descended from the indigenous British Hill type pony, without too much inter breeding with other breeds.  You can see they have a very ancient look about them:

 Exmoor pony

They were first domesticated by the Celts when they came to Britain, and they trained them to pull their chariots. The first written records of ponies on Exmoor are in the Doomsday book, when Exmoor was designated a royal forest.  From the Doomsday Book onwards there is little written evidence of the Exmoor Pony but records from the 1500s 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.

Wild Exmoor pony

In 1818 the forest was sold and one of the wardens, Sir Thomas Acland took 30 ponies and founded the Acland herd (now known as the Anchor herd running on Winsford hill - which is where I spent the day photographing).  A few other farmers also took a few ponies and founded herds, some of which also still exist.

In 1921 the Exmoor pony society was founded to keep the breed pure and promote them.  For a while the ponies did really well, and were used as children's ponies, helping with shepherding, ploughing and grazing the commons, but during and after the war years the ponies had a rough time due to absent owners, moorland gates left open, trigger happy troops and butchers using them for a meat source during rationing.  In 1946 only about 50 ponies remained and only 6 pure-bred filly foals were registered for the whole of Exmoor.

Exmoor pony society website 

Exmoor mum and baby

Thankfully Mary Etherington, a keen supporter of the breed, and a few other dedicated breeders saved the breed - cattle grids gradually replaced the gates and the boundaries to the commons were secured and the numbers gradually grew.  The numbers are still increasing,  now stand at around 3000 ponies worldwide.  This might sound a lot, but they are still on the Rare breeds survival trust's watch list as 'endangered' - only one up from 'critical'.  

RBST watch list

Shy Exmoor yearling

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The Queen's favourite

Highland ponies

The Highland pony is an ancient breed, although there have at times been other breeds introduced into their breeding - including Arab, Clydesdale and Percheron to make them larger and stronger.  They have had many roles throughout history, including logging, carrying stags for the shooting parties and going to war.  

Yellow dun Highland pony

They have also been favoured by the Royal families down through the years: 

Queen Victoria talks about riding Highland ponies.  In "Life in the Highlands" the Queen describes a September day in 1842 when she and Prince Albert were the guests of the Duke of Atholl at Blair Castle: "We set off on ponies to go up one of the hills, Albert riding the dun pony and I the grey, attended only by Sandy McAra in the Highland dress. We went out the back way across the ford, Sandy leading my pony and Albert following closely, the water reaching above Sandy's knees" 

Queen Elizabeth II is patron of the Highland pony society and In 2007 she opened a full-time Highland pony stud at Balmoral.  One of her ponies won its class at the Royal Highland show in 2010.  She is also often seen riding Highland ponies around the estate.

 Mouse dun Highland pony

However even after all their popularity and hard work they are still on the watch list of British native pony breeds - they are listed as 'at risk'

List of breeds on the equine watch list

 Dark grey Highland pony

Hopefully their popularity may come back and people will realise how adaptable and fun to ride they are, even for adults, and they will be able to come off the rare breeds watch list.

White Highland pony

 Scottish Highland pony

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What is the difference between dun and buckskin ?

Back in April of this year, we went to stay for a long weekend up near Aviemore in the Highlands.  While we were there I wanted to see if I could find any Highland ponies living feral to photograph for my British native pony project.

We found some information from various people saying they had spotted ponies on the Loch Ericht Estate, near Dalwhinnie.  The ponies are wintered out on the estates vast land, but are quite often seen near Loch Pattack.  As with all of these large estates, people are welcome to walk, cycle and horse ride on their land because of the Scottish right to roam laws, which is great.

The land where the Highland ponies might be, and Loch Pattack are at least 7 miles from any public roads, so we decided to take our mountain bikes and ride up to the area along a track.  Even though it was the middle of April, it was freezing, and there was still snow on the higher ground - we were having extremely cold weather for that time of year !

We wrapped up with lots of layers and I put all my camera equipment in my rucksack and off we set.  It was a lovely ride, the scenery was beautiful and while we were cycling I was warm enough, but as soon as we stopped I started getting cold.  Unfortunately, I only managed to shoot for about an hour before I was frozen and I had to give up, but I got a few really nice photos.

The Highland ponies when we first spotted them

As you can see there were four of them, and some really pretty colours - a dark mouse dun, a yellow dun, a very dark dapple grey and a white one.

Two of them were very inquisitive and decided to come over and see what we were up to.

Dark dapple grey Highland pony

 

Look at the highlights on this one - women pay lots of money to have hair like that !

Yellow dun Highland pony

This brings me to a very interesting question - What is the difference between a dun and a buckskin ? (my Icelandic is called buckskin on her passport, but she looks the same as this Highland pony)  Highlands are never classed as buckskin, only dun - so are they the same thing?  Actually, no, even though they can often look very similar.  It's all down to genetics.

Both dun & buckskin can be a golden/yellow/creamy coloured body with a black mane, tail and legs.  The body colour can range from a light, creamy colour to a deep, rich yellow or gold.  But they are different because each of them come from a different dilution gene on a bay base.

Buckskin comes from a cream dilution gene on a bay horse.

Dun comes from a dun dilution gene on a bay horse.

Dun horses also always have at least one primitive characteristic – a dorsal stripe, striping on their shoulders, legs and/or forehead.

 

For a more detailed explanation, with pictures to help, see this article:

 

Dun or buckskin ? That is the question ! 

 

You can just see his dorsal stripe in this photo.

Yellow dun pony bum

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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

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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

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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

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