from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday
3 August 2007 08:00 Home > Environment > Wildlife
The pony's tale: native breeds under threat
Dartmoor, Exmoor, the New Forest... Britain’s national parks wouldn’t be the same without their equine treasures. Now, plummeting market values mean these ancient breeds could be wiped out.
David Anthony Murray reports
Published: 02 August 2007
Native ponies have roamed freely in Britain for around four millennia. Even a century ago, many thousands were an integral part of our remotest landscapes, from Exmoor and Dartmoor to the fells of northern England, from the Welsh mountains and coastal plains to the Highlands and islands.
We have often taken for granted the sight of wild ponies hugging hillsides or grazing peacefully on rolling moorland. A chance encounter with a wild herd, the exhilaration of observing a stallion galloping across the open heath each spring and the autumn round-up were once common events, etched indelibly into the memories and hearts of anyone who understood the countryside.
Truly wild herds are not owned, but are left to their own devices. Sadly, most 21st-century Britons have never come across any. Today, equines living in this "state of nature" are nearly impossible to find in Britain, perhaps relegated to very few corners of the remotest Scottish islands and highest Welsh mountains.
With increasing difficulty we can track down ponies that we may think of as wild, but which are, in fact, owned and managed. These ponies are not fully controlled by their owners and are rarely handled. They run in natural herds, grazing extensively on our mountains, moorlands and marshes, landscapes less altered by man.
Many wild-pony owners are farmers and dedicated breeders who usually belong to one of Britain's nine native breed societies – Exmoor, Dartmoor, New Forest, Welsh Pony and Cob, Dales, Fell, Highland, Shetland and Connemara – set up to protect our pony heritage. These ponies have pedigrees and their ancestors can be accurately traced using records maintained by societies over more than a century. Some independent farmers breed wild herds that might resemble one or other recognised breed but have no pedigree.
Today's recognised native breeds have descended from populations that have existed since Celtic times, each becoming geographically isolated as human settlement divided land. They are products of this isolation and, in some cases, purposeful crossing with other breeds.
Seemingly forgotten by all but their most ardent admirers, the number and size of wild pedigree herds have declined alarmingly over the last 50 years, and many breeds face imminent extinction. Upland herds, which live beyond 650ft above sea level, are particularly threatened. "The [Cumbrian fell] breed isn't under threat, but the pony in its natural surroundings is," says Tom Capstick, a Cumbrian fell breeder. "If the hill herds collapse, bloodlines could disappear." "In 10 years there will be no ponies running wild on the fells," adds Bill Potter, another Cumbrian farmer-breeder.
A rare breed's number of actively breeding females indicates how threatened it is. For example, the Dales breed, which is classified as "critical" (close to extinction), has around 30 wild breeding mares. Fewer than 150 fell pony foals born in 2006 were from wild mares, and only 760 wild Welsh mountain ponies remain in Wales.
"Ponies are in decline for economic reasons," says Roland Michell, veterinary surgeon of the Welsh Pony and Cob Society. Farmers are increasingly discouraged from breeding them because of a lack of financial incentives. With the notable exception of the Horserace Betting Levy Board, which helps many wild herds to survive, there is often little Government support.
There is no huge demand for wild ponies. The cost of rearing a foal for auction at market often exceeds the sale price. Their saleable value has decreased "to probably 30 per cent of what it used to be in the early 1960s", says Emrys Bowen, a retired Welsh vet. "Who wants to keep them to get nothing for the progeny?"
The increasing cost and complexity of bureaucracy makes matters worse. A recent European requirement for all equines to have passports has encouraged some breeders to reduce herd sizes or to sell up, eradicating breed-lines. The loss or curtailment of breeders' grazing rights, through new regulations on some British commons, exacerbates a serious situation.
Welsh farmer-breeder Roger Davies believes the fact that most breeders are nearing retirement and are not being replaced by younger farmers means the number of hill ponies will continue to decline. Roland Michell cites a " lack of interest" among the younger generation.
For almost 2,000 years, Britain's wild herds were an integral part of our lives. Tamed individuals pulled Saxon ploughs, shepherded Norman flocks, helped drive cattle and served as Britain's pack animals. More recently, they were bred to pull recreational traps, work farms and mines and haul our coal and food.
By the early 20th century, railways and motorised transport had precipitated a serious reduction in wild pony numbers. Although they remain excellent riding and driving stock, few are now needed in their traditional roles.
Why should we care? Because wild indigenous ponies represent precious cultural heritage and are a significant tourist attraction. "It is vital for Welsh heritage that ponies continue to run on the hills," says Colin Thomas, secretary of Wales' Pony Improvement Societies.
Many breeders of domesticated native ponies have traditionally replenished their breeding stock from wild breed-lines. The disappearance of its wild herds will therefore jeopardise a breed's chances of survival. Over the last century breeders have selected physical characteristics that they believe define their breed. Unwanted characteristics have been bred out. This dilution escalates with the loss of every genetically unique breedline, further reducing diversity within a breed and threatening its future ability to cope with extreme environments.
Loss of wild herds will have serious consequences for British wildlife, too. Wild native ponies are needed to help manage Britain's landscapes, from mountain to moorland, coastal cliff to forest. They are some of the finest conservationists in the world. They benefit invertebrates, mammals, birds and wild flowers because they graze and browse selectively, creating vegetation mosaics of interspersed shorter and taller vegetation.
Maintaining the link between pedigree ponies and their native environments " is vital if the unique characteristics – thriftiness, hardiness, disease resistance – are to be retained", according to Britain's Rare Breeds Survival Trust. "These have taken thousands of years to acquire but can be lost in the space of two generations."
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