well i for one is inspired to write a post here abute using feelings as a langues, wich is (talking abute whats natualy or not) one of the good naturaly things that is betwing horses, and also a ability that most humans (also knowen as hubisabiens) seem to have forgoten. most humans is offended if compared to an animal, becouse we humans see ourself better then them, just becouse we are more inteligent… or is it actuely the animals who’s more inteligent then us? i mean they find to survive with what they have, instead of creating machines and build houses. sure they are nice to have for us humans, becouse we want more then just survive. we want to live good and most prefered for most people (wealthy). so weil the wild sure can be cruel, we still need to be wery, does we exploit the wild. what abute our facturary’s? what abute our car’s? even our houses? coming smoke up from the top? or even with those houses having radiators to warm the house up for our compfort? sure its good to feel well and stay healthy. but we must keep in mind what damage we does to the nature in order to do so, and we must not end up having horses do the same, but instead learn from THEM…. oderwise they end up like the indians. they lived in tents, had happy but sometimes short life, but still a good healthy life. we puttet them in houses and took there land’s. now they are much like us. exploiting the lands, instead we learned to live like them…

but oh well, back to horses…. many see the thing if they fx kick after one anoder like (oh, they are being dominant and punish the oder horse into it’s place and in it’s rank!) where of they miss how fare the horse kicking already on beforehand had been present with feelings that would indicate ‘im not okay with what your doing now, please stop it imiteritly’ and the horse kicked after failed to notice that or desrespected the kicking horses request to stop, and simpel just maked it clear once and for all, ‘ENOUG i said’ and those kick’s actuely often dont actuely hit’s so it’s harmfull, even thoug it can seem pretty roug. and it has nothing to do abute ranks or leadership or anything…. so stupid blind some people can be hehehe, its abselut redecules and something to laug of sometimes… 😛

A very interesting blog Debs Crosoer’s blog. In it you make a comment about the ‘state’ of Exmoor ponies here, “Even the New Forest, Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies are interfered with to a point and even if they weren’t – have you been to the sales and seen the state of them!”
I feel this needs to be addressed, certainly with regard to the free-living Exmoor ponies of Exmoor National Park.
I can’t comment on how Exmoor ponies are kept in other geographical areas or when they are not kept in the free-living herds of Exmoor. Or on Dartmoor or New Forest ponies, other than to say that much work is being done to improve breeding practices and management in both those breeds too, with some excellent results.
Yes, Exmoor National Park offers tough and challenging terrain, where the free-living herds (all owned) live and breed. There are various ways of managing them. Each herd runs in a designated area of moorland, sometimes owned by the herd owner, sometimes a common area where the owner has grazing rights, sometimes a rented area of moorland, etc. Some herd owners put mares out on their designated grazing area all year round, others have them out there for part of the year. Some moorland enclosures are actually no bigger than a large farm field, and some are vast, spanning thousands of acres. The moorland enclosures also vary great with regards to the type of terrain offered to the ponies. For example, ponies running on the 5,500 acres of the Dunkery Commons have access to areas of open moorland, forests, steep wooded river valleys, etc. On the 3,000 acres of Brendon Common and adjacent areas, the ponies exist in some of the wildest and most challenging terrain that Exmoor can offer. Other herds run in relatively small enclosures of only 100 acres.

Let’s take the wilder herds. These ponies really do live by ‘survival of the fittest’. They are not given supplementary feeding as part of their management. They are generally gathered in only once a year in the autumn (possible twice in some cases) and may or may not be given a worming treatment. They never have their teeth or feet done. Those with problems die out. Sometimes, groups of mares may be run in ground onto the farm to be covered by a stallion and put back out on the moor again. Other times, the stallion may run out on the moor for all or part of the year. Variation in breeding practices helps to ensure that bloodlines are preserved but over-breeding is avoided where possible. The free-living mares receive no birthing assistance. Those that have problems die, as do their foals.
The ponies that survive and thrive out on the moor are therefore robust and retain their essential hardiness and True Moorland Type. ‘Wild’ native ponies are an important part of our bio-diversity and it is through living and breeding (largely independently of man) in their natural, indigenous environment, that enables them to retain their learned and genetic characteristics and behaviours. This includes their high intelligence and all important ‘Wildness Factor’. They are precious and we highly value their self-sufficiency. They are also very beautiful, with looks undoubtedly shaped by Nature.

Some Exmoor ponies are managed as ‘stock’ and not ‘pets’ with older mares culled and replaced by younger fillies. They may well be in their prime when culled. Other herds allow mares to run for a full life span and they can reach their thirties. Stallions can also be treated as stock so if a wild stallion has no further role, he is culled. At other times, a stallion may run in various moorland areas into his late twenties. Only recently, one was PTS at 18 years old because his condition had become poor. Certainly to live into healthy old age a pony would need good teeth and feet and be able to deal with the worm burden. The farmers will PTS ponies in poor condition or distress and maintain a healthy herd. Good moorland stock management is essential.
Native ponies have evolved to get fat in the summer and thinner in the winter and whether we like this or not, it is how they are built to live. Interfering with that by starving in the summer and feeding hard feeds in the winter to maintain a consistent ‘shape’ is fraught with dangers, as is clipping and rugging and shoeing.

So what do the free-living Exmoor ponies look like? What is their ‘state’ as Debs Crosoer describes it.

Please see this video of the largest free-living herd of Exmoor ponies in the world, the Tippbarlake herd, which gives an indication of their terrain and lifestyle and how they may be gathered in to the home farm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehK_V8FQT9Q
And for pictures of Moorland Exmoor ponies living wild and free on Exmoor, take a look at our http://www.facebook.com/MoorlandExmoorPonyBreedersGroup page. (You’re welcome to ‘like’ it too as we are very keen to promote awareness of Exmoor ponies on Exmoor).

On Exmoor, the MEPBG members (which comprises various of us Exmoor farmers and landowners) are extremely proud of the quality, condition, hardiness and lifestyle offered to the Exmoor ponies. We are even now working closely with the government, academia and the Exmoor National Park Authority to map the whole genome of the Exmoor pony and safeguard purebred genetics outside of pedigree registration.

So the ‘state’ of them, as Debs Crosoer put it? The state of them, all things considered is pretty darned good.

As for living ‘naturally’ when they are brought off the moors – we put a huge amount of thought and effort here, at Holt Ball and the Moorland Exmoor Foal Project, into how to give the ponies as natural and sociable an environment as possible. This includes free access to interesting pasture areas, encouraging migration and play, providing decent barn and shelter and loafing areas – with a range of surfaces from grass, tracks, bark chips, aggregate, sand, dirt, concrete, chalk, etc – and company. The ponies love their mud wallow and stream area. They are barefoot and most of them don’t wear rugs – we have a few that are skin sensitive so they wear a fly sheet in the summer months. Also if a pony is ear-marked for showing or other activities where he or she must remain in tip-top physical appearance (avoiding mane-munching and nips, etc), they may need a protective fly sheet, but they are rugless for as much of the year as possible. We don’t trim Exmoors coats, manes or tails, and they grow the most incredible double-layered winter coat.

They are fed a mostly forage diet of grass, hay and haylage – with free access to specially formulated mineral blocks and salt rocks allowing them to feed as naturally as possible. If supplementary feeding is necessary (orphaned foals, lactating mares, for example), we are careful what we give them. Good exercise, free movement, varied surfaces, a natural diet and natural living with good company tends to help them steer clear of horrors like laminitis but still allows them space and choices. We train and handle them using positive, trust-based methods and do much of our interactions at liberty and involving agility play and interactions – this replicates their natural environment of going under, over, through and around obstacles and objects. Please see http://www.wildponywhispering.co.uk and our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/wildponywhispering for pictures and info.

My own feeling is that native ponies flourish and thrive with a carefully planned care and management programme that is as ‘natural’ as possible. Long hours in the stable and turnout in postage-stamp starvation paddocks are a disaster for their bodies and minds. Where I do agree with Sarah Morgan is that a ‘natural’ management system should be supplemented where and when necessary with whatever can benefit the ponies, when they are living with us off the moors.
But please don’t knock the ‘state’ of our Exmoor ponies – they are some of the luckiest ponies in the world – and we have much to learn from them.

We are always keen to find more good opportunities for the small number of Exmoor pony foals coming off the moors each year and the Exmoor pony is an endangered breed – so if you’d like one, please get in touch with us.