An endangered species

An endangered species

I bet you didn’t know that England has an endangered species of animal, did you? Well neither did I until I came to Exmoor.

The Exmoor pony is a wild horse and is different from any other pony found in the world. It's actually even more rare than the giant panda! Exmoor ponies are one of the world's oldest breeds of horse - they are usually a brown colour with mealy coloured markings around their eyes and nose.




They're quite small - about 12.2 hands - but very strong. Their nasal passages are larger than those of most horses so that the cold winter air can heat up before it reaches their lungs. They've got very strong jaws and their stomachs are strong because in the winter on Exmoor the only thing to eat is rough vegetation, like gorse. If you look at the photo below, gorse is the yellow bush behind the foal - it has lots of thorns. Isn't nature wonderful?




Exmoor was once a Royal Forest and used for hunting, but it was sold in the early 1800's. This is what Exmoor looks like now: lots of wild, open moors and quiet hidden valleys.




The last warden of Exmoor, Sir Richard Acland, took 30 ponies and established a herd and some farmers also bought ponies, so the breed was saved. But by the end of World War II there were only 4 stallions and about 50 Exmoor ponies left in the whole world, because the ponies had been eaten or used by soldiers as target practice! Now there are about 2,000 Exmoor ponies around the world, but only about 250 are suitable for breeding, which is why they are classed as an endangered species.

Although the ponies are free to roam Exmoor, they all actually belong to someone. Every year in October they are rounded up, checked to see that they are healthy and branded.

I took this photo on Winsford Hill, and these ponies are the direct descendants of Sir Acland's original herd. One morning, I came out of the cottage and this little group was standing right outside the gate. They let me get quite close, but then something startled them, the stallion whinnied, and the whole group took off!




Here are a couple of links about Exmoor ponies:

The Exmoor Pony Centre

Exmoor ponies

Next week, as promised, I'll tell you about cream teas and something about books that are set in the "West Country".

Have a great weekend

Carrie

endangered: something that is in danger
mealy: the colour of oatmeal - a very pale brown
hands: the height of a horse is measured in hands: a hand is 4 inches or 10 cm
nasal passages: part of the nose
target practice: to practice shooting at something
roam: to wander around
rounded up: to gather together
branded: to burn a permanent mark on an animal's skin to show who it belongs to
whinnied: the noise a horse makes