Conservation on the hoof

Britain's wild ponies are helping to restore key habitat: a role that is securing a future not only for rare species but for the native breeds themselves

- Tessa Waugh

NATIVE PONIES are a treasured feature of the British Isles. Beautiful, intelligent and endlessly versatile, they imprint themselves on the hearts of children and adults alike. However, despite their undoubted talents and charisma, numbers are in decline. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) names five of Britain's native pony breeds – Welsh Section B, Dartmoor, Fell, Highland and New Forest – on its ‘at risk’ list, while Dales, Eriskay and Exmoor ponies are marked for further concern on a list marked ‘priority’.

However, against this backdrop, an increasing spotlight on native ponies’ value as grazers has been encouraging for breed champions. It is not unusual to find Dartmoor ponies on the cliffs of Dover, Eriskays on the Cumbrian fells and Welsh Mountains on the Norfolk Broads. Some are introduced in an informal capacity to control scrubland, others to fulfil the requirements of countryside stewardship schemes. It’s a double win on the conservation front because, while these schemes benefit the land and the other species that live there, they also benefit our native breeds by finding another function for them.

As owners of the largest herd of pure-bred Exmoors in the world, the Anchor Herd, David and Emma Wallace are among those welcoming this development. They are leading evangelicals for the Exmoor pony and have been working for 20 years to protect their valuable genetics. The family history with the herd goes back to David Wallace's great uncle, the flamboyant Edwardian industrialist Frank Green, who fell in love with Exmoor and bought an estate there in the 1920s. Tired of commuting from his native Yorkshire, while his hunters travelled back and forth by train, he moved permanently in the 1930s.

An important legacy