Exmoor Pony

Exmoor Pony

A herd of Exmoor ponies
Distinguishing features	mealy markings around eyes and muzzle, 'ice tail', 'toad eye'
Alternative names	Celtic pony
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Horse (Equus ferus caballus)

The Exmoor pony is a horse breed native to the British Isles, where some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England. The Exmoor is one of the British Isles mountain and moorland pony breeds, having conformation similar to that of other cold-weather pony breeds. They are hardy and used for many activities, as well as contributing to the conservation and management of several natural pasture habitats. Ponies were first mentioned in Exmoor in 1086, though a breed society was not formed until 1921. The breed nearly became extinct following World War II, due to soldiers using them for target practice and thieves killing them for their meat. The breed today is at "critical" status by the Equus Survival Trust, with a worldwide population of about 800 animals, with between 100 and 300 active adult breeding mares in existence.

Breed characteristics

An Exmoor mare and foal

The Exmoor pony is strong for its height, with heavy, dense bone and powerful musculature, and is noted for its hardiness, disease-resistance, and endurance. it shows a distinctly different jaw structure to other horse breeds, including the beginnings of development of a seventh molar.

The head is somewhat large in proportion to the body, with small ears, and has a characteristic "toad eye" caused by fleshiness of the eyelids, which helps both to deflect water and provide extra insulation. As with most cold-weather pony breeds, the Exmoor grows a winter coat consisting of a highly insulative woolly underlayer and a top-coat of longer, oily hairs which prevent the undercoat from becoming waterlogged by diverting water down the sides of the animal to fall from just a few drip areas. The mane and tail are thick and long, and the dock of the tail is of a type common in cold-weather ponies, having coarse white hairs, known variously by terms such as "frost cap," "snow chute," or "ice tail" which deflect rainwater away from the groin and underbelly areas to fall from the long hairs on the back of the hindleg.

Exmoor ponies are usually a variant of dark bay, called "brown", with Pangaré ("mealy") markings around the eyes, muzzle, flanks and underbelly. Pangaré markings occur in other equines as well as horses, and are considered to be a primitive trait. Entry in the breed registry requires that the animal have no white markings and is not too tall. They usually stand 11.1 to 12.3 hands (45 to 51 inches, 114 to 130 cm), with the height limit for mares being 12.2 hands (50 inches, 127 cm) and that for stallions and geldings 12.3 hands (51 inches, 130 cm).

Exmoors that are not kept in semi-feral conditions are used for a variety of activities, including showing, jumping, long-distance riding, and driving. The breed's hardiness makes it suitable for conservation grazing, and it contributes to the management of many heathland, chalk grassland and other natural pasture habitats, as well as to the conservation of Exmoor itself.

Breed history

A herd of Exmoor ponies

Exmoor fanciers claim the breed is descended from wild ancestors and has been bred pure since the Ice Age, perhaps over 100,000 years old. However, modern DNA research has yet to corroborate this traditionally-held view of the origin of the Exmoor Pony, as existing studies indicate they share their maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA with various other breeds from across the world, and their paternally-inherited Y-chromosome is identical to that of most other domesticated horse breeds.

Horse remains dating from the paleolithic/mesolithic transitional period have been found in England, including materials dating to 8000 BC that have been unearthed in various locations. There were horse bones found in chamber tombs dating to 3500 BC. However, no scientific studies to date have correlated these remains to those of any modern breed. What has been studied are Y-chromosomes (Y-DNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) obtained from Exmoor Ponies. The Y-chromosome is passed on through the male line, and worldwide shows no genetic variation in horses, except for a second Y-chromosome haplotype in China, suggesting that a very limited number of stallions contributed to the original genome of the domestic horse. The Exmoor Pony shares this general Y-chromosome haplotype. In contrast, mitochondrial DNA is passed on though the female line, and shows far more variation than Y-DNA, indicating that a large number of wild mares have contributed to modern domestic breeds. The distribution of mtDNA-haplotypes around the world suggest an influx of wild mares from various regions into the gene pool of the domesticated horse. Some mtDNA-haplotypes have been found in DNA samples obtained from wild horses in prehistoric deposits, while other mtDNA-haplotypes have only been found in domesticated horses, from both living individuals and archeological finds. While the Exmoor Pony has a high frequency of pre-domestication mtDNA-haplotypes, these mtDNA-haplotypes are found in different breeds all around the world. Currently, for the British Isles, there are only three DNA archeological samples available, all from Ireland. Although wild horses were abundant after the last ice age, the lack of sufficient pre-domestication DNA samples makes it impossible to determine the contribution of the wild horses of the British Islands to modern breeds, including the Exmoor pony, until more samples have been analyzed.

The first indication of domesticated horses in England comes from archaeological investigations showing that the ancient Britons were using wheeled horse-drawn transport (chariots) extensively in south-west England as early as 400 BC. Recent research has indicated that there was significant Roman involvement in the mining of metals on Exmoor. Metals including iron, tin and copper were transported to Hengistbury Head in neighbouring Dorset for export, and Roman carvings, showing British and Roman chariots pulled by ponies phenotypically similar to the Exmoor, have been found in Somerset.

The Domesday Book mentions ponies in Exmoor in 1086. The next mention occurred in 1818, when Sir Richard Acland, the Exmoor Royal Forest's last warden, took 400 ponies from the area to Winsford Hill, where he owned land. This herd became known as the Anchor herd, and a small number of descendants of this original herd still remain at Winsford Hill. At the same time as Acland's removal, the rest of the ponies were sold, but some stayed with breeders in the area, and these families still preserved the descendants of these animals today. From the 1820s to 1860s Exmoors were used to produce crossbreds, which although successful were not as hardy as their ancestors. In 1893, the ponies were described in Sidney's Book of the Horse as around 12 hands (48 inches, 122 cm) high, usually bay in color, and with conformation similar to what it is today. In the late 1800s, the National Pony Society began to register Exmoors and Exmoor crossbreds. In 1921, the Exmoor Pony Society was formed, and published its first stud book in 1963.

The Second World War led to a sharp decrease in the breed population as the moor became a training ground. The breed nearly became extinct, with only 50 ponies surviving the war. This was partially due to soldiers using some ponies for target practice and others being stolen and eaten by people in the cities. After the war a small group of breeders continued to preserve the population, and publicity in 1981 caused increased interest in the breed. The first Exmoors in North America were imported to Canada in the 1950s and several small herds are still maintained there. In the 1990s, small herds of ponies were established in various areas of England. These herds are used to maintain vegetation on nature reserves, many being managed by organisations such as the National Trust, Natural England and County Wildlife Trusts.

Every purebred registered Exmoor is branded with a four-point star on the near (left) shoulder, although branding has attracted criticism. In addition to the British Exmoor Pony Society, there is also the Exmoor Pony Association International, an organisation founded in the US which registers Exmoors worldwide. In 2000, the Moorland Mousie Trust, a British organisation, was established to assist in the preservation of the Exmoor pony. There is little market for Exmoor colts, so the organisation works to raise funds for the gelding and training of these horses.

Exmoor Ponies in their native habitat.

Currently, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy considers the population of the Exmoor to be at "threatened" levels, meaning that the estimated global population of the breed is less than 5,000 and there are less than 1,000 registrations annually in the US. The UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust considers the breed to be "endangered", meaning that population numbers are estimated to be under 500 in Great Britain. The Equus Survival Trust considers the breed to be "critical", meaning that there are between 100 and 300 active adult breeding mares in existence today. As of 2010, there are estimated to be around 800 Exmoors worldwide.

References

• Budd, Jackie (1998), Horse and pony breeds, Gareth Stevens, ISBN 9780836820461 
• Dent, Anthony Austen; Hendricks, Bonnie L. (2007), International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds, University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 9780806138848 
• Johns, Catherine; Potter, Timothy W. (2002), Roman Britain, London: British Museum Press, ISBN 9780714127743 
• Sponenberg, Dan Phillip (2003), Equine color genetics (2 ed.), Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 9780813807591, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ihTMGxdBXb8C&pg=PA30&dq=Exmoor+Pangar%C3%A9&hl=en&ei=rdVnTcfYCoHDhAeAtPTyDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=exmoor%20Pangare&f=false, retrieved 2011-02-25 
• Brown, Antony; Bennett, Jenny; Rhodes, Edward (April 2009). "Roman mining on Exmoor: a geomorphological approach at Anstey's Combe, Dulverton". Environmental Archaeology (Maney Publishing) 14 (1). doi:10.1179/174963109X400673. 
• Daniel, Glynn (1950), The Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales, Cambridge University Press, ASIN B0000CHRBZ 

• Smith, Christopher (2007), Late Stone Age hunters of the British Isles, Taylor & Francis, ASIN B000PWQTFI 

• Morrison, Alex (1980), Early man in Britain and Ireland: an introduction to Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cultures, London: Croom Helm, ISBN 0-85664-084-0 

• Dustan, Judith (2005), Storey's Illustrated Guide to 96 Horse Breeds of North America, Storey Publishing, LLC, ISBN 1-58017-613-5 

External links

• Exmoor Pony Society
• Exmoor Ponies in Conservation (EPIC)