Spotlight on Exmoor Ponies of North Americaby Lis Wojen, D.V.M. Exmoor ponies are special survivors. They are considered the Celtic pony from which all British native hill pony breeds derive. This rare & ancient British breed is almost unchanged in -10,000 years in spite of the infusion of Oriental blood in the 19th century. They lived on the Southwestern moors of England until the 19th century when human intervention helped establish the semi-feral Exmoors should be amply boned & sturdy small to medium ponies that an adult could ride, but with temperament calm enough for a timid child. Body is deep through the heart girth & wide through the chest. Very strong legs must have plenty of bone. Small ears prevent heat loss during wet, windy winters. "Toad eyes" have raised, fleshy rims above the eye to prevent precipitation from running into the eyes. The "toad eye", mealy markings around the eye, & the large size of the eye secondary to the Oriental infusion result in ponies with lovely, kind eyes who look like they are wearing eye liner & shadow. Classic pony head has large nasal passages to warm air before entry into the lungs. Relatively large teeth make chewing of thorny, coarse vegetation efficient. All 3 gaits are smooth & comfortable. Unlike the choppy, mincing modem Welsh trot, the Exmoor trot is long, brisk & cadenced like that of light saddle horses. Exmoors are agile & sure-footed. Their great jumping ability has resulted in their use in crossbreeding, especially for steeplechasers in the United Kingdom. Our junior stallion, Braeford, easily clears 3' with a small adult rider. Summer coat is short & shiny like a freshly waxed vintage car. Winter coat is double-layered & dense like a dog's coat rather than shaggy like a Shetland pony's. Inner insulating layer is soft & springy whilst the outer waterproof layer is shiny like the summer coat. In winter, hairs at the root of the low set tail grow short & fan out forming a precipitation, or snow, chute. The winter coat also has distinct whorls which direct streaming precipitation away from unprotected underparts such as the belly & dock.
Hooves are always black, hard & flinty so most Exmoors do not need shoes unless they are driven on pavement. Coat colors are now bay, brown & dun, although, until the 1950's, gray & black were also standard colors. Mealy markings are present around the eye, the muzzle & across the underbelly. The pony should look as if he dipped his muzzle in a bucket of oatmeal. The mealy muzzle is not unique to Exmoors, but they are the classic examples of mealy markings. Because Exmoors are globally rare, there are not many being used in North America for competitive purposes. Traditionally, they have been used to shepard, plow & harrow, fox hunt, drive & ride. Recently they have been used to show, jump, long-distance ride, & ride & drive for the disabled. All our ponies, including our stallions, have competed in halter, leadline, walk-trot, short stirrup, dressage, hunter under saddle, hunter over fences grass & ring, hunter pace, & competitive trail. Hardiness, friendliness, tractability & intelligence of Exmoors are appealing characteristics. They tend to be quite smart & leam tasks quickly. Owners need to be careful whilst training so that the ponies do not leam the wrong thing. They do best in situations where the adults involved have some equine experience. By tradition, Exmoors must be shown au naturel without trimming or braiding of manes or tails or clipping of haircoats. A bridle path may be clipped for driving, but the pony cannot then be shown in halter. We have braided show ponies, but never breed ponies, for the ring. We do not pull their manes & do not recommend doing so as it affects their weather hardiness. We have learned to braid Exmoors with traditionally sewn in British button braids which allows us to avoid pulling their manes, but still conform to the American hunter ring. And are they cute in those button braids! We also do not ever pull their tails as it ruins their snow chutes. We have clipped haircoat if we travel south early in the season for distance competitions. Otherwise, we do not clip even to pace or hunt as it seems to interfere with the mud, debris & water shedding ability of the haircoats. Exmoors have value as conservation grazers. They crop vegetation more like sheep do rather than ripping down to the roots ' as horses do. Soil compaction is minimal with Exmoors. Their low environmental demands in terms of forage & shelter make them well suited to sustainable agricultural practices & sensitive ecosystems. They readily consume invasive barberry & multifora rose. We have used them on our farm as well as on outside projects to clear affected areas of these invasive plants, in the United Kingdom, Exmoors, Dartmoors & Shetlands have been used successfully on conservation grazing projects sometimes spanning years. Exmoor Ponies of North America is the only Exmoor pony farm in North America participating in conservation grazing projects, hence, we have been invited to present at a conservation grazing workshop in Connecticut on August 12, 2006. Our ponies have been featured in local & national publications & websites. They have done numerous pleasure trail rides, breed exhibitions & demonstrations, & parades all over New York & New England. From the founding of Exmoor Ponies of North America in 1999 with a mare & a weanling filly to 4 years later when we took a deep breath & counted up all those events, our Exmoors had been seen by more than 1/4 million people more than all the other Exmoor pony owners & breeders in North America combined. And we wonder why we do not have time to carriage drive! We stand the only 2 Exmoor stallions on the East Coast to outside Exmoor & non Exmoor mares. We have the occasional youngster for sale. We always have attractive, co-operative, competitive geldings & mares over age 6 who have knowledge of "being to town in the trailer & seeing the sights of the show' available for lease. Our performance ponies routinely place & win at local & rated shows with their novice child riders & are safe enough to take the same children hunter pacing. Ponies for conservation grazing are arranged according to the needs of the specific project. Our senior stallion, Barton, extends an invitation to all BRLA members to come to Exmoor Ponies of North America & meet the ponies including his grandfoal due in April. Please call 860-672-2343 for a visit. Contact: Jed Struckus, Owner & Lisa Wo/an, Agent, Exmoor Ponies of North America, P. 0. Box 1517, Litchfield, CT, 860-672-2343 (phone/fax). |
herds from which today's stock is descended. The modem moorland ponies are kept in much the same way as our Chincoteague ponies. Celts were the first humans to train Exmoors to their chariots. First written records of Exmoors appear in the Domesday Book.