Four rare-breed ponies have joined eight existing ponies living on a Cumbrian nature reserve.

The Exmoor ponies have been given a new home at Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Drumburgh Moss National Nature Reserve, near Carlisle. The nature reserve has one of the last remaining peat bogs on the Solway Plain and the wet heathland area needs constant grazing to keep rank grasses from encroaching on the delicate heather species. The new ponies will be chomping their way through the unwanted molina grasses and silver birch shoots, greatly assisting the practical work that staff and volunteers on the nature reserve have been carrying out.

Morag Angus, Northern Reserves Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, says: “I am delighted to see these Exmoor Ponies arrive on Drumburgh Moss. Grazing of the wet heathland is essential to prevent other species from dominating and drying out this important wetland habitat. The ponies will also add to the experience of visiting this special site and I hope they greatly enjoy their new home.”

She added, “We are looking for volunteers to check up on the ponies on a regular basis. If anyone has experience with horses then please get in touch with me at Cumbria Wildlife Trust.”

Exmoors are an endangered breed and one of our oldest native ponies. Their ancestry goes back to the original British hill pony and probably pulled Boudicca’s chariot. They are particularly suited to the open and wet ground that would be difficult for other grazing animals to live on.

Sadly, despite their versatility and their rarity value, Exmoor ponies are not given the recognition they deserve. They are strong, hardy ponies, relatively easy to manage, once tamed, and have an added bonus in that they are excellent grazers - a fact that is now recognised, as they are used on many conservation sites very successfully.