Two black fell pony colts grooming each other.

All about the fell ponies on our reserves

Wilder Grazing Ranger Volunteer Trainee, Ellie Edmondson, talks about the fell ponies on our reserves and what makes them great conservation grazers.

We currently have a group of 5 fell ponies grazing on our reserves comprising of the white mare and four young colts. The mare has acted as a surrogate mother for the colts who were transferred from the Cumbrian fells (three of the colts were bred from the same stallion and one is unrelated). As the mare was previously kept as a companion pony she was very acclimatised to humans; since being rewilded on our sites with the colts she has taught them a great deal of relevant skills, such as to respect a 10-metre distance between them and people, what plants are safe to eat and the best places to sleep.  

 

About fell ponies

 

Classified as a rare breed, fell ponies are native to the northwest of England in Cumbria. Their strengths lie in scaling steep slopes and rocky terrain, thus their name ‘fell’ comes from the norse word ‘fjall’, meaning mountain. Their thick hair and manes work to shelter them from winds and colder weather. They are recognisable from their feathered sturdy legs and the slight feathering under their chins. 

 

The breed has been around in the Cumbrian area for 2,000 years and has been used as a working breed for most of its history. In the past they were used for hauling heavy machinery (such as ploughs and sledges), transporting goods across the country, and to transport ores within mines.  

 

They are most often very dark brown or black in colour, though occasionally they can be white (grey), like our mare. All fell ponies are born black and come into their colouring later in life; one of the colts in our group is losing his black colouring and becoming a grey colour – and will eventually be a complete grey.

One of the colts turning grey.

It is believed that the non-traditional grey colour arose from when the fells were bred to be ridden in monasteries in the 12th century. 

 

Fell ponies as conservation grazers

 

Nowadays, fells are becoming increasingly valued as conservation grazers; they are good rough grazers, effective at controlling hardy plants such as thistle and gorse and reeds and rushes. They improve site biodiversity by targeting competitive plants. Their heavy-footedness means they trample plants such as bracken and create patches of bare ground from which wildflowers can grow. 

 

Their behaviour on our reserves

The mare will help to move the colts along to a new patch of grazing by nipping at their ankles, ensuring that they don’t spend too long grazing one patch, resulting in mixed sward heights. She has also been witnessed nipping the ankles of the colts to get them to drink enough water at the troughs in summer. Her good temperament has made it easier for us to corral and trailer train the colts when we want to move them to different sites.   

 

The group has developed a distinct social structure in which the mare oversees the group, determining which parts of the site they move to next. The colts are always close behind the mare and respect her authority, though she makes it difficult for them when she is nipping at their ankles to make them move! The colts have developed a close family bond between themselves; they have been witnessed grooming each other to remove seed pods from their manes in the late summer months (as pictured below).