Importance of Fell Ponies

A fell-bred pony leads the herd, the late Sleddale Rose Beauty

This is section 2 of Part 2 of A Fells on the Fells Action Plan -Draft.

The purpose of this section is to describe why Fell Ponies matter, what a Fell Pony on the fell is, why Fell Ponies on the fell matter and how Fell Ponies on the fell fit within the breed.

1. Fell Ponies are genetically distinct from other breeds. 

   1. Fell Ponies are second only to Exmoors in the purity of our genetics.  Click here to read more.

2. Fell Ponies are classed as a rare breed.

   1. Click here to read about the Fell Pony according to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. 

   2. Click here for a detailed discussion of the Fell Pony as a rare breed. 

3. The Fell Pony is named after its native terrain for a reason.

   1. Many characteristics of the breed are derived from centuries of living in the fell environment of northern England.  Click here to read more. 

   2. There are lots of different words used to describe where Fell Ponies live on vast open land with significant elevation change and with minimal human intervention.  Click here to read more.

4. Fell Ponies on the fell are not believed to be genetically distinct from other Fell Ponies. 

   1. See section 4a of David Anthony Murray’s 2013 research (click here).

   2. A 2007 study of rare bloodlines indicated that most of the rare bloodlines in the breed are outside the upland herds.  Click here to read more.

   3. Another reason that Fells on the fells are not genetically distinct is described in section 5(2) below – because non-fell breeders must return to fell herds to retain type.

5. Since Fell Ponies cannot easily be returned to the fell once they have lived elsewhere, it is likely, then, that Fell Ponies on the fell do have some characteristics that ponies raised elsewhere do not.

   1. Breeders away from the fells often find it necessary to return to fell-bred herds to retain type.  Click here to read more.

   2. Being hefted is one difference between fell-based ponies and ponies living elsewhere (click here to read more about research related to hefting and Fell Ponies.)

   3. It is possible Fell Ponies on the fell have different gut microbiomes than Fell Ponies raised elsewhere.  Click here to read more.

   4. While it is not often done, there is some hope for returning ponies to the fells.  To read more, click here.

6. Ponies from upland herds are often considered truer to type than ponies bred elsewhere and are therefore important to the Fell Pony breed’s continuity.  Click here for a discussion.

7. While foals born into upland herds have been increasing in number, research indicates that the proportion of fell-bred foals to the total number of registered foals is falling, a troublesome trend.  Click here to read the research findings.

The Fell Pony breed deserves recognition for its uniqueness.  Its status as a rare breed also makes it worthy of conservation efforts.  Fell/upland-bred ponies within the breed play a special role in preserving the breed’s type.  They too, then, are deserving of recognition and conservation.  That the proportion of fell-bred ponies is dropping in the breed should be a concern to all breed stewards.

The Falling Proportion of Fell-bred Foals

Figure 1 shows my best estimate of fell-bred ponies from 1981 to 2017 alongside data based on the Fell Pony Society’s list of hill breeders from 2007 to 2017. For years prior to 2007, in addition to my own knowledge of fell bred herds, I inquired of people with long experience with the breed.

Figure 1: This chart shows my best estimate of the number of fell bred ponies from 1981 to 2017, with the FPS numbers shown for 2007 to 2017. The trendline is based on my estimated number of fell bred foals.

The differences between my numbers and the FPS numbers are usually because a breeder wasn’t known to the FPS or a breeder previously on the list didn’t make sure they made the most recent list. In some cases the breeder may not have been a member of the Society at the time the list was compiled. For a list of prefixes by year behind the foal data, click here.

A trendline is shown for my count of fell-bred foals. That it is trending upward could be considered good news, although the last ten years have seen some disturbing variations in numbers. And as we’ll see below, there is another way to look at this information that isn’t good news.

Figure 2 shows the percentage of registered foals that were fell born from 1981 to 2017.  The average has been 39%; a trendline shows that the share of fell-bred ponies has been slowly dropping over the last three-plus decades.

Figure 2: Chart showing percentage of foals registered that were fell-born from 1981 to 2017 with trend line

Both fell-bred and non-fell-bred ponies have been a part of our breed since its founding.  In the first volume in the Fell Pony Society stud book (circa 1898), as many as half the ponies registered were bred outside Cumbria. (1)  In the first volume of the stud book that contains ancestors of today’s ponies, twenty-five percent of the ponies registered were bred outside Cumbria.  (2)  So the Fell Pony breed, as measured by registered stock, has never been exclusively made up of fell-bred ponies.

The trendline in Figure 2 highlights an important fact about the Fell Pony breed currently.  The ponies we have today are a product of all the generations of selection that have gone before.  At least for the past three plus decades, over one third of the breed population has been fell-born.

While numerically the number of fell bred ponies may be going up, the share of the breed they represent is going in the opposite direction, and this is not good news.  The ponies we love and admire today are a mixture of both fell-bred and non-fell-bred stock.  If the proportion of fell-bred stock in the breed keeps decreasing, the ponies of the future are likely to be different from the ones we have today because the proportion of their ancestors who are fell-bred will have decreased.

1. The first volume of ‘The Black Book’ (Fell Pony Stud Book Registrations 1898-1980.  Penrith, England:  The Fell Pony Society) is actually labeled volume V.  Some entries do not show who bred the pony but the owner is listed as outside Cumbria.

2. See “Inspection Schemes and Grading Up” in Morrissey, Jenifer, Fell Ponies:Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, Willowtrail Farm, 2013 for information on oldest registered ancestors of today’s ponies.

Truer to Type

There are a number of points that suggest that fell-bred Fell Ponies are considered truer to type than ponies bred elsewhere.  First is that some longtime non-fell breeders have found it necessary to preserve breed type in their herds by regularly returning to fell-bred herds for breeding stock (click here for that discussion).  Another point is that when hill breeders look for outcrosses, they often choose ponies from other fell-bred herds.  Finally, considering which ponies place in the most important Fell Pony shows is also instructive regarding where ponies are found to be most true to type.. 

Lunesdale Warlord, mutli-time Supreme Champion stallion, is an example of a fell-bred show winner. Courtesy Carole Morland.

Outcrosses

The second point about fell-bred ponies being truer to type is how hill breeders choose their outcrosses.  In my studies of the stud books of The Fell Pony Society, I always pay attention to how the long time hill breeders are breeding.  I’m especially watchful for when and how they choose breeding stock outside their own lines.  I have observed that, if hill breeders desire to bring in new blood, they most often choose ponies from other hill breeders rather than ponies from elsewhere.  This tendency suggests that fell-bred ponies are indeed different from other ponies and are therefore necessary to the continuation of the breed.

Placings at Fell Pony Society Shows

The final point about fell-bred ponies being truer to type is show placings at the most important Fell Pony Society shows.  Specifically I looked at ten years’ worth of placings for Supreme Champion and Reserve Champion at the Stallion and Colt Shows and the Breed Shows in Cumbria.  Of the thirty eight ponies placed, 71% were fell-bred, suggesting that in the eye of Society judges, fell-bred ponies are more likely to show proper type.  Even the Southern Show, farther removed from Cumbria, showed this tendency with 61% being fell-bred.

If there were no difference between fell-bred ponies and Fell Ponies bred elsewhere, then we would see a greater migration back and forth between fell herds and other herds, and we just don’t see that very often.

The Matter of the Microbiome

As a breeder, I know that ponies I sell are affected by changes in location and management.  It’s therefore a topic I ponder on a regular basis since I’m finding new homes for ponies on a regular basis.  It was natural for me, then, to ponder the impact of change on an entire herd of ponies when I learned of changes afoot.  So when I then learned of research addressing the topic from a perspective I’d never considered before, I was immediately curious.

The research involved a comparative study of the gut microbiomes of two equine populations living adjacent to each other.  Gut microbiomes play crucial roles in health, “…such as training the immune system early in life, metabolism, and synthesis of vitamins.” (1)  The research was inspired by findings that in humans, “…lifestyle strongly influences the composition and diversity of the gastrointestinal microbiome.” (2)  The researchers hypothesized that domestication of equines, which involved a significant change in lifestyle, has impacted the quantity and diversity of their gut flora.  Similar changes have been documented in comparative studies of hunter-gatherers and modern day humans.  For the comparative analysis, the researchers studied a herd of Przewalski’s horses, thought to be the only undomesticated equine population, and a herd of domestic horses living on a range next door.  Both herds were in Mongolia.  The researchers used fecal microbiomes as a proxy for gut microbiomes.

The researchers found that the primitive horses had distinct and more diverse populations of fecal microbes than the domesticated horses.  They also found that the primitive horses that had been born in zoos and relocated to the wild range had a different microbial profile than the primitive horses that had lived their entire lives in more natural conditions.  The researchers concluded that it was likely that diet played at least a partial role in the different microbial populations.  The dietary differences were in part due to availability but also due to choice.  The exact role of dietary influence on microbiome populations requires further study.

The reason that I had been pondering the impact of change in location and management of an entire herd of course has to do with Fell Ponies.  A herd of Fell Ponies has recently been moved onto a fell farm in Cumbria.  Many of the ponies have never been on a fell, and the common knowledge in our breed is that it takes Fell Ponies homed away from the fell years if ever to adjust to being re-felled.  I have been pondering what questions we might ask to study this herd and its re-felling.

Questions about the fecal microbiome of the ponies hadn’t occurred to me regarding the herd being re-felled.  But this research suggests that there may be differences in microbiomes between ponies living on the fell and ponies living elsewhere. Perhaps there is a role for microbiome manipulation in helping ponies be re-felled.  It would be fascinating to find out!

1. Metcalf, Jessica, et al.  “Evaluating the impact of domestication and captivity on the horse gut microbiome,” Scientific Reports, 14 November 2017, as downloaded 8/17/18 from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15375-9.pdf

2.  Same as #1.

In Awe of Hefted and Migratory Animals

I was pondering the refelling of the Globetrotter herd of Fell Ponies.  In the fall of 2018, they were moved by their owner Libby Robinson from France to Roundthwaite Common in Cumbria.  In the course of my pondering, I contacted a researcher about studying the refelling, and she suggested that hefting would be an interesting research angle for this unique opportunity to study refelling.  I had thought that hardiness would be the most important thing to consider, but when I began researching hefting, I quickly learned that I had taken it very much for granted.

Yes, these ponies are tough and easy doers, but when on the fells, how do they know where to cross water when rain has swollen the streams?  How do they know where to take shelter to ride out a severe storm?  How do they know where to find the minerals they need to stay healthy?  How do they know where their home is when they are out on the commons?

Some new research on migratory animals sheds light on these questions.  Researchers at the University of Wyoming and other institutions looked at how migratory mammals – specifically bighorn sheep and moose – move across landscapes.  Two different populations of these animals were considered:  those that had been on the landscape for numerous decades and those that had been more recently relocated to a landscape.  What they found was that social exchange – likely between mothers and their offspring – played a key role in the animals’ abilities to optimally utilize their environments for survival and that the knowledge is passed across multiple generations.

Fell Ponies on the fells are often considered to be hefted.  While hefted can mean knowing what part  of a common is ‘home,’ and not leaving it, it can also additionally mean knowing the answers to the questions above.  Being hefted, then, is key to a Fell Pony’s survival on the fells.

Regarding the refelling of the Globetrotter herd, the researcher asked if there would be other ponies on the fell from which the Globetrotter ponies could learn.  It’s clear now how important that question is.  The Globetrotter ponies could learn from those other ponies to speed up their own hefting.  The Wyoming research found that animals relocated took twice as long to optimally utilize their range as animals who had been there for generations.

A summary of research about hefting contained similar information.  While the report was primarily about sheep, “…cattle and other animals are also sometimes hefted, examples are Galloway and Highland cattle, Welsh mountain, Fell and Dales ponies.”  (1)   The report echoed the Wyoming research’s emphasis on social exchange of information.  “If lambs go to the common with their mothers, they pick up a knowledge of their flock’s home territory and become physically adapted to the terrain.  The ewes pass on to the lambs their knowledge of the grazing boundaries, optimal grazing and shelter in different weather and at different times of the year, and so it continues down the generations.” (2)

When I brought my first ponies home for the first time, my mentor at that time said that when I put them in a new pasture, I needed to first walk them around the perimeter of it.  I thought this was for safety reasons, so they wouldn’t run into the fences.  And indeed that is likely an important reason to carry out this practice.  But now I wonder if this practice also lodges in the ponies’ brains a sense of home terrain like that they would learn from their herd mates or mothers.  I realize now that I don’t walk foals around pastures when I put them out with their mothers because I know the mothers know the boundaries.  And I assume new members of the herd also will learn boundaries from their herd-mates.  Be assured, though, that the next time there’s a new member of my herd, I’ll remember this research about social learning!

1. “Literature Review on the Practice of Hefting,” p. 3, as found at http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=BD1242_10164_FRA.doc on 4 Oct 2018

2. Jesmer, Brett R. et al.“Is ungulate migration culturally transmitted?Evidence of social learning from translocated animals,” Science, 07 Sep 2018, Vol. 361, Issue 6406, p 1024

Fell versus Non-fell Fell Ponies

I have heard more than once that non-fell-bred ponies who are returned to the fells do not do well and may die.  I saw a pony once who’d been born on the fell then lived away for several years and then returned. Her hooves were dangerously long.  The hill breeder saw me gaping at them and told me that when ponies live all their lives on the fell they rarely need their hooves trimmed, but when they go away and come back, it’s a different story. 

I queried one long-time fell breeder about retaining hardiness off the fells.  The response was that it depends on type and age.  The larger types bred away from the fells probably can’t survive there if returned, nor can older ponies who have been gone most of their lives.

One long-time non-fell breeder has said, “I think you would find that generation to generation [the ponies] would grow up to height because they’re not having to strive to survive on the fell which is why it’s so important to keep ponies running in semi-feral herds in the Cumberland fells.  A stud like us here has to keep returning to the Cumbrian fells to bring in the old blood and the new blood that live up on the high Cumberland fells.“  (1)  Another long time non-fell breeder confirms, “Retaining the hardiness and type by using fell-bred ponies is very important.  I have seen ponies bred two to three generations away from the fell start to change and definitely lose type.” (2)

Most of us probably haven’t seen Fell Ponies bred two or three generations off the fell.  Most of us probably have ponies that, if they weren’t born on the fell, then their parents or grandparents were.  So most of us probably don’t realize how much the fells shape what a Fell Pony is, and therefore we don’t realize that when the fell is taken out of the pony, the pony is changed.  Our breed requires all of us to keep this in mind in order to ensure the future of the Fell Pony we so admire.

For a more detailed discussion about non-fell breeders returning to fell-based herds for outcrosses, click here.

1. Charlton, Sarah, on Lord of the Fells:  A Celebration of the Lakeland Pony, BBC, circa 2007.

2. Robinson, Christine, in “Returning to the Fell,” in Morrissey, Jenifer, Fell Ponies:  Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, 2013, p. 202

Rare Bloodlines of the Fell Pony

This article describes research conducted in 2008 and which appeared in my first book about Fell Ponies.  More information about the book can be found at the end.

Considerations for a Rare Breed

The Fell Pony population worldwide continues to grow, and from a rare-breeds perspective, the breed is considered to be recovering.  Nonetheless, Fell Ponies are still considered rare by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust in England and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

One of the challenges rare breeds face is a limited gene pool because of population bottlenecks in their history.  The Fell Pony has had at least two such bottlenecks, generally at the times of the two world wars. (1)  To maximize the genetic diversity that remains in the breed, it can be helpful to identify bloodlines that are becoming rare within the breed and develop conservation strategies for them.

The Search for Unrelateds

The new deceased Waterstolls Beauty II represents a rare bloodline. She is an example of conservation breeding: both her sire and dam represent rare bloodlines within the breed and passed that rarity to her. Photo courtesy Ian Smith, Bracklinn Fell Pony Stud

The search for rare bloodlines isn’t just a conservation strategy, however.Over the past several years as I have conversed with master breeders, searching for suitable outcrosses has often been a topic of discussion.These breeders are looking for ponies unrelated to their stock to continue their breeding program.The problem is generally posed in terms of a need for a stallion, as the breeders wish to continue their mare lines.They are always on the lookout for ponies of sufficient quality from unused lines to breed to their newest fillies and sometimes to their oldest mares.When I visited Cumbria in 2005 and 2006, I was fortunate to see first hand the results of these breeders’ searches for unrelated blood lines.In my research since then in the stud books of the Fell Pony Society, the ponies I saw then have shown up as having rare blood lines.

Rare for a Reason?

As I’ve researched rare bloodlines, other ponies that I’ve seen in person have also shown up as having rare bloodlines.  They, however, have led me to ask a number of questions.  For instance, have these bloodlines become rare for good reason?  Have breeders left these bloodlines behind intentionally?  Were the ponies in those lines straying from the breed standard?  To my eye, the few ponies I’ve seen in this category were not good examples of Fell Ponies.  Perhaps their bloodlines are best left behind.  These examples point out the importance of considering the quality of the pony as well as the status of its bloodline before deciding to undertake conservation measures.

Equines present special challenges for breed conservation because they take so long to reproduce.  In addition, some of the most common faults in the Fell Pony breed – coarse heads, long backs and poor shoulder or hind leg conformation - take many generations to correct.  When a pony with a rare bloodline has one of these faults, is it worthy of the multi-decade effort it could take to improve the pony’s line and continue to include it in the breed?  Would enough genetic diversity remain to justify the time and effort? 

From a rare breeds standpoint, it is important to consider preserving rare bloodlines.  In general, I trust the decisions of long-time breeders in England regarding leaving some bloodlines behind.  Nonetheless, knowing which ponies have these rare bloodlines is important.  Some breeders may learn of the value of their breeding stock from a rare bloodlines perspective.  Perhaps others will become interested in evaluating some of the ponies as potential outcrosses and considering whether their contribution to the breed is worthy of a conservation effort.

Mean Kinship

Dene Rebel is on the list of ponies with rare bloodlines. He carries rare lines from the Dene Fell Pony stud in Northumberland.
Photo courtesy the late Mrs. Ailie Newall, Dene Fell Pony Stud

One tool that can be used to identify rare bloodlines is the Mean Kinship analysis.  Mean Kinship (MK) is a calculation that measures the relatedness of a particular pony to the rest of the ponies in a given population.  The Fell Pony Pedigree Information Service of raresteeds.com provided numerous mean kinship analyses for the breed.  When considering rare bloodlines, one of these analyses is of particular interest:  the breeding population in a particular year - the sires and dams of a particular foal crop.  This analysis indicates both which ponies represent rare bloodlines but also which ponies have been chosen by breeders as being worthy of being bred.  The last year for which this analysis was available was 2007. 

A low MK value means low relatedness to the rest of the population, hence a rare bloodline.    The table on page 15 lists the sires and dams of the 2007 foal crop that have a low MK value and therefore represent a rare bloodline.

There is one case when a low Mean Kinship may not mean a rare bloodline.  If a particular pony is itself inbred, meaning it has the same pony in its pedigree multiple times, it can have a low MK value.  The low MK value results from the fact that the pony has few relatives (because of replication of ancestors) to compare to the rest of the population.  Therefore, its low MK value doesn’t necessarily mean it has rare bloodlines.  To sort these ponies out, it is important to also look at each pony’s inbreeding coefficient (IC).  A high inbreeding coefficient indicates repetition within the pedigree, and a low inbreeding coefficient means the pony has lots of diversity in its history.  Therefore, for a pony to have rare bloodlines, it must have both a low MK value and either a low IC value or in the case of a high IC value, few replications of common ponies within its pedigree.

One pony in the 2007 parents list has this combination of a low MK value and repetition of a common pony in its pedigree:  Wellbrow Pegasus. (2)  Pegasus is very line-bred on Tebay Campellton Victor, a relatively common stallion.  Therefore, while Pegasus is unrelated to a significant portion of the Fell Pony population, he is not a representative of a rare bloodline because of the common stallion in his pedigree.

Limitations of MK Analysis

Kerbeck Night Destiny appears on the list of ponies with rare bloodlines, with Frizington Duke in her pedigree
Photo courtesy Christine Robinson of the Kerbeck Fell Pony Stud, taken by Becky Sim, Dentview Fell Pony Stud

In the Fell Pony, analyses based on pedigrees have their limitations.  In some cases, a pedigree ends just a few generations back; pedigree depth can be limited for a number of reasons, including the inspection scheme used a few decades ago.   Another challenge is the veracity of the pedigrees themselves.  From the first day I encountered Fell Ponies, I’ve been warned that the pedigrees on older ponies may not be accurate for a variety of reasons.  So analyses like MK and IC based on pedigrees must be considered with these limitations in mind.  There may be rare bloodlines within the breed that do not show up in pedigrees, and there may be ponies with supposedly rare bloodlines that are actually quite related to the rest of the population.  Most long-time breeders in Cumbria understand the realities behind Fell Pony pedigrees.  Here again is a reason why I put a lot of trust in the decisions that long-time breeders have made to use certain ponies in breeding programs and to leave other bloodlines behind.

Findings

Keeping in mind that certain bloodlines may be rare for a reason and that Mean Kinship analyses have limitations, there were some interesting patterns that emerged during my research:

• ·         Several prefixes were common in the pedigrees of ponies with low MK values.  The four prefixes I saw frequently in the pedigrees of ponies with rare bloodlines were:  Greenfield, Hades Hill, Sleddale and Waverhead.

• · One Lownthwaite pony, Starturn, shows up quite often as an ancestor to ponies with rare bloodlines.  At right is a table showing other ponies that frequent pedigrees of ponies with rare bloodlines.  The table also shows the percentage of the 2007 foal crop with this pony in its pedigree.  Starturn is the only mare in the list.

• · Several ponies from the Kerbeck stud crossed my path during my research, and they usually went back to the stallion Frizington Duke, who appears rarely in most Fell Pony pedigrees.

• · Greenfield Gay Lad appears in the list of ponies with rare bloodlines himself, as do some of his progeny who are being used as breeding stock.  Gay Lad often passes his rarity to his offspring.

• · Two long-time Fell Pony studs located in Northumberland have more than one pony on the list of rare bloodlines:  the Dene ponies bred by Mrs. Ailie Newall, and the Linnel ponies bred by the Charlton family.  Mrs. Newall’s mare lines go back to the very early Linnel ponies bred by the Charltons, and the recent Linnel ponies of the Charltons often have the stallion Linnel Romany Boy in their pedigrees or Sleddale stud lines.  The breeding stock of both these Northumberland studs has generally not traveled back to Cumbria to mix in with the majority of the breed’s population.  This has led to the Dene and Linnel ponies generally having distinct bloodlines from the rest of the breed.

• · Three of the ponies on the list reside in North America:  Lownthwaite Monarch and Hades Hill Freya, imported by the Laurelhighland Stud in Pennsylvania, and Ravenscairn Selkie at the Braeberry Stud in Oregon.
  
  

Examples of Conservation Breeding

Greenfield Gay Lad is on the list of ponies with rare bloodlines and shows up in the pedigrees of several ponies that are also on the list. Photo courtesy John Slater

While conserving rare bloodlines is important for maximizing the gene pool in a rare breed, it is also important for making outcrosses available to breeders, as my conversations with master breeders have shown.  To accomplish this second objective of conserving rare bloodlines, maintaining the rarity of those bloodlines is important so that they can serve as useful outcrosses into the future.  Maintaining the rarity of those bloodlines is accomplished by breeding the rare bloodlines to each other rather than to more common bloodlines, which would dilute them.  There are two notable examples of this strategy in the list of ponies with rare bloodlines.

Waterstolls Beauty II is an example of two rare bloodlines crossed to preserve rarity.  Her sire is Greenfield Gay Lad, also in the rare bloodlines list.  Her dam, Waterstolls Beauty, made the rare bloodlines list when she was being bred a decade ago.  Beauty’s dam is from the Greenfield stud, ponies from which repeatedly show up in pedigrees with rare elements.  Her sire, Waverhead Rob, is on the list of ponies that show up in pedigrees with rare elements.

The second example takes a different approach to conserving rarity:  linebreeding.  Greenhead Alfred’s parents are half-brother and half-sister; his grand-dam on both sides was Boltonabbey Blackbird, herself on the rare bloodlines list when she was being bred several years ago.

The Art of Rare Breeding

Lownthwaite Monarch, shown at five years old, represents a rare bloodline. She comes from old Linnel and Sleddale lines. She was imported by the Laurelhighland Stud in Pennsylvania

Breeding high quality animals is an art, especially when breeding is constrained by a closed stud book and a written standard as the Fell Pony breed has.  Producing high quality animals within the context of a rare breed takes that art to a higher level.  Consistently producing high quality over time requires finding suitable outcrosses, which in a rare breed is challenging because the gene pool is already limited.  The work of identifying rare bloodlines that can supply outcrosses is time-consuming.  Then the quality of those outcrosses must be assessed.  Improving the quality of the outcrosses without losing their genetic diversity is one more hurdle that is especially challenging in equine breeds because of their long reproductive cycle.  Long-time breeders of the Fell Pony have been making trade-offs between relatedness and quality since their involvement with the breed began.  It will be up to thoughtful breeders of the Fell Pony to determine if the ponies on the rare bloodlines list presented here are worthy of a conservation effort for the genetic diversity they represent.

Note on footnotes: raresteeds.com no longer exists but the data is in possession of the author.

1. Murray, David Anthony.  The Fell Pony:  grazing characteristics and breed profile – a preliminary assessment.  2005, Earthwatch Institute, p. 42, citing Dr. Gareth Thomas’ PhD dissertation.

2. Pedigrees of ponies with low MK and high IC were reviewed and replications identified.  Greenhead Alfred and Wellbrow Pegasus were the only ponies in this class in the 2007 parents list.

3. Courtesy Fell Pony Pedigree Information Service of raresteeds.com.

4. This list compiled from Sires and Dams with foals in 2007 that have low MKs and low ICs and more than four generations in their pedigrees.Courtesy raresteeds.com Fell Pony Pedigree Information Service

This article appears in the book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here.

The Fell in Fell Pony

Have you ever wondered why the ponies that we admire aren’t called Westmorland Ponies or Cumberland Ponies or Border Ponies or Pennine Ponies? Or Eden or Lowther or Derwent or Duddon Ponies?  Is there a reason they’re so rarely called Galloways anymore?  While Fell Ponies are certainly found in what used to be Westmorland and Cumberland and the Borders and even Galloway, they are of course called Fell Ponies because of the fells they have called home for centuries. 

We all know that what makes a Fell Pony unique is because of those very fells.  Good knee and hock action and sure-footedness are required to handle the rough terrain of the fells.  Intelligence is required in order to find shelter, food, and water there.  Thriftiness is necessary to deal with less than ideal fodder.  Abundant mane, tail, and feather assist with shedding precipitation.   A broad forehead houses an intelligent mind capable of learning about and surviving without human assistance.  Small ears are less likely to be frozen during frigid weather.  Nostrils are large to take in abundant air when working to traversing steep terrain.   Muscularity and strength of body are similarly important to be able to move safely across the land.

Click here to read the breed standard.  What is your favorite tie-in from it to the fells that our ponies have called home for so long?

Words Describing the Native Ground of the Fell Pony

The Fell Pony is named after the local word for hill in Cumbria.  It is often said that many of the characteristics of the breed are due to the ponies’ lives on the fells.  When considering the role of fell-bred and non-fell-bred ponies in our breed, it’s first important to understand what a fell-bred Fell Pony is.  It turns out that the definition of fell-bred ponies can be unclear in part because the definition of fell ground is also unclear. 

John Slater of the past Greenfield stud, when asked what a fell-bred pony is, answered, “Funny one! Where does the fell start! At Greenfield some mares foaled on the fell and some would be brought down to the pastures to foal. The fell peaked at 1600 feet yet the lower fells are on a level with the pastures, in Greenfield’s case the pastures peaked at around 1100 feet above sea level.  My land is around 800 feet where my ponies Greenfield Rose, Osprey, Polly’s Lad, and Rhona were born, but we used to exchange our land in spring with a farmer, so the mares and foals went up above our land on the high fells for a few months.  Foals born on higher pastures or fields in the Yorkshire Dales or Cumbria could have almost as tough a time as fell-bred foals.” (1)

The word fell is derived from the Norse word fjall meaning mountain or hill and more particularly a high barren mountainous or moorland landscape.  The Norse are thought to have arrived in Cumbria around 925AD.  This definition based on the Norse is quite general.  Getting more specific, Wikipedia says, in Northern England “…the word ‘fell’ originally referred to an area of uncultivated high ground used as common grazing usually on common land and above the timberline.”  Wikipedia then settles on a less precise definition:  “Today, generally, ‘fell’ refers to the mountains and hills of the Lake District and the Pennine Dales.” (2)

So, is a fell common land or not, above timberline or not, exclusively in the Lake District and the Pennine Dales or not?  Given these questions, it’s understandable that The Fell Pony Society would find it necessary to develop their own definition of where a fell-bred pony must exist and then keep a list of hill breeders who breed them.  The Fell Pony Society began keeping that list in 2007. 

My understanding of the Fell Pony Society’s definition of a fell-bred pony is a pony that is born into a herd that spends all or part of the year above the fell gate, is registered with the Fell Pony Society, and whose breeder is a member of the Society.  As is often the case when precise definitions for things are created, some breeders who keep ponies at high elevation and/or run them on the fell are left off the Fell Pony Society hill breeder list. 

For instance, the Waverhead Stud Facebook page describes its location as “overlooking the Caldbeck Fells, on the edge of the Lake District in Cumbria.” (3)  Another description of the stud says:  “Waver Head is a rough, windswept hill farm in the Caldbeck Fell region (Cumbria) at 1000 feet above sea level, well suited for hardy Fell Ponies.” (4)  Similarly, the Banksgate stud isn’t considered a fell farm but runs its ponies above 1000 feet above sea level.

Native heath is another term that one sometimes encounters when considering where Fell Ponies live.  Heath or heathland is a certain type of grazing environment where some pony herds graze.  Native heath may or may not be above the fell gate so may or may not be considered fell.

Another place where terminology gets confusing about Fell Ponies is when they are said to be running on the fells in Cumbria in semi-feral herds.  Semi-feral is not an accurate description of how Fell Ponies are owned and managed today.  Fell Ponies are not alone in being inaccurately called semi-feral.  Wendy Williams, in her book The Horse:  The Epic History of our Noble Companion, discusses this terminology problem in reference to the Pottok horse breed.  Yet her conclusion seems valid also for Fell Ponies.  “’Feral’ implies that the horses were once thoroughly domesticated and then escaped to the wild.  This is not the case….  A more accurate word… might be ‘semi-managed.’” (5)  Like Pottok horses, Fells on the fell are not ponies that were once domesticated and then escaped to the wild.  While perhaps wild in spirit, they are not wild like the previously domesticated but now wild horses in North America that are indeed feral.   Instead, Fell Ponies on the fell are owned by people and kept on the fell in a semi-managed state, meaning they may or may not get supplementary feed during harsh weather, they may or may not be regularly wormed and see a farrier, and the mares may or may not come in for foaling and breeding. 

The Fell Pony breed is considered vulnerable by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) in England and moves between Watch and Critical with The Livestock Conservancy in the United States.  These organizations exist to ensure that livestock breeds don’t vanish.  When determining whether a breed merits conservation efforts, the breed is studied to determine, among other things, whether it is a landrace or a standardized breed.  Members of a landrace breed are selected primarily through their existence in a particular landscape.  Members of a standardized breed are selected against a breed standard.  Standardized breeds often evolve from landrace breeds; the Fell Pony is an example of that. (6)

RBST in its description of the Fell Pony highlights the influence of the landscape on the breed’s characteristics:  “Herds of free-ranging registered ponies still run on the Cumbrian fells, playing an important role in maintaining the Fell pony characteristics of hardiness, sure-footedness and thrift.”  (7)

In the Fell Pony breed’s first stud book, Mr. W.W. Wingate-Saul, around 1898, said, “…Their habitat (having been bred for centuries on the cold inhospitable fells where they are still to be found), has caused a wonderful growth of hair, the winter coat being heavy and legs growing a good deal of fine hair, all of which, excepting some at the point of the heel, being cast in summer.  Constitutionally they are hard as iron, with good all-round action, and are very fast and enduring.” (8)  With so many of the breed’s characteristics shaped by the fell environment, it’s therefore crucial to consider the future of the fell-bred Fell Pony if we are concerned about the future of the breed as a whole.

1.  Slater, John.  Email to the author, May 12, 2018.

2. “Fell,” wikipedia.com, as accessed 7/31/18

3. “Waverhead Fell Pony Stud,” About page, facebook.com, as accessed 7/31/18

4. Gould-Earley, Mary Jean.  “The Waverhead Fell Pony Stud,” Fell Pony Express, The Fell Pony Society of North America, Volume 10, No. 1, May, 2011, p. 7

5. Williams, Wendy.  The Horse:  The Epic History of Our Noble Companion. New York:  Scientific American/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015, p. xx.

6. Morrissey, Jenifer.  “The Flip Side of Fell Life,” Fell Ponies:  Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, p. 74.

7. “Fell Pony,” at rbst.org.uk, as accessed 7/31/18.

8. Fell Pony Stud Book Registrations 1898-1980.  Penrith, England:  The Fell Pony Society, p. 1.

The Fell Pony as a Rare Breed

This is a slightly updated version of a chapter in my first book about Fell Ponies (see end for more information).

The Fell Pony breed received some good news in 2006.  According to two organizations who track rare breeds, the Fell Ponies’ status as a rare breed improved.  The Rare Breeds Survival Trust in England moved the breed from endangered to vulnerable, and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy moved the breed from rare to threatened.  These organizations use the number of breeding females as a measure of breed strength, and indeed this number did improve.  Yet there are a number of other measures of breed health that these changes in status have not considered and that I think are worth pondering.

Number of Breeding Females

As mentioned above, the way that the scientists of the rare breeds organizations have measured the health of the breed is by the number of breeding females.  As the chart at right shows, foal registrations by year, an indicator of breeding female population, show a steady gain over the prior 20 years. 

The numbers in the chart only measure foals registered with the Fell Pony Society (FPS) in England.  FPS has daughter societies in The Netherlands and Germany that register their own foals, so the numbers are even larger.  (There is a much smaller population of unregistered ponies in the UK and abroad.) 

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust used the number of breeding females to improve the status of the Fell Pony on January 4, 2006.  Their press release states, “…the Fell moves from Endangered to Vulnerable and may drop another category next year if numbers continue to improve.” (1) The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy used a similar method, though in ALBC’s case, they found sufficient genetic similarities between the Fell and Dales Pony breeds to combine the two for conservation purposes, thereby increasing the breeding population size and improving the rating of the breed.

 Genetic Diversity

One drawback of the breeding females statistic is that it doesn’t measure genetic diversity.  Fell Ponies have had a closed registry since 1969. (2)  While more and more foals are born each year, they are still coming from a very small historic population.  According to researcher David Murray (citing Dr. Gareth Thomas’s PhD dissertation), two genetic bottlenecks occurred during the middle of the 20th century. (3) 

When I bought my first Fell Ponies in 2000, I learned firsthand the modern manifestations of these bottlenecks.  One of my first Fells was a 13-year-old mare whom I intended to breed.  In preparation for breeding her, I undertook a study of her relatedness to all the licensed stallions in the breed worldwide at the time.  (There were only four licensed stallions in North America at the time, and two were sons of the other two, so I wanted to understand the broader population.)  I analyzed the pedigrees of 153 stallions.  My mare was related to 75% of them somewhere in the first three generations.  On top of that, she has repetitions in her own pedigree in the first three generations.  These findings led me to conclude that we have a limited gene pool in this breed indeed and need to take care in proclaiming the breed’s recovery. 

In a book published in 1963 -- Ponies:  Their Origin and Development in Britain by Daphne Machin Goodall -- the Fell Pony is described as “dangerously near to extinction.”  It states, “About thirty ponies are registered every year and there are probably between 300-400 Fell Ponies left.” (4)  Obviously the Fell Pony is much more numerous today, but such a small population in the recent past, in combination with a closed stud book, is another indication of the possibility of a limited genetic pool.

Breeding Population Size

The gene pool may be even more limited than one might think.  In my studies of Fell Pony registrations, (5) I have learned that only about a third of the female Fell Ponies born in a given year are ever used for breeding.(6)  So, while there may be 300 Fell Ponies born in a given year, only a portion of those will contribute their genetics to future populations.  My research has shown that today’s registered Fell Pony population is based on fewer than 70 animals in the 1930s, a very small genetic foundation indeed.  (For this analysis, I assumed a decade to be a good period to study breeding population size, based on my research findings.(7))  

The chart shows the size of the breeding population by decade that has contributed its genetics to the current population. (8)  During the decade of the 1950s, approximately 114 ponies were actively being bred to produce today’s registered population.  If Goodall’s population data in her book are accurate, then again only about 1/3 of the population of 300-400 ponies contributed its genetics to future generations.

Foal immunodeficiency Syndrome

While the size of the breeding population is important to scientists who stand outside the breed looking in, other concerns are the focus of Fell Pony breeders.  One of those concerns is Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome (previously known as Fell Foal Syndrome).  Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome (FIS) is a disease found in our breed as well as the closely related Dales and Gypsy Cob breeds (Dales Ponies are closely related and shared a studbook with the Fells until 1916; cross-breeding was allowed into the 1950s. (9) Fell Ponies have been used to create traditional colored cobs and the more formal Gypsy Cob and similar breeds.) 

I consider FIS a threat not because of the foals who die each year, which is of course tragic.  Instead, I am concerned with how the syndrome influences breeding decisions.    All major family lines in the breed are affected.  Given the genetic bottlenecks in the breed’s history, it is imperative that breeders choose their breeding stock based on the breed standard, not on whether ponies are carriers.  Rather than avoid carrier parents, we need to breed from them prudently.  I feel that the integrity of the breed could be at stake if the carrier status of a pony influences breeding decisions.

Loss of Type

Whenever there is a discussion of Fell Ponies as a rare breed on one of the internet email lists, invariably someone asserts that loss of type is the greatest threat to the breed.  The discussions seem to assume that “type” is well understood.  A recent discussion defined “type” as being what the breed standard in its entirety describes.  I’ve concluded that “type” includes everything from the specifics of conformation in the breed standard to the attributes of hardiness, intelligence, and sure-footedness that often are used to describe the breed.  I’ve also concluded that a breeder with any history has a firm idea of what they like about the breed, a firm idea of what they are aiming for with their breeding program, and, often but not always, a firm belief that the type they are breeding is the true Fell Pony!

As an avid student of the breed, it appears to me that there is a divergence of type within the breed.  It also appears that this divergence of type has existed for over a century.  Hoofprints in Eden, a book by Sue Millard, states that during the 1950s, “there were two different types of Fell, the heavier ‘Cumberland’ pony and a lighter ‘riding type.’  To accommodate this, two different types of stallions were chosen [for the enclosure scheme.]” (10)   Clive Richardson’s 1991 book on the breed states that a trotting type was common in the 1880s that was lighter in bone and substance than the typical Fell of the period. (11)  

At the Fell Pony Society Stallion & Colt Show in 2005, it was easy for me to pick out different “types” of Fell Ponies, from those very pony-like with short backs and good substance to those bordering on horse-y-ness with longer backs, longer legs, relatively fine bodies, and big heads and/or ears.  All of these ponies of course fit within the breed standard but portray the diverse manifestations that the standard can have.

At the same time, the breed standard does provide a definition that some equines cannot meet.  I have seen Fell Ponies that barely fit within the standard, despite being bred from Fell Pony parents whose pedigrees go back generations.  It is those ponies that people must have in mind when loss of type is mentioned as a threat to the breed.  As a newcomer to the breed, I was under the impression that anything bred from registered parents must be considered a Fell.  Now, with a few years of experience under my belt and after observing hundreds of Fell Ponies, I recognize that if care isn’t exercised when breeding, it is indeed possible to produce ponies that do not reflect the breed standard.  Based on my research, it could take as little as ten years of indiscriminate breeding for the breeding population to be irreversibly changed. (12)

Away from the Fells – Part I

Like all the British native pony breeds, the character of Fell Ponies has been shaped by centuries of living in its home climate and terrain.  Its physical stature has been limited by poor quality forage, for instance.  Its surefootedness has been enforced by steep terrain.  Its hardiness has been enforced by weather, terrain, and forage quality. 

The American Shetland Pony is often used as an example of what can happen to a breed when it is taken away from its native ground.  The American Shetland with its flashy action, upright carriage, and fine bone bears little if any resemblance to the tough little ponies of the Shetland Islands.  Is it possible that the Fell Pony will suffer a similar fate if its popularity continues to rise away from its home terrain?

An e-mail string in 2006 asserted that such a fate was indeed a possibility if the North American Fell Pony market were to take off.  The American Quarter Horse was cited as a breed that has mushroomed in less than a century to become the most numerous horse in the world.  This example serves as a well-founded warning to those of us in the North American market to breed consciously and carefully. 

In my first six years of involvement with the Fell Pony, I saw the North American population grow sixfold, from 33 ponies in 2000 to 194 at the end of 2005. (13)  This rate of growth obviously far exceeds the rate of growth in England and stems equally from new ponies being born here and ponies being imported.  If the Fell Pony were to take off in popularity in similar ways to the Quarter Horse (albeit from a smaller base population), it is possible it could be changed from its original form.  It is the responsibility of American breeders to respect the breed standard and breed true-to-type to the best of our ability.

Away From the Fells – Part II

While the Fell Pony takes its name from the Cumbrian hills, a number of Fell Ponies have also been bred in England but away from Cumbria since the inception of the stud book.  In the past decade we have lost a number of large Cumbrian herds that were owned by long-time breeders whose families declined to continue breeding.  I began to wonder if in fact the proportion of Fell Ponies being bred each year away from Cumbria was growing and possibly becoming a threat to the breed.

My research in the stud books has revealed that the percentage of ponies born outside Cumbria has not seen wide fluctuations in the past forty years, averaging 44%. (14)  Again, these numbers only reflect ponies registered with the Fell Pony Society in England.  In the past decade, when the popularity of the Fell Pony has been growing steadily concurrent with the loss of fell-bred herds, the percentage of the foal population born outside Cumbria is still just 49%.  The chart at right does show a slight downward trend in current times compared to the 1980s and early 1990s. (15) 

Away from the Fells – Part III

While the proportion of ponies bred outside Cumbria does not appear to be changing radically, the proportion of Fell Ponies bred off their native fells may be more of a concern.  The population of fell-bred ponies is threatened from at least two directions.  First, as mentioned above, we have lost a number of large herds from the fells that were owned by long-time breeders whose families declined to continue breeding.  Second, some Fell Pony breeders are in danger of losing their grazing rights on the fells.  The fells are common ground, and changing public perceptions and management priorities can impact both the right to graze and the number of animals allowed to graze the common land.   “Breeders of 14 surveyed herds have and use their registered grazing rights, whereas 8 of 23 herds are on sites where breeders have no registered grazing rights.” (16)

One of the problems, according to Murray, with Fell ponies being bred off the Fells, is that they may lose their characteristic hardiness.  Hardiness is one of the most important breed attributes to me, so I will be studying this potential further.  One breeder outside England has asserted that non-fell-bred ponies who are returned to the fells do not do well and may die.  I queried one long-time fell breeder about retaining hardiness off the fells.  The response was that it depends on type and age.  The larger types bred away from the fells probably can’t survive there if returned, nor can older ponies who have been gone most of their lives.

Conclusion

It is obviously good news that the Fell Pony is increasing in popularity and in numbers.  The breed, however, still faces some threats.  Those of us who care about the Fell Pony and its future need to stay informed about the threats to ensure the breed’s ability to thrive well into the future, just as it has survived lean times in the past.

Note about footnotes: raresteeds.com no longer exists, but the data is in possession of the author.

1. Rare Breeds Survival Trust website:

     http://www.rbst.org.uk/pdf/press_releases/watchlist_pr.pdf as accessed in 2007.

2. Murray, David Anthony.  The Fell Pony:  grazing characteristics and breed profile – a preliminary assessment.  2005, Earthwatch Institute, p. 48.

3. Murray, p. 42.

4. Goodall, Daphne Machin.  Ponies:  Their Origin and Development in Britain, Cranbury, New Jersey, A.S. Barnes & Co., Inc., 1963, p. 60. 

5. In studying Fell Pony registrations, it is important to recognize that the registration process is a human one and therefore is prone to errors despite our best intentions.  I have made corrections to pedigrees in the stud books where the corrections are obvious, and left inconsistencies intact when I could not resolve them.  I am also aware that the enclosure scheme, in use from 1945-1976, may have incorrectly identified sires of some ponies.  These problems only serve to further highlight the vulnerable gene pool of the breed.

6. Original research as a byproduct of the Pedigree Information Service of raresteeds.com.  Foals were entered in the database from 2000 back in time.  When I reached 1993, 13% of the colts and 38% of the fillies were already entered because they had progeny (23% overall).  Sires and dams for foals from 2001 to 2003 were already entered, indicating that the breeding population was captured by a ten-year window of foal registrations.

7. Original research as a byproduct of the Pedigree Information Service of raresteeds.com.  Foals were entered from 2000 back in time.  When I reached 1993, 94% of the parents of the 1993 foal crop were already entered, indicating that the breeding population was already substantially represented in the database.

8. Original research as a byproduct of the Pedigree Information Service of raresteeds.com.  Breeding animals by year were determined from the mean kinship reports.  Unique animals were then identified for the decades shown in the chart.  Unknown sires and dams were assumed to be unique animals but may have been repeats.  Numbers do not include ancestors of latterly accepted inspection scheme mares, though they may be included by coincidence.

9. Millard, Sue.  Hoofprints in Eden, Hayloft Publishing, Kirkby-Stephen, Cumbria, England, 2005, p. 222.

10. Millard, p. 115.

11. Richardson, Clive, The Fell Pony.  J.A. Allen, Allen Guides to Horse and Pony Breeds, 2000, p. 45.

12.   See footnote 6 above.

13. North American Fell Pony roster from raresteeds.com as available in 2006, now available from the author.

14.   “born in Cumbria” is determined by the address of the breeder in the stud book showing Cumbria as the county.

15.   Original research as a byproduct of the Pedigree Information Service of raresteeds.com.  For stud books prior to 1981 where addresses of breeders were not supplied, locations of breeders were determined from later entries where addresses were provided, or breeders were assumed outside Cumbria.

16. Murray, p. 70.

This essay is modified from a chapter out of my book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Fell Ponies and Inspiration

According to The Fell Pony Society, the Fell Pony is “the old breed of pony which has roamed the northern fells for years.”  Within the ponies’ home range lies the Lake District with its national park and World Heritage Site.  While the Fell Pony hasn’t been well integrated into the park’s activities or site’s plans in the past, it certainly can be in the future.  I love photographer Emma Campbell’s goal:  “…one day, I’d like the Lake District to become as famous for its fell ponies as its sheep.”  (1)

The Lake District World Heritage site has three themes:  identity, inspiration, and conservation.  It’s fairly easy to see how the Fell Pony fits in the ‘identity’ theme as this theme is about the historic farming and industrial landscapes.  And our ponies likely can be fit in the conservation theme via conservation grazing, if not other ways.  But you may be surprised, as I was, that inspiration is more problematic.  Fell Ponies have certainly provided inspiration over the years to many with artistic and literary skill, but the inspiration in the World Heritage Site plan is defined quite narrowly:  “The beauty of the Lake District inspired artists and writers of the Picturesque and Romantic movements and generated ideas about landscape that have had global influence.” (2)

The Fell Pony isn’t unique in being left out of the inspirational view of the Lake District.  In his book The Shepherd’s Life, James Rebanks tells a story that is both disturbing and illuminating.  Rebanks recounts being a school boy and hearing a teacher lecture on the Lake District as a place of nature and romantic ideals of beauty.  He found himself confused because he lived in the Lake District, as had generations of his family before him, and what the teacher was describing was totally foreign to the place that he knew firsthand.  “The Lake District in her monologue was the playground of an itinerant band of climbers, poets, walkers, and daydreamers… people whom, unlike our parents, or us, had ‘really done something….’  Sitting in that assembly was the first time I’d encountered this (basically romantic) way of looking at our landscape.  I realized then, with some shock, that the landscape I loved, we loved, where we had belonged for centuries, the place known as ‘the Lake District,’ had a claim to ownership submitted by other people, based on principles I barely understood [at that time.]” (3)

The Picturesque movement was characterized by an interplay between architecture and landscape that resulted in a pretty picture like one might see in a painting.  A medieval ruin in a country setting was considered ‘picturesque,’ for instance.  William Gilpin, in his 1772 guidebook, encouraged tourists to the Lake District to visit particular places to see the sights from particular perspectives that were pleasing.

The Romantic movement was characterized by a love of nature and of history and a sense of the individual and of emotion.  Realism was considered a polar opposite to Romanticism.  The Fell Pony Museum indicates that Fell Ponies were available as mounts for tourists who wanted to see “the Romantic aspect of the countryside” during the period. (4)  Both the Picturesque and Romantic movements were in part a reaction against the Industrial Revolution.

While horses were sometimes the focus of artists and authors in these movements (late 1700s to mid 1800s), the equine subjects were often sporting, racing, or military in nature.  It doesn’t appear that there was any artistic interest in the native ponies of Britain, including the Fell Pony.  Perhaps their close association with industry through their use as pack horses and later as pit ponies made them uninteresting?

Beatrix Potter was not directly a part of the Romantic or Picturesque movements, but she does figure in the World Heritage Site plan.  And of course there is a Fell Pony connection through her.   Her essay “The Lonely Hills” has a short description of wild fell ponies on Troutbeck Tongue.  One reviewer calls the essay “…a ruminative piece… treating the Lake Country's romantic aura.” (5)  So here, at least, we have one tie of the Fell Pony to the Romantic movement’s view of the Lake District!

While Fell Ponies may not have been considered inspiring by the Romantic and Picturesque movements, they have been inspiring for a number of people since then.  In addition to paintings and books and photos and films, I’ve seen jewelry, holiday greens, textiles, and sculpture.  Here are some examples specific to the Lake District (some of which also touch on the identity and conservation themes):

• Robert Tebay’s painting The Belle Mare, Kendal Museum, painting of a pack horse.

• Bob Orrell’s books, beginning with Saddletramp in the Lake District and including Rum Butter Coast.  Orrell undertook the trips written about in these books aboard Fell Ponies.

• Bridle Paths by A.F. Tschiffely chronicles a trip on horseback through Britain, including the Lake District, in the 1930s and extols the virtues of native ponies, including the Fell. 

I’m sure I’m forgetting some obvious artists and authors of the past who were inspired by the Fell Pony and its presence in the Lake District.  I look forward to being told about them so I can add them to this list.  In August 2018, numerous painters and photographers and authors who have taken inspiration from Fell Ponies exhibited their works at the Heritage of the Fells event in Shap.  While I was unable to attend, I was thrilled when a colleague sent me a poem they wrote about their ponies for the event. Heritage of the Fells was supported by Friends of the Lake District via a ‘Discover Cumbria’ grant and by the Fell Pony Society with a grant and merchandise.

The Lake District World Heritage Site plan is hundreds of pages long, and I admit I haven’t read it thoroughly yet.  I hope when I do I discover more ways that the Fell Pony fits within the site’s inspiration theme.  In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the many Fell-Pony-inspired works of art and literature that come my way.

1. Campbell, Emma, as quoted in Borrell, Robert, “Fell Ponies in the Lake District,” Lancashire Life, 12 April 2018 as found at https://www.lancashirelife.co.uk/out-about/fell-ponies-in-te-lake-district-1-5466508,  accessed 1/10/19.

2. http://lakesworldheritage.co.uk/blog/2017/july/euphoria-as-lake-district-becomes-a-world-heritage-site/

3. Rebanks, James.  The Shepherd’s Life:  A Tale of the Lake District.  Allen Lane/Penguin, 2015, p. xiii

4. “Tourists’ Mounts,” at http://www.fellponymuseum.org.uk/fells/19clate/19thc2.htm

5. Thomas, Joyce.  “Beatrix Potter’s Americans:  Selected Letters (review),” at https://muse.jhu.edu/article/248147/summaryhttps://muse.jhu.edu/article/248147/summary, accessed on 1/10/19

First Step of a Fell Pony Mimic of a Dartmoor Pony Document

In November of 2018, a document was submitted to the UK House of Commons Agriculture Committee in support of Dartmoor Hill Ponies (click here to read it).  A Fell Pony advocate suggested that Fell Ponies on the fells need something similar.  The Dartmoor document was a response to the Your Dartmoor Action Plan, and specifically an action included therein about “the importance of ponies for conservation grazing.” The Fell Pony unfortunately doesn’t have anything comparable to the Your Dartmoor Action Plan to respond to.  So the first step in preparing a Fell Pony mimic to the Dartmoor Pony document is an over-arching plan to respond to.  I offered to help pull information together to mimic the Dartmoor pony document for the Fell Pony.

The Your Dartmoor Action Plan is the management plan for Dartmoor National Park.  It is reviewed annually and updated as needed.  One of the priorities is, “A policy framework for upland farming that supports sustainable farming practices and National Park purposes.”  Action 6 regarding that priority states, “Seek to ensure that the importance of ponies for conservation grazing is recognised in future management and funding.” 

I propose that to mimic the Dartmoor Pony document, we in the Fell Pony world need a Fells on the Fells Action Plan.  The subtitle might be “working to ensure the future of the Fell Pony on the uplands of its historic range.”  I’m not aware of such a plan existing, and I would be ecstatic to find out I’m wrong. 

The Your Dartmoor Action Plan lays out high level priorities.  Then within each priority is a description of what is trying to be achieved and then actions to achieve those goals.  For each action, the questions how, who, how funded, and when are answered.  Click here to see the Dartmoor plan.

Any action plan, of course, is relatively meaningless without people wanting to implement it.  I was told that if all the information were collected, that it could then be put to use.  So I’m embarking on collecting information into one place.

The Fell Pony breed relies almost entirely upon volunteers for its stewardship.  Bits and pieces of the items that belong in a Fells on the Fells action plan have been mentioned, suggested, and advocated for by people in the Fell Pony community already (to whom I’m grateful.)  Yet I’m not aware of the existence of a publicly available comprehensive plan or a single person who has this goal as their full time job. I hate duplicating effort, so if I’m wrong, please stop me from wasting my time!

It’s so important that this sort of plan and work on it be visible, because as volunteers we don’t have time to waste due to duplicated efforts and disorganized voices.  We need to be coordinated to be efficient and effective, which means if we’re working on this topic, we all need to know what’s going on.  So many of us are on-line these days, that sharing information is easier than ever.  We just have to do it! 

Parenthetically:  My Motivation

Here’s why I care.  I’m an American, and I’m all too aware of the difference between the American Shetland Pony and the traditional Shetland Pony.  What happens to a breed that loses its roots is very clear to me.  (I was fortunate to start my equine life with a Shetland cross pony who still was connected to her working roots in her mind, if not in her body.)  A large share of Fell Pony owners in America have never been to England, much less walked on the fells.  Their eye for the breed is shaped by the ponies they see here and what other people here say is correct for the breed.  It seems entirely within the realm of possibility that several decades down the line, if the Fell Pony breed is no longer rooted in the fells, we could have a similar problem as Shetlands do in America. 

So many things point to the importance of this moment in time as being crucial to the future of our breed.  There are many in Cumbria who believe there is no future for the Fell Pony on the uplands.  They may be right.  But there are others who believe that until there are no longer Fell Ponies on the fell, there is hope.  An action plan relies on that second group of people who believe our breed has a future, and, hopefully, are willing to work together in that direction. 

I have begun the creation of a Fells on the Fells Action Plan by creating a preamble and outline.  I then intend, as time and information allows, to fill in the outline.  It will be available on-line so that anyone may use it in support of our breed.  If you’d like to see the outline, click here.    If you have information you think should be in the action plan, please contact me!

A Fells on the Fells Action Plan - DRAFT

Introduction

A document prepared on behalf of a British pony breed was posted on a Fell Pony Facebook page in November 2018.  The suggestion was made that we need to create something similar for the Fell Pony.  (to read more about the other breed’s document, click here.)  In order to mimic the the other breed’s document, we need a higher level plan on which to base it.  I’m not aware of such a plan existing, and I would be ecstatic to find out I’m wrong.  In the meantime, I’m laying out here an outline of what I think needs to be in that plan so that mimicking the other breed’s document is possible.

Preamble

Any plan like this, though, is relatively meaningless without people wanting to implement it.  The Fell Pony breed relies almost entirely upon volunteers for its stewardship.  Bits and pieces of the items in this draft plan have been mentioned, suggested, and advocated for by people in the Fell Pony community already (to whom I’m grateful).  Yet I’m not aware of a publicly available comprehensive plan that has support, as evidenced by people working on it and, most importantly, that has progress on the plan being recorded publicly.  I sincerely hope I’m wrong, and someone can correct my misunderstanding. 

So many things point to the importance of this moment in time as being crucial to the future of our breed (and these are just the things I see from across the pond).  There is increasing scrutiny of stewardship schemes.  In 2017, the Lake District National Park was granted World Heritage Site status based on characteristics favorable to keeping Fell Ponies on the fells.  Brexit will undoubtedly influence many things impacting on Fell Ponies.  There is increasing interest in using ponies for conservation grazing.  The breed generally is increasing its visibility throughout its native country thanks to the work of many in many different spheres.  And in my opinion, that the Potters and the Greenholme herd are going through the legal difficulties that they are is a public relations disaster for our breed community that needs to be faced up to.

There are many in Cumbria who believe the future of the Fell Pony on the fell is doomed.  They may be right.  But there are others who believe that until there are no longer Fell Ponies on the fell, there is hope.  This draft plan relies on that second group of people who believe our breed has a future, and, hopefully, are willing to work together in that direction.

The Fells on the Fells Action Plan has two main parts:  1) Priorities and Actions, and 2) Supporting information. 

Part 1: Fells on the Fells Action Plan:  Priorities – with a start on actions

Subtitle:  working to ensure the future of the Fell Pony on the uplands of its historic range

• · Celebrate and support both long-time and new upland stewards of Fell Ponies.  Note this says stewards, not breeders.  Many stewards only breed occasionally and some may not have registered their stock.  This also says upland, not fell, recognizing that some important stewards of these ponies may not have traditional fell ground.  Note also that support may mean helping stewards work with other common land users in new and different ways towards the long-term goal of a future for the Fell on the fell.

• Encourage and support people newly interested in stewarding ponies on the uplands.

• Identify available fell rights that could be utilized for Fell Ponies and make their availability known.

• Increase the profile of the Fell Pony amongst upland stakeholders as well as the broader community.

  • o   Maintain a list of tourism opportunities where people can interact with Fell Ponies.

• Integrate the Fell Pony into the Lake District National Park World Heritage site

  • Fell Ponies and Inspiration

• Maintain a positive, inclusive approach to achieving the goal of keeping Fells on the fells.

Part 2: Supporting Information

1.       Executive Summary

Fell Ponies have roamed the northern hills of England and the border region for centuries.  They have traditionally been bred on the common lands (fells and moorlands) and used for work in the valleys and hills.  In modern times, they have been used in nearly every imaginable equestrian pursuit.  Fell Ponies today are a rare breed and therefore worthy of both recognition and conservation.  Fell Ponies born and reared on the uplands are becoming less and less common in the breed, with possible adverse consequences on the future of the breed.  The reasons for the declining upland population are many and complex.  The future of Fells on the fells is in part dependent on the quality of stewardship of the ponies on the uplands.

2. Importance of Fell Ponies

3.       Impacts of Agri-environment Schemes to-date 

4.       Not sustained by market

5.       Semi-wild and Native Breed at Risk

6.       Central to Lake District/Eden Valley/Northern Pennines History and Culture

7.       Conservation Grazing

8.       Value to Tourism

9.       List of Links/Appendices

Now that an outline for a Fells on the Fells Action Plan exists, it’s possible to start filling in the sections with information so that our breed’s many enthusiasts can do the important work of breed conservation.

A Footing Sense Reminder

I learned about the footing sense of Fell Ponies several years ago thanks to a long time breeder and a particular Fell Pony mare.  This characteristic of Fell Ponies came up in a conversation with the breeder about what fell-bred ponies know that is lost over generations when the ponies are bred away from the fells.  It is the sense to know where to place their feet to be safe in crossing terrain.  For ponies on the fells, it can be a knowledge of how to cross bogs that is important.  In my case it is usually how to navigate over snow and ice.

I’ve been using that same Fell Pony mare as my chore pony this winter.  And I’ve been trying to use her more than in the past, my thinking being putting miles on her legs is beneficial for her and saving miles on mine is beneficial for me.  Where I used to ride her up and down the driveway for chores once a day, I’m now doing it as often as three times a day.  I figure I’m saving myself nearly three miles of walking a week!

Rather than heading straight down the driveway, which is covered with packed snow, I noticed that my mare was starting to weave from side to side to middle to side to middle to side of the road.  We were taking longer to get to our destination, and I concluded my pony was asserting her independence rather than following my instructions about where to go.  Clearly I needed to take control of the situation, my thinking went.  So the next time she started to wander from one side of the road to the other, I took up the reins and asked her to continue on the line down the road that we’d been on.

Perhaps you’ve already guessed where this is going.  You would think I wouldn’t need to be reminded about the footing sense of a Fell Pony because I value their intelligence so much.  Within a few strides of me forcing my pony to stay on a line that I had in mind, she started slipping.  She hadn’t slipped on our rides for weeks before that!  Apparently that weaving from side to middle to side of the road was about finding good footing, and she was using her footing sense rather than being disobedient.  I chuckled at the comeuppance I’d been dealt (not the first time by a Fell Pony), and I’ve gone back to letting my pony choose our path down the drive.  Hopefully I won’t need a reminder about footing sense ever again but somehow I’d bet I will!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

You can read my previous stories about footing sense in my book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Luck Isn't Random

I am often told how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place surrounded by beautiful ponies.  I am indeed grateful for this amazing life I lead and that people find it admirable, but I’ve always been a little hesitant to acknowledge the other aspect of ‘luck’ that’s sometimes inferred, its randomness.  I was pleased to read about some research, then, that says that indeed luck isn’t random.  Dr. Tina Seelig, a professor in management science and engineering at Stanford University, says that luck “is something you can create for yourself by identifying and developing opportunities.” (1)

Two decades of research have led Dr. Seelig to find three things we can do to increase our chances of having good things happen to us.  The first is to take small risks.  When I got involved in sustainable agriculture, taking a small risk to steward rare breeds instead of conventional ones seemed a small chance with large rewards.  Never would I have imagined I’d end up with a herd of Fell Ponies in the mountains of Colorado and friends worldwide who love them!  I think of ‘taking small risks’ as poking the universe to see how it responds.  Shortly after I bought my first Fell Ponies (before email and social media were prevalent) I sent a paper letter to a long time breeder in Cumbria, not knowing if I would hear back.  Not only did I get a response, but that initial letter led to regular correspondence then more ‘penpals’ and eventually trips to Cumbria to visit the people I’d been corresponding with.  That small risk of sending a letter definitely had long term ramifications, nearly all positive.

The second thing Dr. Seelig recommends is to show appreciation.  “When someone does something for you, they’re taking that time that they could be spending on themselves or someone else, and you need to acknowledge what they’re doing.” (2)  I am grateful to my parents who were persistent in requiring a “thank you” whenever a courtesy was shown to me.  I’ve been surprised how many people don’t practice that simple custom.  I try to always give credit and express appreciation for all I learn about these ponies (as well as other things in life), and I have definitely benefited in ways I would never have imagined.

The third thing Dr. Seelig recommends is to embrace crazy ideas.  “Ideas that seem the craziest often have a seed of something powerful, and if you take a few minutes to think about how it might work, you open yourself up to really interesting possibilities.”  (3)  When I got involved in sustainable agriculture, using draft animal power was quite common in that community.  But I had the crazy idea that using ponies made more sense.  Talk about ‘really interesting possibilities’ opening up!  The fact that the same animal can be used in harness, ridden, driving, and for packing is truly more sustainable than having different animals for different uses.  I’ve never been sorry nor been tempted to get a bigger equine.

While luck may not be random, it isn’t necessarily easy to cultivate, either.  My mother, rest her soul, thought my change from a high tech career to one in agriculture and land stewardship was ill advised, and she reminded me of her opinion every time she talked to me (she grew up on a farm, so she spoke from first hand experience). Of course my mind was pretty good at amplifying that nay-saying from an important person in my life.  It takes consistent effort to continue taking small risks, showing appreciation, and embracing crazy ideas.  So while I’ll always wrestle with nay-sayers, including myself, there’s no question I’ll keep trying to cultivate luck.

1.  “Out of Luck?  Try This,” Stanford Magazine, December 2018,p. 25.

2. Seelig, Tina, in #1

3.   Seelig, Tina, in #1

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories like this one can be found in my books What an Honor: A Dozen Years with Fell Ponies and The Partnered Pony: What’s Possible, Practical, and Powerful with Small Equines, available internationally by clicking here or on the book covers.

When Moonlight Gives Way to Dawn

When I am outside, I often find transitions in lighting magical.  Sunrises and sunsets are of course the most common.  The last few days, though, it’s been moonlight giving way to dawn.  Temperatures have been well below zero Fahrenheit (-14 F or -25 C), so I’ve been out at 5:30 or 6 in the morning to feed the ponies.  As a result, I’ve gotten to see the light of the half-moon giving way to the light of the rising sun.  It has been magical watching my shadow change intensity and direction.  And of course everywhere I go, I’m greeted by frosty noses! 

The recent holidays have had their melancholy moments.  I’ve heard from three long time Fell Pony breeders who are struggling with various effects of aging.  Each of them has contributed significantly to my Fell Pony education over the years.  It has been hard to hear of their health struggles.  And it’s harder to think of our community without them.

When I am out feeding on these crunchy, cold mornings, I am amidst ponies whose pedigrees include ponies bred by the aging breeders who have given so much to me.   I know it is inevitable that a day will come when they’re no longer with us.  My moonlight-to-dawn mornings remind me, though, that there are always transitions, and usually where one light fails, another replaces it.  And while the transition times can be difficult, they can also be magical.  What a blessing.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2018

More stories like this one can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here.

No Longer Wild as the Hills?

Drybarrows Calista hasn’t ever been too wild for a Fellfie!

Roy Ottink once described the Drybarrows Fell Ponies as “diamonds in the rough straight from the fell and wild as the hills….” (1)  This description was very much on my mind when I decided to import Drybarrows Calista.  I took reassurance from David Thompson’s description of Calista as the friendliest pony in his herd of youngstock.  Nonetheless, the journey from fell-living in Cumbria to Rocky Mountain living in Colorado requires transit via truck and plane and days of standing in stalls, so I wondered what the pony would be like that I received compared to the one that David sent me.

The pony that arrived here, despite the rigors of travel, was indeed the pony that David sent away.  I don’t think I’ve ever called a Fell Pony “sweetie” as often as I have Calista in the month that she’s been here.  It somehow seems unfair to all the other Fell Ponies I have here to so enjoy this newly arrived one.

It would be easy to assume, based on how David described Calista to me initially, that she is an anomaly in being so easy to get along with.  But a story in the recent Fell Pony Society Magazine and another on Facebook suggest that perhaps the Drybarrows Fell Ponies are no longer as ‘wild as the hills’ as they used to be.  David took his youngsters to the Fell Pony Society & Northern Dartmoor Group Study Day in April 2018.  One of the ponies “had only been brought in off the fell and haltered the previous week.”  (2)  Then Penny Walster says of Drybarrows Dissident who took 2nd in the Fell, Highland, and Dales class at the British National Foal Show in November 2018, “What a fabulous little man he has been today a massive long day at The British National Foal Show…  A month off the fell, and you could not buy this temperament…he showed like a pro!” (3)

It appears that Calista is not an anomaly but instead just another representative of the type of pony that David is producing at Drybarrows these days.  I agree with Penny’s assessment:  “Credit to you for superb breeding!”  I look forward to watching the continued evolution of the Drybarrows stud under David’s stewardship, with a little help locally from Calista to interpret it all!

1. Ottink, Roy, as quoted in Miller, Francis.“Drybarrows Fell Ponies”,  The Fell Pony Society Magazine, Spring 2015, Volume 30, p. 78

2. Simpson, Claire.  “Fell Pony Society & Northern Dartmoor Group Study Day,” The Fell Pony Society Magazine, Autumn 2018 – Volume 37, p. 79.

3. Walster, Penny.  Facebook post 26 November 2018 at 12:14AM

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2018

More stories like this one can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Thank You Sleddale Fern V!

Sleddale Rose Beauty in 2006

I became acquainted with the Sleddale Fern line of Fell Ponies through a friend who owned one.  I was intrigued, then, when another Fern was mentioned in the Chairman’s Report in the Autumn 2018 Fell Pony Society newsletter.  It appears we have a lot to thank this pony for.  Her late owner Anne Carslaw bequeathed £100,000 to the Fell Pony Society.  This pony must have had a special relationship with her owner to inspire that sort of legacy.

I appreciate Chairman Peter Boustead helping me figure out which of the Ferns was owned by Mrs. Carslaw.  Before long I understood how Fern might have had such influence on her owner.  One of Fern’s half-sisters was my first Fell Pony Sleddale Rose Beauty, and Beauty certainly inspired me.  That strength of character must be in their genes!

The Sleddale ponies are no longer being bred, but their influence obviously continues.  Thank you Beauty and Fern and all the rest for your gifts to the humans in your lives.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2018

There are lots of stories about Beauty and her strength of character in my books A Humbling Experience and What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book covers. That’s Beauty on the cover of What an Honor!

The Evolution of Fell Ponies and the Lake District

In 2017 when the Lake District was awarded World Heritage Site status, Lake District National Park Chief Executive Richard Leafe said, “The Lake District is an evolving landscape that has changed over time and will continue to do so.”  (1)  In the Fell Pony world we know of this evolution because of its impact on our ponies.  For more of the human history of the Lake District than not, the local native ponies provided the ‘horsepower’ for the region’s economy.  Uses ranged from plowing and pulling sledges to shepherding and hunting wolves.  When used for pack work, their loads of local goods included fleece, fish, metal ore, and more.  (2)  It is unlikely that any facet of the Lake District’s economy or history were untouched by the Fell Pony and its ancestors.

Of course, like most working equine breeds, the Fell Pony’s work changed with the advent of the internal combustion engine (as well as the construction of railroads, roads, and canals).  Since then, the Fell Pony has more often been put to use in recreational riding and driving.  Stables for pleasure riding in the Lake District have existed at various places through the decades, and occasionally more adventurous outings have been possible when small enterprises have offered Fell Ponies re-enacting their historic role as pack ponies on Lakeland trails. 

The author and two Fell Ponies at Maiden Castle on Burnmoor in the Lake District in 2015.

I learned of the evolving landscape of the Lake District when I had the great good fortune to walk over Burnmoor in the Lake District.  One of the first milestones of the trip was Maiden Castle above Wasdale Head.  The presence of Maiden Castle in what today is an uninhabited landscape seems odd.  One theory says it was a residence during the Bronze Age.  Its location up on the fell where not a soul lives today was due to the fact that living down in the wooded valleys was dangerous for humans because of large predators including wolves.  It was safer to live up on the relatively barren landscape where predators and other dangers could be more easily seen at a distance.  Today of course the uplands are considered uninhabitable by humans because of that barrenness and remoteness, and instead the valleys are preferred since the woods have been cleared, and the landscape has been domesticated for life. 

I did that walk over Burnmoor with two Fell Ponies, so I got to experience the evolution of both the Lake District and the Fell Pony first hand.  The route was once a corpse road over which pack ponies carried bodies for burial in Eskdale because there wasn’t a proper burial place in Wasdale.  When I first had the idea to traverse an historic pack horse route in the Lake District with Fell Ponies, I had no idea how hard it would be to find a route open to equines in modern times.  I’m thankful that the Lake District landscape will continue to evolve so that perhaps more historic packhorse routes will again be available as bridleways in the future.

Richard Leafe’s comment about the evolving landscape of the Lake District is both a statement of fact and a statement of political necessity.  Naysayers about the World Heritage designation point to environmental health issues that they feel were unaddressed in the bid for World Heritage site designation.  Leafe went on to say, “Improving landscape biodiversity and looking after our cultural heritage underpin the [Lake District National Park] Partnership’s management plan which sets out how, together, we will look after the National Park as a World Heritage Site for everyone to enjoy.” (3) 

The Fell Pony is already playing a role in improving landscape biodiversity as a conservation grazer.  (4)  And the Fell Pony clearly is part of the Lake District’s cultural heritage through its many roles as horsepower and recreation in the region.  While the Fell Pony community may not have been involved in the creation of the management plan, it seems likely that the plan, too, can evolve so that together we can ensure that the Fell Pony’s part in the Lake District’s story is not forgotten.

1. Leake, Richard.  As quoted in “Euphoria as Lake District Becomes a World Heritage Site,” 09 July 2017 blog post at lakesworldheritage.org.uk, as accessed 20 November 2018

2. “Early History,” on “About Fell Ponies” page at www.fellponysociety.org.uk as accessed 20 November 2018.

3. Same as #1.

4. See, for instance, Morrissey, Jenifer, “Fells on the fells and Wild Horses on the Range,” Fell Pony News from Willowtrail Farm, April, 2015.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2018

The author’s exploration of matters relating to the Fell Pony can be found in her book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

The Good News for the Fell Pony about the Lake District World Heritage Site

courtesy Bill Potter, Greenholme Fell Ponies

The Lake District National Park was awarded World Heritage Site status in July 2017.  Many comments in the Fell Pony community since then have been critical of the process that led to the designation because the Fell Pony wasn’t included, in contrast to fell-dwelling sheep such as the Herdwick.  Two people have told me, however, that the World Heritage designation is good news for the Fell Pony despite the breed not having been explicitly included.  It has taken me several months of study to understand why they were so emphatic in their opinion.  In short, the success of the Lake District bid for World Heritage Site status addresses one of the worst threats to keeping Fell ponies on the fell.

We all know the Fell Pony on the fell is threatened.  It’s threatened by the declining number of hill breeders.  It’s threatened by other hill farmers not wanting ponies on the fell.  It’s threatened by the costs not matching revenue.  But there’s another threat that’s probably the worst threat of them all.   That threat is the belief by some people that the proper state of the fell is to have no domesticated animals living there at all. 

This recent success of World Heritage Site designation for the Lake District was the result of a third application.  The first application was made in 1986 and was as a mixed state of cultural and natural values.  The second was in 1989 in the cultural category.  The successful application submitted in 2016 was for cultural landscape which recognized the role of farming and industry in shaping the area, as well as the area’s impact on artists and writers and on the conservation movement.  

The fells we have today, including the uplands of the Lake District, have largely been shaped by the presence and grazing of domestic animals.  In an article in The Guardian, fell farmer Annie Meanwell describes what happens when domestic grazing animals are removed from the fell.  “There are some areas near our farm that have ‘rewilded’ themselves where people did not have the heart to restock their sheep after the foot and mouth outbreak. These are now wildernesses of bracken and brambles, and I have never seen a single ‘eco tourist’ up there among the impenetrable vegetation. The views over Coniston Water have been obscured; although it is common land, it is now largely inaccessible.” (1)

From the perspective of the Fell Pony, it is the recognition of the role of farming and domestic animals in shaping the landscape and culture we know today that gives hope.  Had the focus of the designation been instead on a natural landscape, then the future of domestic animals on the fells would be bleak.

While the World Heritage Site designation gives hope, work is required for the Fell Pony to benefit.  Fell-dwelling sheep are well integrated into the Lake District National Park’s Farming initiatives.  Sheep-related events are listed on the Park’s website.  Given the Fell Pony breed’s part in the region’s cultural heritage both as a fell-dweller and the source of early horsepower for industry, the breed certainly can and should become a part of the World Heritage Site story.  I believe it can be if we as a community want it to be.

1. Meanwell, Annie.  “As a shepherd, I know we have not ‘sheepwrecked’ Britain’s landscape,” The Guardian, 21 Jul 2015, as found on 17 Oct 2018 at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/21/farmers-sheep-lake-district-preserve-environmentalists?CMP=share_btn_fb

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2018

Information like this about the Fell pony breed can be found in my book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.