Fell Ponies and Life of a Mountain

For someone like me who loves to live and work outdoors, Life of a Mountain: Helvellyn was a stirring film. But for someone like me who has been intimate with Fell Ponies for more than two decades, the movie was even more impactful. If you haven’t seen it already, there’s a reason this film is recommended by the Fell Pony Society. If you are fascinated by the stewardship of this breed, it is an important piece. You can watch the trailer (click here), though no Fell Ponies are featured. If you’re in the UK, you can watch the movie on-line. It’s also available for purchase by clicking here. I am grateful to a Fell Pony colleague who loaned me her copy until I can purchase a copy myself.

The film about the peak Helvellyn in the Lake District of Cumbria does an exemplary job illustrating the many, many ways that the mountain is loved and admired. From bicyclists to skiers, from lichen experts to wildwater swimmers, from school children to disabled hikers, from paragliders to the Royal Air Force and more, each group’s appreciation of what the mountain means to them is vividly portrayed with live and timelapse video and interviews. So where does the Fell Pony fit?

Globetrotter Fell Pony broodmares sheltering in the lee of a wall on a fell in Cumbria. Courtesy Libby Robinson

Libby Robinson of the Fell Pony Heritage Trust is one of the earliest to be interviewed in the film, and images of the ponies are frequently shown through the first hour or so (Libby kindly lent me the photo here of her ponies sheltering behind a wall on the fell where they live nearby). Libby tells me that the opportunity to participate in the film was a spinoff of the Trust’s Heritage of the Hill Bred Fell Pony Exhibition in 2019. The following quote from a 2021 newspaper article about the film best sums Libby’s message, “Fell Ponies are just as important to Cumbria’s heritage as the lakes, rivers, fell farms and stone walls, the natural landscape formed by nature then shaped and moulded by mankind. Nowadays millions visit each year (apart from 2020) and they need to know alongside all this spendour of the landscape that for centuries the culture of the ponies – a proud and noble working animal – has been a part of all its history.” (1)

When we view Cumbria and the Lake District from a Fell Pony perspective, it is easy to lose sight of the myriad other ways in which the region is viewed. For me, seeing so many different perspectives alongside that of our ponies was incredibly educational. It’s no longer a surprise to me that our ponies are often invisible in the National Park, and it’s a wonder at all that they appear in this film. Libby’s efforts to bring more attention to our breed continue to bear tremendous fruit.

Claire Beaumont of Gowbarrow Hall Farm was another of the interviewees in the early part of the film. Fell Pony people will know Claire for her use of some of Libby’s Fell Ponies for conservation grazing at Gowbarrow Hall Farm. Claire has also added to my understanding of the long history of Fell Ponies in the vicinity of her farm northeast of Helvellyn (click here to read more).

When the Lake District National Park received World Heritage Site status in 2017, Fell Ponies were completely absent from the voluminous documentation supporting the designation. I was startled that that was the case since Fell Ponies are native to the landscape that is now in the national park. Then began my education about how the World Heritage Site designation came to be and how Fell Ponies might still be incorporated in it. I have since been documenting how Fell Ponies fit within the three major themes of the park’s plan for implementing the designation (click here to read more). Those themes were each addressed in the film.

The first of the themes to be addressed in the film was Identity (click here to read more about the three themes). The Identity theme encompasses the agro-pastoral landscape and the early industry of the region and how these two human influences shaped the landscape that is known and loved today. From a Fell Pony perspective, I thought it was tremendous that this theme took top billing since it is the one that most allows Fell Ponies to become more visible in the National Park and the World Heritage Site. The second theme – Conservation – was also discussed in a way that allows Fell Ponies to claim their rightful place in the region’s story, both from a conservation grazing standpoint and from an acknowledgement that a rewilding of the landscape, which is causing trouble for many native breeds, isn’t an over-arching goal in the Lake District. The Inspiration theme, ably illustrated by an opera singer and a poet among others, appears to have the least relevance for Fell Pony enthusiasts due to its narrow definition so far.

At one hundred fifty minutes in length, the film drags after the first hour when our ponies no longer show up in any images or stories. The middle third of the film is heavy with recreational use of the mountain, but I had to re-read a Fell Pony Society newsletter to find a story about a Fell Pony on Helvellyn. In 2017, Vyv Wood-Gee attempted to ride one of her ponies to the summit to honor the late Mary Longsdon, MBE, whose ambition to climb Helvellyn went unfulfilled before her death that year. Vyv’s trip report is aptly titled “Hell on a Fell,” full of double entendres. “Forget blue skies and perfect pretty pictures. Yesterday was Hell on a Fell: about simply trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other, standing firm whatever life, or the weather, chucks at you, and about contemplating life and death, rather than proving anything to anyone, or gloating over achievements…. When the weather turned against us, I swithered repeatedly whether to turn back, but with Micky snorting at lost souls emerging from the mist, eventually we made it to the top. An inadequate tribute to a truly remarkable person. RIP Mary. You were up there with us in the swirling mist and driving rain.” (2) To see the entire piece including pictures illustrating the adverse weather Vyv and Micky dealt with, click here and navigate to page 80.

Despite the film dragging in the second half, the entire piece is worth watching for anyone interested in the present and future stewardship of our breed in its homeland. The context it illustrates is important for all of us to contemplate.

1. “Fell Ponies’ starring role in Lake District Film, Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, 9 January 2021.

2. Wood-Gee, Vyv. “Hell on a Fell,” The Fell Pony Society Magazine, Autumn 2017, Volume 35, p. 80.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2021

Gone in a Single Gust!

At another time when wind took his hay, Asi gave me a look asking for help. Not quite as astonished as the first time!

I went to feed my Fell Pony stallion Asi midday as usual. The weather had turned windy, enough to warrant a weather advisory. I had a second neck gaiter on for the occasion, and I flipped my hood up for extra protection. At Asi’s paddock, I filled a tub with hay and let myself through the gate. I then began spreading hay along the sixty-foot-or-so path that I usually follow, a large handful every pony length or two so that Asi moves as he’s eating as he would while grazing.

He had begun eating at the first pile I dropped, and I continued along the path. As I reached the end, I felt a stronger-than-average wind gust hit my back and watched hay blow past me and out of the paddock under the fence. I looked back where I’d come from, and every bit of hay that I had put out for Asi was completely gone. While that was surprising, what was priceless was the look of utter shock on Asi’s face. His lunch had disappeared before he’d even had a chance to taste it! Of course I didn’t react fast enough to capture his expression. The photo here is a poor approximation at a similar moment when the wind had once again scoured all the hay from his pen. For the duration of the high wind event, I gave him intact wafers in one place that the wind couldn’t easily relocate!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2021

There are more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Ponies Frequently Found Behind Rare Lines

Waverhead Rob is a pony frequently seen in pedigrees of rare bloodlines. Photo by Miss Jane Glass of the Wolds Stud where he stood

I noted in a previous article on my 2019 rare bloodlines study that the Dene and Greenfield studs were rare and contributed their rareness to many ponies on my 2019 rare lines list. The Gibside stud is now in the same category. Some Linnel, Sleddale, Guards, Waverhead, and Lownthwaite ponies are rare and contribute their rarity to ponies on the list. Most of these studs are or were of long standing, so it isn’t really surprising that they have some lines that are rare.

Shown here as a senior citizen, Townend Samuel is also found behind many ponies with rare bloodlines, especially in North America. Courtesy Claire Simpson

As I was reviewing the pedigrees of the ponies on the rare bloodlines list, several specific ponies kept appearing as ancestors behind the rare lines. They are shown in Table 1 below. In addition to listing these ancestors of today’s rare bloodlines, Table 1 shows the frequency with which these ancestors appear in the 2006 and 2018 foal crops. It is notable that only four of the seventeen ponies in Table 1 show up less frequently in 2018 than they did in 2006. Breeders are always searching for outcrosses, and these ponies, with the four exceptions, have served that purpose, with more foals in 2018 being born with these ancestors behind them than were born in 2006.

Several of these ponies were highly thought of at the time of their contributions to our breed’s genetics. I discussed Linnel Romany Boy and Border Black Prince in a previous article. Waverhead Rob was Appleby Show champion as a yearling and later was the winner of the Supreme Champion progeny group at the National Pony Society Show in 1973.

Lownthwaite Drake, a pony sometimes found behind rare bloodlines. Photo courtesy Ruth Eastwood.

According to the History page of the Lownthwaite Stud website, Lownthwaite Star Trek was “…described by the late Mr Joseph Dargue, president of the Fell Pony Society, as the best Fell Pony he had ever seen.” Star Trek was Supreme Champion at the FPS Breed Show in 1973, but her showing career was cut short by a freak accident resulting in a broken shoulder. She was able, though, to raise ten foals.

Lownthwaite Starbright II is a daughter of Lownthwaite Star Trek, a pony often found behind rare bloodlines.

Lownthwaite Drake was sired by Townend Samuel and out of the Lownthwaite Startrek line. Michael Rawlinson wrote in the Spring 2002 FPS Newsletter: “I bought him at Wigton Horse Sales, in 1988 for £165 where he was champion foal. I took him to the Stallion Show in 1989 and he stood 2nd in the Yearling class out of fifteen. At the summer Breed Show that same year he won the Yearling Colt or Gelding Class and at Keighley Show he won the Yearling to Three-Year-Old Class. In 1990 at the Stallion Show he won the 2 Year Old Class, was the Junior Champion and also the Overall Reserve Champion of the day. I sold him to Gordon Sutcliffe in the spring as I moved to Scotland and could not take him with me. Gordon kept him for two years using him at stud… (Bishopdale prefix) and then sold him to Walter Lloyd (Hades Hill prefix) who kept him until he died of tetanus in 2001.” (1)

Tarnmoor Prince. Courtesy Ruth Eastwood

Tarnmoor Prince was twice champion at the Fell Pony Society Stallion Show. He also received at-home premiums in 1988 and 1992 for covering a high number of registered Fell mares.

Frizington Duke and Christine Robinson at the FPS Stallion Show in 1987. Courtesy Christine Robinson

Twislehhope Druid was on display at the Open Day at Twislehope in the early 1970s. “The stallion T. Druid was brought out for us to see and very well he looked, too. We saw him ridden and then jumped over some little fences which he did beautifully.” (2) In the Autumn 1995 newsletter, Druid was pictured “with his mares and foals in the Scottish Border hills. Druid lived to 28 years old – still covering mares and being ridden. He had spent a working life hunting with the Liddesdale Foxhounds. In his last spring he proved he was still a working horse and cleared a five-barred gate at a trot!” (3)

Twislehope Druid sired Twislehope Rupert who stood at the Drybarrows stud and other places. David Thompson of the Drybarrows stud remembers, “When I was maybe eleven or twelve years old, I remember going with Dad and Sarge Noble to see a pony. We went to Molly Laing’s yard to look at a two or three year old colt. Sarge said ‘Don’t leave the yard without that pony,’ and we didn’t. Twislehope Rupert was the only pony Dad ever showed. He stood second at the stallion show. He was a good horse and bred well for Dad.” (4)

Christine Robinson stood Frizington Duke at her Kerbeck stud. “I rode Duke in the middle of a housing estate, and he wasn’t bothered, so I bought him. He was four years old. He became my favorite pony of all time. We did so much together. We literally did everything. Once I drove him to a show then we competed that day under saddle, working hunter, and driven. I rode and drove him at home for pleasure, took hay to the mares on him, took him hunting once or twice a week in season, and did pony club games. It was easy to compete him driving because he didn’t need a groom; he was that well behaved. I qualified him for NPS national driving champion one year. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. I retained lots of his fillies, and I still have two mares by him; they’re in their twenties now.” (5)

Whenever we are pondering rare bloodlines, it is important to keep two caveats in mind:

1. The older stud books of the Fell Pony Society (prior to DNA testing) occasionally do not have accurate parentage/pedigree information. Therefore we cannot necessarily draw accurate conclusions about ancestors of today’s ponies.

2. Sometimes bloodlines become rare for a reason. Breeders may have chosen not to propagate the lines, possibly because they did not represent proper Fell Pony type. Unless we have seen a particular pony in person, it is hard to make that judgment ourselves.

One of the great benefits of this rare bloodlines research has been corresponding with people who knew many of these ponies and shared photographs and/or stories of their relations. I am grateful to Alison Bell, Claire Simpson, Liz Whitely, Ruth Eastwood, Michael Goddard, David Thompson, and Libby Robinson and perhaps others to whom I apologize for having forgotten them.

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1. Rawlinson, Michael. “Lownthwaite Drake,” Fell Pony Society Newsletter Spring 2002, p. 58.

2. Brook, Joan. “Open Day at Twislehope,” Fell Pony News Volume III, p. 23

3. Photo caption of Twislehope Druid in Fell Pony Society Newsletter Autumn 1995, p. 26.

4. Morrissey, Jenifer. “Another Chapter: The Drybarrows Fell Ponies,” Fell Pony Express, June 2017, Fell Pony Society of North America, p. 20.

5. Morrissey, Jenifer. “Christine Robinson and the Kerbeck Fell Ponies,” Spring/Summer 2015, Fell Pony Express, Fell Pony Society of North America, p. 29.

Rare Bloodlines Revisited – North American and Dutch Divergence?

In my 2019 analysis of rare bloodlines in the Fell Pony, nearly 40% of the ponies on the list were born outside the United Kingdom. Most of these were North America-born and the rest were born in The Netherlands. (To read the overview of my 2019 analysis, click here. )

Kimberlake Lady Belle is one of the North American ponies that shows up on the worldwide rare bloodlines list. With both of her parents being North American-born, the question must be asked if our North American herd is diverging from the worldwide population.

My similar study completed a decade ago didn’t have this large non-UK population on the rare bloodlines list, so the obvious question is: are we beginning to see a divergence in bloodlines between the UK and the two other largest populations of Fell Ponies? This question comes to mind because several of the North American ponies on the worldwide rare bloodlines list are not from particularly rare lines within the context of the North American population. For instance, Laurelhighland Jack of Diamonds and his sire Laurelhighland Union Jack appear near the top of the worldwide rare bloodlines list but are near the bottom of the list for North America. Since they were bred at the most prolific of our North American studs, they are related to many of the other ponies on this continent.

Table 1 shows the non-UK sires and dams that show up at the top of the rare bloodlines list based on 2017 and 2018 foal crops. In addition to considering the relative ranking on the local versus worldwide lists, there are two other ways to consider whether the ponies in Table 1 are evidence of diverging bloodlines:

• How many of the non-UK ponies’ ancestors were non-UK born? If a particular North American pony, for instance, has one or more North American-born ancestors, then that pony would have fewer ancestors in common with UK ponies and would therefore be computed as being less related to the worldwide population. To determine the number of non-UK ancestors, I looked at the pedigree of each pony and counted the ponies with non-UK names/prefixes. This tally is shown in the column in Table 1 titled “# non-UK ponies behind.” The greatest depth that non-UK ponies reach in a pedigree is 2 (a grandparent.) Wiranda van Nuova, a Dutch-born mare, has a value of 4 in this column, with both her parents being Dutch-born and both her granddams being Dutch-born.

• How have the grandparents of these rare bloodline non-UK-born ponies contributed to the modern foal crop? By looking back two generations and seeing if those ponies are common or not in pedigrees of modern day ponies, we can get a better indication of whether the non-UK-ponies truly represent rare bloodlines. This analysis can be completed by looking at what percentage of the 2018 foal crop trace back to the grandsires and granddams of the ponies on the rare bloodline list. By averaging the percentages, it is then possible to compare the rarity of these non-UK ponies to each other. This analysis is shown in the column in Table 1 titled “Sum of Grandparent %.” A lower number indicates less contribution by the four grandparents to the worldwide population, and a higher number indicates more contribution. For instance, Laurelhighland Lyric, with the highest value in that column at more than 10%, has behind her grandsires that are relatively popular: Waverhead Prince II (represented in 20% of the 2018 foal crop) and Townend Samuel (represented in 15% of the 2018 foal crop). By comparison, Angelmeadow Crown Jules has a relatively low value of 1.18% because his grandparents are all resident in North America and have not had broad use.

The results of these two analyses support the hypothesis that UK and non-UK bloodlines are diverging. For a given pony on the list, as more of its ancestors are non-UK born, the less its grandparents are contributing to the worldwide population. For example, the mare Wildhoeve Romy has four foreign-born ancestors, and her grandparents on average are represented in only 1.66% of the 2018 foal crop. By comparison, Olimpia de Knip, who has no foreign-born ancestors, has relatively more relatives in the worldwide population with her grandparents on average being represented in 5.47% of the 2018 foal crop. Nonetheless Olimpia has numerous rare lines, qualifying her for the rare bloodline list.

Here are other key findings:

The late Waverhead Robbie, shown in 2004,  is behind the majority of the North American ponies on the rare bloodlines list; his offspring are the only descendants of his dam.

• The late Waverhead Robbie, imported to North America in 1994, is behind many of the North American ponies in Table 1. While his sire is somewhat common, Robbie represents the only continuation of his dam’s line in the current worldwide Fell Pony population, resulting in many of his descendants appearing in Table 1.

• When a pony is linebred, especially more than twice, the number of its ancestors is reduced so it has fewer opportunities to be related to the rest of the population. If the pony on which it is linebred is relatively common, then while the numbers may say that the pony represents a rare bloodline, in fact it has plenty of relatives in the population. Kimberlake Lady Belle and Maxiem van de Koekoekshof are examples; they are both heavily linebred on the oft-used stallion Heltondale Heather Lad. Because they also have rare outcrosses, they still qualify to be on the rare bloodlines list.

• The Dutch ponies in Table 1 have more generations of non-UK ponies (values of 4 and 3) than the North American ponies (values of 2 and 1), reflecting the fact that the Dutch began their Fell Pony program in earnest before North America did.

The divergence between bloodlines in the UK and the two largest foreign populations in North America and The Netherlands isn’t surprising. In fact, this sort of divergence is to be expected over time as relatively fewer ponies are imported and more ponies are born locally. It is important, however, that we know that the divergence is taking place so that worldwide breed management decisions can take it into account. For instance, in time, North American-born ponies may be interesting outcrosses for populations elsewhere, as the Dutch population has been in recent years for UK breeders. Finally, this sort of divergence is not a problem for the breed as long as the ponies born outside the UK are still displaying proper type.

(c) Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

Rare Bloodlines Revisited – ‘05/’06 Study Reconsidered

Introduction

Globetrotter Nimrod is one of the ponies on the ‘06/’07 rare bloodlines list. Courtesy Libby Robinson

I did my first identification of rare bloodlines in Fell Ponies in 2008 based on the sires and dams of the 2006 and 2007 foal crops. At that time, there were a number of Dutch Fell Ponies for whom I had incomplete pedigrees. Thanks to detailed research done for me by Joke Postma of the Westerkwartier stud in The Netherlands, all pedigrees are now complete in my database. As a result, I have an updated list of rare bloodlines from the 2006/2007 time period. I used the same methodology as for the current timeframe analysis, as described in my previous article. To read the previous article, click here.

My key findings from my updated analysis of ‘06/’07 are:

• The complete Dutch pedigrees resulted in changes to the list.

• A decade on from the first analysis, it’s now possible to look at whether the bloodlines that were rare in ‘06/’07 are still in our population or if they’ve been lost.

• As before, a number of ponies show up repeatedly behind the ponies on the new list, indicating that they are a source of rarity.

Changes to the List

Having complete Dutch pedigrees resulted in nine ponies previously on the list to drop off. Apparently their ancestors were also behind some of the Dutch ponies for whom I previously had incomplete pedigrees, so they were more related to the rest of the breeding population than previously indicated. Nine ponies were then added to the list. The new list is shown in Table 1.

(c) Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

Lost Bloodlines?

Fifty seven percent of the ponies representing rare bloodlines in Table 1 have no progeny in 2017 or 2018. They are indicated by a ‘no’ in the second column of Table 1 titled “in 2017-18?” These bloodlines are therefore at risk of being lost to the breed.

Sources of Rarity

Linnel Rapier II is behind a few ponies on the rare bloodlines list for ’06-’07. Rapier qualified for Olympia with Debbie Boylan in 2001 only months after having been broken in for the first time. Courtesy Fell Pony Society

As I found previously, the Dene and Greenfield studs were rare and contributed their rareness to many ponies on the list. The Gibside stud is now in the same category. Some Linnel, Sleddale, Guards, Waverhead, and Lownthwaite ponies are rare and contribute their rarity to ponies on the list. Other ponies that show up frequently behind rare ponies are Frizington Duke and Twislehope Druid and Rupert.

Two of the rare Linnel ponies are the stallions Romany Boy and Rapier II. In a 1980 Fell Pony Society newsletter, there was a story about Romany Boy. “The Ponies of Britain run a very successful stallion award scheme for the stallion whose progeny win the most at the Ponies of Britain shows held at Ascot, Kelso and Peterborough. Mr. R. B. Charlton, whose famous Linnel ponies have done so much to publicise the breed, knew nothing of the scheme until his stallion, Linnel Romany Boy, was reserve of all the native stallions in 1975 and a letter notified him of his success. Linnel Romany Boy went on to win the award outright in 1976, 1977 and 1978 - probably a record for any native breed in the country, and a great honour for the Fell breed.” (1)

Likewise, in a 2000 newsletter there was mention of Linnel Rapier II. “It was a fine, cold morning as we met at [Lownthwaite Fell Pony stud] lying under Cross Fell. Our first glimpse was of the stallion, Linnel Rapier II, in his paddock. He was a handsome animal who looked thoroughly pleased with himself and delighted to have admiring visitors to parade in front of, as only a stallion could. He exuded kindness and generosity as well as power and strength. Christine [Morton] told us he had never had his back feet picked up or his teeth rasped but the evidence seemed to be that here in his natural environment both feet and teeth were in fine fettle.” (2) The next year, Rapier II was sold on and backed and in just a few months qualified for the prestigious holiday show Olympia with Debbie Boylan. “He was just so incredibly easy according to Debbie, had the most wonderful temperament, and just loved people!” (3)

Caveat About Rare Lines

Whenever considering rare bloodlines, it is important to remember that some ponies may have become rare for a reason. They may have had some congenital defect, a temperament fault or not be true-to-type for the breed. I personally know of examples of some of these conditions in the list here. The perspective of time for this list from ‘06/’07 lets us see what breeders have decided so far. On the other hand, some of the ponies on this list, such as Globetrotter Nimrod, do not have current descendants in the breeding population, but Nimrod has a full sibling who continues to contribute to our breed’s population. So just because Nimrod is not represented now, the lines behind him are represented through his sister Polikarpov. Nimrod’s case reminds us that making judgments about rare lines requires great care.

Still to come are reflections on the divergence of North American and Dutch lines and more consideration of ponies often found behind rare lines.

1. “Notes from Here and There,” Fell Pony Society Newsletter, 1980, Volume 5.

2. “Mid-East England,” Fell Pony Society Newsletter, Autumn 2000, p. 31.

3. “Olympia Qualifiers,” Fell Pony Society Newsletter, Autumn 2001, p. 32-3.

Rare Bloodlines Revisited 2019 - Overview

Introduction

Border Black Prince, foaled 1987, is behind many of the ponies on the rare bloodlines list. Photo courtesy Michael Goddard

I did my first identification of rare bloodlines in Fell Ponies in 2007 based on the sires and dams of the 2005 and 2006 foal crops. I have now completed a second analysis of rare bloodlines. It updates the 2007 study and then analyzes the sires and dams of the 2017 and 2018 foal crops. This article provides an overview of the research. Subsequent articles will go into more depth about the various findings.

Methodology

How does one identify a rare bloodline? One tool 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. I have a database of Fell Pony pedigrees and the ability to run the MK analysis on sires and dams of foals born in a particular year. This sort of MK analysis gives insight into our breeding population.

My database only includes ponies appearing in the stud books of the Fell Pony Society. In addition to UK ponies, FPS registers ponies from The Netherlands as well as from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Denmark. I know there are purebred ponies being born in Australia, and I suspect there are also purebred ponies born in Germany that are not registered with FPS. Ponies from those populations are not currently in my database.

For an MK analysis, I can specify how many generations are considered in the computations. I chose to include five generations. Almost ten percent of the ponies in the 2018 sire/dam analysis did not have full five generation pedigrees. In 2006, that number was 14.5%, so with time, as would be expected with a closed stud book, pedigrees are becoming more complete. Incomplete pedigrees exist due to: 1) the inspection scheme and grading up program instituted in the 1960s, and 2) prior to the inspection scheme, some ponies were registered without complete pedigrees.

For the purposes of my current study, a rare bloodline is defined as one having low relatedness to the rest of the population. When using Mean Kinship to identify rare lines, a low mean kinship value means low relatedness to the rest of the population. There are occasions, however, when a low MK may not mean a rare bloodline. For instance, if a pedigree only goes back two or three generations, that pony may have a low MK value because it has fewer ancestors to compare with those of other ponies. But since we don’t know what other ponies might be behind the pony with the short pedigree, I’ve opted to keep ponies with low MKs and short pedigrees in my analysis.

A second case where a low MK may not be a rare bloodline is if a particular pony is itself inbred, meaning it has the same pony in its pedigree multiple times. In that case, the pony may have a low MK value, but the low MK value may at least be in part due to the fact that the pony has fewer relatives (because of replication of some ancestors) to compare to the rest of the population. Therefore, its low MK value may not accurately reflect how it should be ranked as a conservation priority.

Globetrotter Polikarpov has a low mean kinship value from being linebred on the Dene stud and having the rare Linnel Rapier behind her.

courtesy Libby Robinson

For example, Darrenvale Dior, a dam of a 2017 foal, has a low MK value but her pedigree shows repeats of the popular stallion Lunesdale Jerry four times. Yet she also has numerous rare ancestors. On the other hand, the mare Globetrotter Polikarpov who also had a foal in 2017 also has a very low MK value. This mare has numerous ponies from the Dene stud behind her, a rare line, with repeats of the stallion Linnel Rapier from another rare line. Polikarpov might therefore be considered a higher conservation priority than Dior.

After pondering the problem of low MK values by high inbreeding, I’ve come up with an analysis that will identify the rarest of the rare, taking into account replication within a pedigree. Because it will be quite time consuming, I have opted to present the current state of my research and will return to that more detailed analysis at a later time. 

For my current analysis, I took the 20 ponies with the lowest mean kinships from each of the two years under consideration, ‘06/’07 and ‘17/’18. By taking two years at a time, mares who are not bred every year are more likely to be considered in the analysis. I combined the ’06 and ’07 top 20 into a single list and the same for the ’17 and ’18 top 20. For each of those two top 40 lists, I removed ponies that were duplicated and combined full siblings into a single entry. Finally, I annotated the list with the source of rarity of each pony. Table 1 shows the ‘17/’18 list.

(c) Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

Incomplete Dutch Pedigrees Resolved

I did my first analysis of rare bloodlines in 2007 based on the sires and dams of the 2005 and 2006 foal crops. At that time, there were a number of Dutch Fell Ponies for whom I had incomplete pedigrees, meaning the analysis was not as accurate as it could be. Thanks to detailed research done for me by Joke Postma of the Westerkwartier stud in The Netherlands, all pedigrees are now complete in my database. As a result, I have an updated list of rare bloodlines from the 2005/2006 time period.

North American and Dutch Divergence?

One result of the more recent analysis that jumped out was the number of North American ponies that showed up on the list. With over a quarter of the ponies on the list being born in North America, one has to wonder if our bloodlines on this side of the pond are diverging from the worldwide population. With the growing popularity of the breed here, this is a natural progression and only becomes a concern if our ponies start diverging in type as well. As long as we maintain good type in our ponies, as our stock genetically diverges, our ponies become more valuable as outcrosses for the worldwide population. In addition to the presence of North American ponies on the rare bloodlines list, two Dutch ponies and one German pony also showed up.

The Netherlands has been importing and breeding Fell Ponies as long or longer than North America has, yet there are fewer Dutch ponies on the recent rare bloodlines list than North America. There are several possible explanations for this difference. In the US, one breeder is responsible for a significant percentage of our homebred ponies, while in the Netherlands there are many smaller breeders contributing to the homebred population. There is less concentration, then, of stallion lines in The Netherlands versus in the US. Also, Dutch breeders tend to export ponies back to the UK for breeding at a higher rate than North America does, making the Dutch and UK populations somewhat more similar in terms of bloodlines. I’ve removed the German, Dutch and North American ponies from the rare bloodlines list for this first version of Table 1. I will revisit the North American and Dutch ponies in a future article.

Mare Lines

Three of the ponies in Table 1 are stallions, so more than 80% of the rare lines listed are mares. This is not surprising, since stallions are used more often than mares so will be more often repeated in pedigrees than mares. And sometimes mares are the only living progeny of a stallion line, for instance the stallion Swineside Lad is only represented today through the progeny of Bowthorne June and Lucky Jewel.

Pony Type

I was concerned by one anecdotal finding of my research. When I reached out to fellow breeders for pictures to illustrate this article, a few of them remarked what a good pony type the pony in the photograph was. For me a Fell Pony is indeed a pony, yet to my eye we have many horsey looking purebred Fell Ponies. For pony types to be represented in the rare bloodlines list is therefore very disappointing. I understand that there may have been other reasons those ponies have been selected out of the gene pool, but I also know that proper ponies can sometimes be hard to find in our breed.

More to Come

In future stories, we’ll be looking more closely at the North American and Dutch ponies in the rare bloodlines list. The ‘06/’07 list also needs to be revisited since the Dutch pedigrees are now all complete. In addition, a few ponies show up frequently on the list and need to be identified. So, more to come!

Fell Ponies and the Identity Theme of the LDNP World Heritage Site

The Lake District National Park (LDNP) in Cumbria, England was named a World Heritage Site in 2017. Fell Ponies have roamed the Lake District and adjacent areas for centuries, so the World Heritage Site designation provides an opportunity to bring attention to our breed.

Ennerdale Water and surrounding fells in the Lake District

In the press coverage at the time of the designation, the World Heritage Site was said to have three themes that “…underpinned the bid for World Heritage Site status, recognising the Lake District National Park as a cultural landscape of international significance. These include world ranking examples of identity - the dramatic farmed landscape; inspiration - art, literature and love of the place. This in turn sparked the birth of conservation - people fought and invested to look after this special corner of England.” (1) I have previously written about the inspiration theme as they relate to Fell Ponies (click here for more information on the Inspiration theme..).

The Identity theme is summarized above as being about ‘the dramatic farmed landscape.’ However, in another part of the same blog post, the theme has a broader definition: “The acknowledged beauty of the Lake District is the result of thousands of years of industry and agricultural development of the spectacular natural landscape of mountains, valleys, lakes and woodland.” (2) The inclusion of the industrial history of the region is especially important for Fell Ponies.

The Nomination Dossier is a set of documents on the LDNP website that made the case for World Heritage Site status. A group of 25 organizations called The Partnership compiled the dossier, including The Partnership Plan, which is the management plan both for the park and the World Heritage Site through 2020. The dossier has four volumes and hundreds of pages. So far, I have only found the Fell Pony mentioned once, in an appendix. By contrast, the Herdwick Sheep breed is mentioned hundreds of times, no doubt because the breed organization was involved in the Partnership.

Nonetheless, the LDNP has told the Fell Pony Society that they are open to working to integrate our breed into the management of the park and its World Heritage Site status. The Identity theme is an important entry point for that integration. Throughout the Partnership Plan the identity theme is referenced via the interplay between the landscape, farming, and industry. For instance, “Farming, past industry and how communities have adapted to live and work in the Lake District have helped to shape this cultural landscape.” (3)

Stanegarth Clapper Bridge with High Street in the distance.

The Fell Pony and its ancestors played multiple roles in farming’s history in the Lake District. As David Anthony Murray summarized in his first report on the Fell Pony, “Recognised since Roman times as a pony type indigenous to Britain, we owe the Fell pony much. It pulled Saxon ploughs, shepherded Norman flocks and helped drove cattle across the Lake District.” (4) Fell Ponies more recently were used in the region as milk cart ponies (click here for more information) and to take farm goods to market. But ponies also grazed the uplands like the sheep and cattle of the region, so they have also contributed directly to the landscape known today, despite being left out of this description: “This landscape is an unrivalled example of a northern European upland agro-pastoral system based on the rearing of cattle and native breeds of sheep, shaped and adapted for over 1,000 years to its spectacular mountain environment. This land use continues today in the face of social, economic and environmental pressures.” (5)

Belted Galloway cattle near Haweswater

Because farming persists to the present, its place in the Lake District is well known. The presence of industry, however, especially mining, isn’t as well recognized. The Appendix summarizes, “Significant mining of metal ores in the Lake District took place from at least as early as 1000 AD and was developed on a truly industrial scale from the Elizabethan period following the establishment of the Mines Royal. Mining continued to develop from the 18th century and reached a peak in the later 19th and early 20th centuries followed by a decline which saw the last mineral mine close in 1990. Slate quarrying also took place on a small scale from the medieval period and developed as a major local industry from the 18th century. Although it too has declined, several slate quarries are still active in the Lake District.” (6) More specifically, “industrial scale mining for ores of iron, copper, lead and for graphite began during the medieval period.” (7)

Of course, prior to the introduction of engines, the local native ponies provided the ‘horsepower’ for the region’s economy, especially before roads were improved and pack horse routes were how goods of the region got to larger markets in other parts of the country. Pack pony loads included not only slate and metal ore but also fleece, fish, and more. (8) It is unlikely that any facet of the Lake District’s economy or history were untouched by the Fell Pony and its ancestors. David Anthony Murray continues, “[The Fell Pony] was, until 1900, Britain’s pack animal. More recently it pulled recreational traps, worked Cumbria’s farms and the Pennine lead mines and hauled coal and milk. Even 50 years ago, it delivered the Lake District’s post.” (9) (While pit mining using ponies may not have occurred in the Lake District proper, ponies reared on the Lake District fells certainly were ‘exported’ to other counties for use below ground (click here for more information).)

The Partnership’s Plan briefly acknowledges pack horse routes and bridges: “Many of the early packhorse routes survive in the English Lake District fells. In many cases they cross rivers and becks on carefully constructed, single span stone bridges known as packhorse bridges, which add greatly to the picturesque qualities of the landscape. These are largely undated but are likely to have been constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries, replacing earlier, medieval structures.” (10)

Walna Scar Packhorse Bridge (with added modern (ugly!) railings) courtesy Louise Thompson

In 2011, Louise Thompson of Lakeland Pack Ponies shared a very succinct summary of the place Fell Ponies and their ancestors occupied in the cultural landscape of the Lake District: “I have attached a photo of a wonderful pack pony bridge on the ancient route over Walna Scar. The route starts in the Lake District village of Coniston passing the old copper mines, continues up the steep pack pony route, crossing this bridge. The route descends down to the beautiful Seathwaite valley on the other side. Ponies would have carried loads of copper and slate over this pass…. Hardnott Pass is an old Roman road, used by pack ponies carrying goods such as wool and grains from the market town of Kendal [through the Lake District] to the little Roman port of Ravenglass. It is also said that the pack ponies were used by smugglers to collect illegal goods brought to the port, and, quietly in the dark of night, they would disappear into the fells carrying their loads.” (11)

If you are interested in a more detailed article about the use of ponies for packing historically, click here.

Looking towards Heltondale

I am sure that more and better examples exist of how the Fell Pony and its ancestors have contributed to the cultural landscape of the Lake District and its Identity theme of the World Heritage Site. And I am hopeful that those examples are integrated into the National Park and the World Heritage Site. Perhaps the international status of our breed could be an asset in that regard. The Partnership’s Plan states, “World Heritage Site status would require further attention to how the Lake District’s values are interpreted and transmitted, particularly by international audiences.” (12) I look forward to seeing the Fell Pony take its rightful place alongside the Herdwick Sheep as an iconic breed of the region.

1. “Euphoria as Lake District becomes a World Heritage Site,” July 9, 2017, at http://lakesworldheritage.co.uk/blog/2017/july/euphoria-as-lake-district-becomes-a-world-heritage-site/ as accessed 2/28/20.

2. Same as #1.

3. “Section 2.0: Outstanding Universal Value, Special Qualities, Risks and Vision,” p. 29, Volume 4: Partnership Plan, Nomination Dossier at https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringfor/policies/whs/lake-district-nomination as accessed 2/28/20.

4. Murray, David Anthony. The Fell pony: grazing characteristics and breed profile – a preliminary assessment, P.O. Box 550, Leicester, England, p. 378

5. “Section 1.0: Executive Summary,” p. 31, Volume 4: Partnership Plan, Nomination Dossier at https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringfor/policies/whs/lake-district-nomination as accessed 2/28/20.

6. “Appendix 1: Lake District Special Qualities,” p. 274, Volume 4: Partnership Plan, Nomination Dossier at https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringfor/policies/whs/lake-district-nomination as accessed 2/28/20.

7. Same as #6, p. 272-3.

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

9. Same as #4.

10. “Section 2.a. Description of the English Lake District,” p. 107, Volume 4: Partnership Plan, Nomination Dossier at https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringfor/policies/whs/lake-district-nomination as accessed 2/28/20.

11. Email from Louise Thompson to author, 11/1/11.

12. Same as #3, p. 81.

North American Fell Pony Population Status - 2019

As we have all been taught to do this past year, I will blame Covid for my tardiness in generating an update on the North American Fell Pony population. Each year I review the stud book of the Fell Pony Society to learn about changes to the North American Fell Pony population. This review is based on the 2019 stud book, and the review will quickly be out of date when the 2020 stud book is published in the spring of 2021. Nonetheless, there are important points to be made by the 2019 analysis.

The chart below shows how the population has changed since 2000 through 2019. The blue bar is the resident population. Red shows foals born in the year, and green is imports in the year. At the bottom of the bars is purple, showing deaths in the year.

Here are the highlights of my review of the 2019 stud book.

• There are just under 700 registered Fell Ponies in North America.

• As our population ages, the number of deaths annually is understandably increasing, with nine in 2019.

• The number of foals was slightly less than the previous year.

• In 2019, we had seventeen breeders, the most ever. Just as I found last year, half of the breeders in 2009 weren’t still breeding in 2019.

• There were three new breeders in 2019, which is about the same increase we see each year.

• There were about thirty new owners of registered Fell Ponies in 2019.

For me, it seems like there are lots of Fell Ponies in North America now. Compared to when I got started, there’s more than 20 times as many! Yet there really aren’t that many, and there are lots more people who need to learn about this breed because they will fall in love! Thank you for the role you play in the stewardship of this breed in North America.

(c) Jenifer Morrissey, 2021

There are many more observations about the Fell Pony breed in my book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Crossing the ‘Stream’ and Other Small Lessons

One of the challenges of being a Fell Pony breeder is figuring out how to fit riding and driving training into the reproductive schedules of my mares and my related workload. Sometimes, of course, mares have years when they are open, so there’s plenty of opportunity then. But when they are bred or have foals at foot, my answer is often to do things in small, frequent doses. For instance, recently when the days have been incredibly short in December and the weather has been unusually pleasant and warm, I have been looking for excuses to be outdoors. So, I’ve been taking a few minutes with each mare to do something each morning when I have them in the paddocks at the barn.

In my experience, there’s always something small to be worked on, even if I don’t know what it is in advance. Just preparing to mount and mounting often gives me an idea, such as reminding one of my girls about the importance of standing still during mounting. Or once underway, I need to remind a mare to maintain the particular gait I’ve asked for. In one mare, turning as we approached the paddock fence revealed a braced neck, so we’re working on that. Improving responses to leg aids is another one that has come up since one mare is very good in that department and the others not so much by comparison.

One morning we’d had a light snow, which is all we are getting right now in our drought. Runoff from the barn roof after the sun warmed things up created a very small ‘stream’ through the paddock. I didn’t think anything of it until I was riding one of my mares, and she stopped at the edge. I realized I had never ridden her through water before; our ridden work had not progressed that far back when we had regular access to live water for such lessons in Colorado. So my work with her that morning became learning to carry me across the ‘stream,’ though it wasn’t really much more than wet soft ground. Nonetheless, she refused just like equines will sometimes do when asked to cross water, so it was a good opportunity to carry out an important lesson.

One short lesson is nice, but stringing small lessons together over multiple days is even better. And with six fillies/mares, the total time is a good match for my schedule. As is always the case when working with ponies, consistent, purposeful attention makes for rewarding progress.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

More stories like this one can be found in my book The Partnered Pony, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Rose is Missing

I arrived at the barn after breakfast. As usual my beloved Fell Pony mares were there awaiting my arrival after their night out on the hill. Except Rose was not there. My heart pony was missing.

Rose has a bit of an independent streak, as shown here away from the herd back left. That independent streak of course makes her a great trail pony.

I threw some hay and closed the gate so the other five ponies would stay put, and I opened a gate to the barnyard so that Rose could enter if she showed up. Then I started calling. Usually Rose comes when she hears me, but then usually she is not far from the rest of the mares and this time she was missing, so I was a little concerned. I continued calling as I walked a little way west to get a good view, but then I headed east toward where I had last seen the herd on the hill. And I kept looking back toward the barn hoping Rose would be there, but she wasn’t.

As I kept looking, I alternated between hoping for the best and fearing the worst. I had heard an odd sound while I was eating breakfast, but I hadn’t investigated. Now I feared maybe it had been Rose crying for help, so I looked down steep hillsides and into ravines wondering if she had fallen. Rose is my only pony in my most important conservation line, so I also started the calculus of what I would do if I had lost her. Trying to think positive, I reflected on her independent spirit, illustrated by the photo here of her away from the herd. I willed her to be out there somewhere, safe.

I walked and called for nearly an hour before ending up back at my house ready to request help. Then I saw a black object about a quarter mile to the west on the pony side of the calving pasture fence. Was it a calf loose or was it Rose? I started walking in that direction and indeed it was a pony trotting toward the barn. Relief! And a few choice words about all the worry she caused me! I headed to the barn and greeted her warmly before putting her in with the other mares. I then tried to get past the anxiety that was still running through my body so I could get on with chores. But the story of Rose being missing wasn’t over.

The herd of elk that Rose was near. The pony pasture is over the ridge to the left.

I heard Bruce drive up to the cake bin on the other side of the barn to fill his caker before feeding bulls. I walked over to share about my long, searching walk. He somewhat chastised me for not calling him for help. Then he asked if the missing pony had a star. Yes, I said, thinking it a strange reaction to my story. Then more of Rose’s story came out. Bruce had been feeding the calves to the southwest of the barn when he saw a large herd of elk in the adjacent pasture. His first thought was to wonder how much fence they had ripped out, since that had been a recent regular occurrence. Then he saw a black animal and thought, ‘that bull looks odd.’ Then he realized it wasn’t the resident bull in that pasture, it was an equine. As he drove closer, he saw that it was actually a pony. Rose approached him and willingly went through the gate he opened to return her to the pony pasture. He said she then departed at a very purposeful pace toward the barn.

We may not ever know the rest of Rose’s story from that morning. Why did she stray from the other mares? How did she end up in that other pasture? Did the elk take out fence up higher and she followed them down? She and I had ridden in that other pasture about six months before, so she knew the territory. I had thought Rose’s vigorous trot toward the barn when I had seen her after searching was odd. Now I knew she actually couldn’t come when I called but she did come as soon as she was back in the right pasture and was able. I will of course go investigate if the elk did indeed take out fence. Each time I have checked the herd morning and night since then, Rose has been with them. Clearly something unusual happened that morning. With Bruce’s chastisement in mind, now I will also be sure to check with him before I commence any search for a missing pony!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

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

I Don’t Think it’s Coincidence

Red arrow points to the notifier, the sole visible pony, in this case Matty.

It has happened often enough now that I don’t think it’s a coincidence.  I go out just before dark to see my Fell Pony mare herd.  The mares run on a very large pasture, and I usually don’t know where they are on it when I begin my walk.  Often, though, one pony will make themselves visible, alerting me to where the rest of the herd likely is.  Then, just as often, that pony disappears, and it’s up to me to remember the location and navigate to it.

Not all members of the mare herd play the role of notifier.  Usually it is the lowest pony in the herd, Calista; sometimes it is the lead mare Matty.  Tonight it was Honey, briefly, before she disappeared.  I assume they hear my voice, or they hear the stallion Asi’s call and his gate open when I feed him first.  They know I am out and about.  It is up to me to scan the hill and the lowlands, or as tonight, to note the behavior of the calves in their feed pasture since they find the ponies a curiosity when they are near the fence.  Then the notifier makes themselves briefly visible, and I begin my walk in their direction.

While I don’t think it’s coincidence that there is a notifier pony, I also don’t want to believe it’s coincidence.  That the notifier makes themselves visible briefly is heart-warming.  To think they want me to know where they are and to come visit is a thrill.  I find observing these ponies in as close to as natural a setting as I can provide them to be fascinating.  Once again I realize one lifetime with them will not be enough.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

A Dominance Move?

Bowthorne Matty’s tail head is just showing at the bottom of this picture that I took mounted of the herd following us.

I had prepared all the feed buckets and was beginning to halter and tie my Fell Pony mares prior to feeding them.  As always, I haltered and tied the lead mare first, intending to work my way down/through the herd.  As I walked to the next pony, I heard a scuffle behind me and thought I saw a lower ranking mare threaten the tied mare.  It’s of course my job to protect any pony that is tied because they can’t protect themselves, so even though I wasn’t certain that I’d seen the lower ranking mare make a dominance move, I haltered and tied her next just in case.

The next morning it was gloriously beautiful.  The mares hadn’t come in on their own, so I went out in search of them.  I knew the day was going to be good when I found a piece of petrified wood near the herd, my first such find since moving to the Black Hills of South Dakota the year before.  The day then continued in that uplifting vein when I rode the lead mare into the barn with the rest of the herd following.  I get such a thrill out of riding with the herd like that!

Not long after the ride commenced, when we entered an open area, I noticed the same lower ranking mare pick up speed and head straight toward us in a somewhat threatening way.  Before I could decide on a plan to protect my mount and me, one of the other mares ran between us, pushing the threatening mare away.  My savior stayed between us and the threatening mare the rest of the way into the barn. 

The next day, the farrier was here to trim hooves, and he was working on the lower ranking mare.  That mare’s foal was separated from her while the farrier was working.  The foal had decided she’d been separated from her mother long enough and approached the fence dividing her from her mother.  She apparently got too close to another mare because that mare pinned her ears, snaked her neck out, and chased the filly a short distance off.  Immediately the lead mare used the same behavior to chase off the filly’s pursuer.  I was fascinated by this seeming disciplinary behavior by the lead mare of the pursuing mare.

I always find how my ponies interact to be fascinating.  Mostly the herd is peaceful, so I don’t very often get to see the sorts of behavior I did on these days.  The display by the lead mare doesn’t require anything on my part.  But now that I have two observations that a change in leadership in the herd may be underway, I will be more observant of herd interactions.  I need to protect not only myself but also any tied pony until the ramifications of the dominance moves by the lower ranking mare work themselves out.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

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

Where the Rising Sun Hits First

Living in a steep-sided valley, I am very conscious of how the sun rises differently with the seasons.  In the summer, my house gets very early morning light because the sun rises in line with the valley.  In the winter, the opposite is true.  The lower sun must make its way over a high southern ridge, slowing the arrival of first light.  My neighbor gets winter sun nearly a half hour before I do because his house sits higher and where the valley is broader. 

Several people have shared with me that their ponies come when they’re called.  These comments have been made to me in response to seeing photos of me with my ponies high on the hill of the pasture and hearing stories about bringing them down to the barn.  There have been suggestions that I need to train my ponies to come when they’re called so I don’t need to walk and climb after them.  These suggestions have caused me to think about why I don’t do that.

One reason is that I don’t need to train my ponies to come when they’re called; they already do that (usually!)  I just don’t call them in very often, so I had to ask myself why that is.  The answer is that I like to see what they choose to do without direction.  To some extent it is feedback on my leadership and the patterns I’ve established for what I expect of them.  And to some extent it is information about how they live the many hours of the day when I’m not with them.  I then use that information to enrich the time we do spend together.

One of the things I notice this time of year is that they are usually at the barn when I get there in the morning.  Then there are the occasional times when they are not.  What I have noticed is that they are at the barn of their own volition when the night has been cold and the sun has risen and warmed the barnyard before anywhere else.  And they are not at the barn when the sun isn’t out and the weather is inclement or if the night was warm and they don’t need a morning sunbath.  They have shown me that the rising sun hits the barn first this time of year.

I have used this information when working with my young filly.  I’ve been continuing to build her foot handling skills and doing preliminary farrier work.  We are working at liberty (she stands untied,) and some mornings she is more cooperative than others.  What I have learned is that those mornings when the herd has come to the barn on their own are when she is most compliant.  If I introduce a new variant of our foot handling routine, then, I do it on those sorts of mornings.  I wouldn’t have necessarily known to do that if I had made a habit of calling the herd in rather than let them show me what they prefer about sunbathing on cold mornings.

So while it is very possible that I could save myself some walking by calling my Fell Ponies in each morning, I choose not to call them because there is so much I can learn about them if I let them naturally join me or not.  At this point in my stewardship of my ponies, I prefer that sort of dialogue about behavior.  I like that they get to teach me, not just the other way around.  I like that they showed me where the rising sun hits first.  When I learn something like that, it enriches my life and, I hope, theirs. 

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Maybe It Was Aimee?!

When my Fell Ponies first started climbing high on the hill here, I asked, “I wonder who’s leading that adventure?”  (Click here to read the story.)  I figured that that leading pony would be a great trail pony.  I had several possibilities in mind.  There was Matty, the herd leader, of course.  And there was Rose, my trail and heart pony, and there was Calista, my young mare born on the fells of Cumbria.  None of them, though, had seemed particularly interested in exploring the hill.  A few days later I got a possible answer about who that adventurous lead pony might be. 

After the ponies’ initial adventure, when I got to the barn one morning to start chores, five of the seven members of the mare herd greeted me.  Madie and her five-month-old daughter Aimee were the missing ponies, and I figured they were out on the low elevation portion of the pasture somewhere as they often were that time of morning.  I expected they would appear before long as they normally did.

I prepared all the vitamin buckets, a sound that usually brings in any stragglers, but there was still no sign of Madie and Aimee.  I called to them several times, since Aimee often comes running when she sees or hears me.  They still didn’t appear, so I set Madie’s and Aimee’s buckets aside and fed the ponies that had come in, doing my normal inspection of their physical and mental wellbeing.  I then turned them all loose and pondered what to do about Madie’s and Aimee’s unclaimed buckets.  I walked out on the low portion of the hill to the west and didn’t see them, which seemed odd, so I carried the buckets to my house to check around the hill to the east, one of their favorite hangouts.  When they weren’t there either, I became a little concerned.

As I walked back to my house, I pondered what my next move should be.  Should I just assume they were all right and would reunite with the herd during the day?  Should I double check the lowlands to the west to be sure I hadn’t missed them somewhere?  I was tired and didn’t relish the idea of another mile or two of walking.  I stopped to take a deep breath then looked up on the hill.  I was astonished to see two black specs halfway up the hill.  Madie and Aimee!  They were in behind some trees so not visible from the barn.  I saw Aimee raise her head and look toward me when I called to her, but she made no move in my direction.  Okay, I told them, have a good day!  I returned their buckets to the barn to be fed another day.

A friend who met Aimee during the summer suggested that perhaps it was Aimee who had led the herd up on high that first time.  I could see the logic; Aimee certainly has the makings of a lead mare, but at such a young age I wondered if the herd would follow her.  But then I had seen Aimee lead her mother up in elevation a month before.  I will never really know, of course, which pony led the herd on that first adventure on the hill that day, but I’ve now added Aimee to the list of possibilities!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Binoculars are My New Friend!

It was just before sunset as I walked to the stallion pen to feed my Fell Pony Asi.  As I walked, I scanned the hill south then east then west looking for the mare herd.  I saw a bunch of dark-colored animals, so I noted the location so I could look from a better vantage point.  When I got to that point, though, there were two bunches of dark-colored animals.  Too many!  I was confused!  It was then that I realized that I would have to get friendly with binoculars.

While one of those bunches of dark colored animals was indeed the mares, the other was four pair of cows and calves who had wandered over the hill from the neighboring pasture.  In the failing light of the day, glassing them allowed me to be sure that the ponies were all grazing or would look up when I called goodnight.

The next morning when I fed Asi, I again scanned the hill and spotted a bunch of dark colored animals to the west.  Of course I didn’t have the binoculars with me, so I wasn’t sure if it was the mares or not.  I debated whether to walk east to the house for the binoculars or west to see if I could get a more accurate look.  I chose west, which ended up being the wise choice because the cattle came into view low on the hill, so it was indeed the mares up higher.

The next day, just after sunset, I saw dark objects moving across the hill midway up.  This time I went back to the house for the binoculars because it was late and I didn’t have time to waste any footsteps.  Those dark objects ended up not being the ponies.  There were four elk grazing where the ponies had been a few days before.  A pony then came into view farther down the hill where it was clear that it was indeed a pony, so I glassed that area and ascertained that all were well.

One night I found the ponies just before dark without need of visual assistance.  And with them was a herd of deer, seen to the left of the ponies in the picture here.  The hill is alive with creatures, and I can now see more of them with my new friend:  binoculars!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

Even at Thirteen Degrees!

They were in high spirits as they came running down the draw to greet me, kicking their heels in the air, rearing with necks arched, running circles around each other, manes and tails flying about with their breath making small clouds in the cold air.  My Fell Ponies had every right to be edgy since the temperature was just thirteen degrees Fahrenheit, there were snow flakes in the air, and a breeze made it feel all the more frigid.

After I bid each pony a greeting, I attempted to depart before the cold seeped into my clothing any more.  One pony then another asked for a second greeting by blocking my way.  I headed toward a narrow trail that climbed up out of the draw, thinking that route would discourage followers, and it did, except for one.  My heart pony Willowtrail Wild Rose followed me nimbly on the rocky, snow-covered path while the rest of the herd ran down and around and out of sight.  I thought for certain that Rose would want to go to her friends when we climbed high enough that they came into view again.  But no, she chose to stay with me.  I was flattered by her choice.

Nonetheless I was anxious to go home where it was warm, but Rose was making it clear she wanted my attention.  She gladly accepted serious rubbing of her chest but then she clearly wanted more, even at thirteen degrees.  Okay then, I told her, let’s do a little game.  We were amongst a few pine trees, so I asked her to go around one.  She went up, around, down, and back up the slope to me, clearly proud of herself, so then I asked her to walk between two closely spaced trees.  I congratulated her on her accomplishment again.  Rose seemed satisfied and headed down the hill at a fast trot to regain her friends who were once again displaying their high-energy antics.  Meanwhile Drybarrows Calista was watching what we were doing and was coming to investigate, joining me shortly after Rose departed.

These ponies are so fascinating.  They have dozens and dozens of acres to explore and they have each other to interact with, yet Rose still chose my company and then demanded some sort of engagement as if I could provide her with something she wanted that her fellow ponies could not give her.  It was a high compliment indeed.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

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

“Quit Coaching the Ponies!”

Arrow pointing to location of ponies on the hill, taken from the stallion pen with Asi’s butt for context!

Shortly after the ponies and I moved to Scotty Springs Ranch last year, ranch co-owner Bruce Murdock starting telling me he couldn’t wait to see the ponies high on the hill.  It was in part because he hoped to see them perched regally on high and see them running with manes and tails flowing.  But it was also in part because he knew I brought them in each morning for vitamin buckets and inspection and training.  He hoped they would be as far away as possible to make me hike!  Well, it took a year but he got his wish!

The first hike way up the hill was an adventure.  As I started the second one the next day, though, I texted him saying “quit coaching the ponies!”  His accurate but annoying retort was, “the Fell Ponies of Cumbria.”  I responded with, “the fell of Scotty Springs!”

My young dog Ace looking at Calista emreging from under the pine tree.

We had three inches of snow overnight, and when I emerged from my house that morning, I looked up the hill and saw four black specs two-thirds of the way up.  I called out to them, saying they ought to come down and meet me at the barn.  I could tell they heard me because they had their heads up and faced in my direction, but I didn’t see any of them moving.  After I fed my stallion, I looked up the hill, and they were still on their same perch, looking in my direction.  One then moved slightly off and down, so I was hopeful they were headed in my direction, so I headed to the barn to prepare buckets.

Arrow points to where ponies were waiting for me above the barn as I came off the hill.

After the buckets were ready, I saw the other three ponies close to the barn, so I brought them in.  Then I looked up the hill again and realized that bringing the ponies in off the hill had just gotten more complicated.  Fog had covered the upper reaches of the hill, and I could no longer see the four ponies up there.  And because I could no longer see them, I also didn’t know exactly what route to take to get to them because making that journey was so new to me.  I wasn’t looking forward to the trek this time either because I was in winter-mud boots that were not my first choice for hiking on a rocky snow-covered hillside.  But I set off with my dogs for another climb of the mountain.

When we got up into the fog, stories told by people like Tom Lloyd in Cumbria of treks on the fells through fog easily came to mind.  When I got to where I thought the ponies were, there were no tracks at all in the snow, so I knew I was in the wrong place.  I decided I needed to go higher, so I began climbing again veering west.  Thank goodness something made me turn around because I saw a pony come into view through the fog across the hill to the east of me.  It was Drybarrows Calista who so often is the one that notifies me of the herd’s location.  I thanked her loudly and saw Willowtrail Mountain Honey descending farther away.  I turned around and started following them down.

The barn emerges from the fog and Calista comes to greet me. Her head is turned in order to discourage Ace the dog from trying to herd her.

As I got almost all the way down, the barn emerged from the fog and I could see my four hill climbers between me and there.  Calista, in her generous way, came to me to say hello as I got closer (her head is turned oddly in the picture; she was discouraging my young dog Ace from trying to herd her).  I haltered the lead mare and the others followed us to the barn in high spirits.  I was happy to have made it down in one piece and thankful I hadn’t needed to lead a pony down while picking my way down the slope.  I trust in time I’ll come to know the hill better so I’ll be better able to climb to the ponies wherever they are and do so more efficiently.  This time I will admit that the adventure into the fog was a fun way to start the day.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

Champion Horse Judge and Champion Friend

Linda Murdock with her beloved granddaughter Jackson and Willowtrail Mountain Honey

You can bet that as soon as I learned that my friend Linda Murdock had been a champion horse judge in her younger years, I began quizzing her every chance I got.  I would have her judge selected line-ups of my Fell Ponies or have her explain a particular aspect of conformation.  She helped me take pictures and make measurements for saddle fit.  She helped me deliver Willowtrail Henry to his owner in Ohio and then visit three Fell Pony owners on the way home.  When I moved to Scotty Springs Ranch, she took her horses out of the horse pasture so that my ponies would have it all to themselves.

I met Linda and Bruce when I bought an Australian Shepherd puppy from them.  Before long we were talking on the phone about breeding dogs and then cattle, which they had been doing for decades, and eventually about Fell Ponies.  When my husband died, they immediately offered a place for me to land with my ponies and all the logistics to get us from there to here.  For the past eighteen months they have been my closest friends and companions.

Tragedy struck a week ago.  Linda was taken from us in an accident here on the ranch.  There is a huge gaping hole where she once was the answerer of questions, the giver of advice, the solver of problems, the volunteer for errand runs or road trips, the shoulder on which to share bad news or happy circumstances.  There are dogs and cats and horses and cattle that miss her attention and try to coach those of us who remain to do better. 

I gave her granddaughter Jackson a ride on a pony for the first time without Linda.  Jackson was thrilled, and the rest of us remembered how much joy Linda showed when her pink princess became a cowboy.  Linda, all of us were made better by your presence in our lives.  You are greatly missed.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

The family encourages remembrances to your favorite animal rescue.

I’d Like to Know Who Led that Adventure!

My house, which is at the same elevation as the barn and foaling shed, is just below the top of the tallest tree left of center.. The ponies are below that stand of trees (the dark spots).

Late in the afternoon I watched the ponies heading up the hill.  The day before was the first time I had found them more than fifty feet above the barn, and then it was only three of them.  The hill has about 400 feet of elevation change, with the lower reaches gradually rising, and the upper reaches being quite steep.  For their first year here, which they’ve just completed, the ponies have stayed in the lower reaches.  Now though, they are running out of forage and it is cool enough that they can venture farther from water for longer periods, which I expect are what inspired the climb. 

Right before starting late afternoon chores, I saw a line of dark spots about two-thirds of the way up the hill moving left to right across the steepest part of the hillside (I wish I’d taken a picture!).  On closer look I saw that it was definitely six of the ponies.  I tried to get a bearing on where they were since when I began my climb to visit them, I would be under them and unable to see their location.

As it turned out, I missed them and hiked all the way to the top then northeast along the ridge until I could see them below me.  Two of the ponies were bedded down resting, a choice I definitely understood after making a similar climb!  What I really wanted to know, though, is who had led them on their adventure.  That pony would make a great trail pony!  The first pony to greet me when I descended to the herd was Drybarrows Calista, my fell-born girl, and she seemed bright-eyed compared to the rest of the herd.  She’s low down in the herd hierarchy, so it’s hard for me to imagine she was the leader.  Maybe in time I’ll be shown the answer!

Between the top and the ponies, I was rewarded for my efforts with discovering a very large elk antler (often called a ‘shed’).  When I got to the ponies, I was also rewarded when the sun burst through the clouds on the western horizon and cast pink light on the hill tops.  The camera I had with me doesn’t like low light, hence the fuzzy image of Calista and the shed and the pink light.  What a fun outing!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

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

Calista Claims Her Spot

Calista at the periphery of the gang of three

I am always watching how my ponies interact:  who likes who, who pushes who around, who stays with who in the pasture, who mutual grooms who, etc.  Three of my mares are very tightly bonded, so much so that one of them will vocalize whenever the three aren’t together.  One mare that was born with me but then was away for three years has never been able to insert herself into that threesome, despite being back for five years.  An outside mare that I bought is often to be found off by herself rather than with any of the other ponies.

When I decided to import my mare Drybarrows Calista, I asked her breeder where she stood in the herd hierarchy (knowing of course that there’s no such thing as a strict hierarchy in equine herds.)   When I was told she was in the middle of the pack, I considered that good news since it meant she was likely to fit in and wouldn’t exhibit aggressive behavior in a quest for leadership nor be a loner.

This fall I have been running all my mares together again for the first time since late winter and for the first time with the outside mare that I bought.  It has been interesting to see Calista adapt to this situation.  During the summer I ran her with the outside mare, so I assumed that she would continue to buddy up with that mare because she was head of their herd of two.  Calista would vocalize when she couldn’t find her buddy, making me think they were indeed herd mates.  But occasionally I would find her with the mare with foal at foot, and the outside mare was off somewhere by herself.

With three choices before her, Calista has made it clear, though, where she prefers to be.  She doesn’t want to be head of her herd of two, and she hasn’t bonded to the mare with foal.  She prefers to be with the gang of three mature mares, even if she’s on the periphery of their herd.  It’s hard to argue with her choice.  Those three are strong, confident mares, probably like the herd that Calista was born into on the fells of Cumbria.  I will watch with great interest how Calista’s relationship with the gang of three evolves.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.