The Sands

Living as I do in the middle of the North American continent, over a thousand miles from an ocean shore, it is unlikely I’ll ever ride any of my Fell Ponies on a beach. As a child growing up in Oregon, though, I was fortunate to spend many formative years at the coast where I became intimately aware of tides and waves and sand. When my sister visited me one summer recently, we talked of a beach ride we’d taken at the Oregon Coast many years before when my parents gave into repeated requests for an equine experience. That we both have strong memories of that ride is perhaps evidence that there is something potent about being on equines on sands.

My stewardship of Fell Ponies has led me to a curiosity about packhorse bridges in Cumbria. It is thought that Fell Ponies were used during the time of the packhorse trade to carry goods throughout England, mostly from the Lake District outward. From a study of packhorse bridges I became curious about packhorse routes and subsequently learned about the Sands routes. My childhood experiences at the Oregon Coast caused me to be fascinated and needing to learn more.

Major towns, highways, and sands areas in MoreCambe Bay at the southern tip of Cumbria.  One route across the sands went from either Hest Bank or SilverDale to Kents Bank.  Others crossed the Cartmel and Duddon Sands.

Fortunately for me, the long-time Queen’s Guide to the Sands, Cedric Robinson, has written a number of books about his experience on the Sands of Morecambe Bay. His stories of this estuary took me back to my time on the Nestucca estuary in Oregon, digging for clams, avoiding quicksand, timing outings relative to the tides, and marveling at phosphorescence.

Estuaries are the tidal area of a river where it meets the sea. The Nestucca estuary of my childhood received both the Little Nestucca and mainstem rivers. Morecambe Bay at the southern edge of Cumbria is fascinating because it receives seven rivers: Kent, Keer, Leven, Crake, Bela, Winster, and Lune. Robinson’s experiences have primarily been in the portion of the Bay where the Kent and Keer enter: first as a fisherman and then as a Guide most often leading walks from Silverdale or Hest Bank to Kents Bank. The map here shows two other Sands areas to the west of the Kent: the Cartmel (also in Morecambe Bay) and the Duddon.

J.D. Marshall in his book Old Lakeland, says about the Cartmel route, “The first recorded crossing was in 1322, but this route was without doubt used in earlier times than that, and continued as the usual route to the area as late as the mid 19th century. It was certainly the shortest route, and usually also the most comfortable, with guides appointed to lead travelers over the safe routes which constantly varied according to the tides and the weather.” (1)

Sign post in Cartmel noting distances over sands routes.
Courtesy and copyright Maggie B. Dickinson

Sands routes were important before the era of railways because transport was accomplished with natural horsepower. At low tide when the Sands are exposed, traversing the Sands could save many miles when traveling from places in the Lake District to markets in Lancashire and points south. The Sands routes were also valued because they were less dusty than heavily traveled roads in the summer time. Guides were necessary who knew the Sands intimately so that travelers wouldn’t become mired in quicksand, would know where to best cross the rivers and would know when was the proper time to set off so as to arrive safely before the tide came back in. Because Morecambe Bay is shallow, the tide recedes nearly nine miles but comes back in quickly when it returns, “with the speed of a good horse.” (2)

A tangential connection of the Sands to Fell Ponies came in 1985. HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is known to Fell Pony enthusiasts for his driving of HM the Queen’s Fells. In 1985 he drove his Cleveland Bay horses across the Kent sands, guided by Robinson, and accompanied by other carriage drivers. The day before the Royal crossing, the Kent channel moved two miles, revealing why the Queen’s Guide to the Sands is necessary and is an official post.

When Robinson started his fisherman’s career on the Sands, he relied on natural horsepower to carry cockles and shrimp and flukes from the Sands back to shore. Here are some of my favorite stories that he shared in his books:

• “Many a horse that spent years pulling cabs along Morecambe promenade had a new lease of life on the Sands. A few horses were bought at the old fairs at Brough and Appleby, but you needed to have made every mistake in buying and selling horses to have the confidence to deal in places such as those….” (3)

• “When cockling, a fisherman did not need his horse for an hour or two. Jack Manning relates that to avoid having a chilled horse, the fisherman would remove it from the shafts, tip up the cart, having regard to the wind direction and stand the horse where it derived shelter from the weather. The animal was provided with a nose bag containing hay. There might be half a ton of cockles on the cart when it was drawn off the Sands.” (4)

• “The Sand horses truly amazed me on how good they were to work with in the dark. A horse new to the Sands would take a little time to get used to following wheel marks made on the outward journey, but an experienced animal was able to follow them even in the dark. You could even sit in the front of the cart with your back to the horse and he would bring you home.” (5)

The stories I could most relate to were about phosphorescence. My siblings and I experienced this on a few occasions on the beach as children, scuffling our feet in the wet sand of low tide after dark and watching sparks fly. Later I experienced phosphorescence when paddling a sea kayak at night in Puget Sound in Washington. Sparks would spread from where the oar entered the water each time I took a stroke. I marveled at phosphorescence at these times, but how an equine might react seems a different matter. Robinson calls phosphorescence ‘foxfire’ and relates these stories:

• “Every movement of the horses’ hooves in the water sent up a shower of sparkling drops into the dark night. As the cart in front of me moved out, its wheels threw up a cascade of shining water right in my horse’s path and frightened him so much that I could not control him. He just wanted to get anywhere out of the foxfire and this for me was really frightening. Dad decided to take Banner and I took Daisy, who was a quiet, experienced animal.”

• “The foxfire had to be seen to be believed. Even when you had hauled in your net and emptied your catch of shrimps into a box, and were running your fingers through them to sort out the seaweed, you didn’t need a torch because they were all aglow.”

• “These sparks flickered around the spokes of the wheels, the hubs and the nets. We could see the whole shape of the nets glowing with phosphorescence…. I have seen it very few times in my life in spite of all my time on the Sands. Shrimping with a horse and cart, and thus activating the water, showed to the full the true brilliance of the foxfire.” (6)

There is one other modern-day connection between the Sands and Fell Ponies. To supplement his meager income as a fisherman and guide to the Sands, Robinson started a pony-ride business. One of the ponies was a Fell. “Bluey was a very nice Fell Pony, which we bought from a dealer at Shap. Horses were being sold abroad at this time for the meat trade, so we actually saved Bluey’s life and he turned out to be a belter!” (7)

Raisburn Lettie and Anna Bigelow on the coast of Maine.  Courtesy Katie Liscovitz

Perhaps someday I’ll get to ride a Fell Pony on an ocean beach. And perhaps someday I’ll even get to walk the Sands route with the Queens Guide to the Sands. Even better would be to ride it on a Fell Pony! In the meantime, I’ll view photos of Fell Ponies on beaches - like the one here of Raisburn Lettie with Anna Bigelow - with much deeper appreciation for equines on sands and especially the connection between Fell Ponies and the Sands routes of Cumbria.

1. Marshall. J. D. Old Lakeland. David & Charles, 1971, per Maggie B. Dickinson email dated 9/23/16.

2. Robinson, Cedric, and Mitchell, W.R. Life around Morecambe Bay. Clapham via Lancaster, England: Dalesman Books, 1986, p. 7

3. Robinson and Mitchell, p. 43

4. Same as #2

5. Robinson, Cedric. Sandman: The Autobiography of Cedric Robinson, the Queens Guide to the Sands. Great Northern Books, Ltd. Ilkley, England, 2009, p. 48.

6. Robinson, p. 36

7. Robinson, p. 130

With thanks to Maggie B. Dickinson for generously sharing her research on packhorse bridges and routes.

Burn Moor

Burn Moor lies between the villages of Wasdale Head and Boot in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria. The 5 mile route over Burn Moor has two historic pack horse associations. The first was for trade: moving goods from farm to market and from town to town. The second was as a corpse road. Until the early twentieth century, Wasdale Head didn’t have consecrated ground for burials, so bodies had to be transported to Boot to be interred.

The route is considered lonely, and there is a sad tale that after the death of someone in Wasdale Head, the body was loaded on a packhorse and taken on its final journey to Boot in Eskdale for burial. The horse and corpse were lost on Burn Moor, never to be found, with the location of the disappearance noted in the guidebook we used on our walk over Burn Moor. The location was approximately where we encountered bogs and watched our Fell Ponies extricate themselves, so I easily came to the conclusion that the horse and corpse in the story were sucked down into a bog, never to emerge again.

Christine Robinson expanded on the tale. She said that a young man had died in Wasdale Head, and the horse carrying his corpse over Burn Moor was lost en route. When the news was relayed to the young man’s mother, she became so upset that she died. When her body was en route over Burn Moor, that horse and corpse were also lost. The horse with the body of the young man was eventually found, but the lost grieving mother haunts the moor still.

Perhaps the most famous modern traveler over the ancient packhorse routes of the Lake District was Bob Orrell who took two Fell Ponies on his Saddle Tramp in the Lake District in the 1970s. He recounts the following corpse road story in his book:

“In the days before Wasdale Head had its own consecrated ground, those unfortunate enough to expire in this remote corner of Cumberland were denied their final rest until the mortal remains had been carried, on horseback, for burial to St. Catherine’s in Eskdale. There are numerous tales told of horses bolting and disappearing into the mist, still carrying the coffin, never to be seen again, but the one I like best concerns a farmer in Wasdale who was plagued by a nagging wife. Blessed relief came one day, when the wife took ill and died. She was quickly put in a coffin and the funeral party set off for Eskdale. Crossing Burnmoor the pony slipped and the coffin bumped against a rowan tree and revived the old wife. There was nothing they could do but troop back to Wasdale, where she made the poor man’s life even more miserable. After a few years she finally passed away, and once more the funeral party set off for Eskdale. The farmer was very careful not to jolt the coffin and, as they neared the rowan tree, he shouted to his son, who was leading the pony, ‘Be careful as thou passes yon tree, Jack. We don’t want any more accidents.’”

There is a pack horse bridge in Boot at the end of today’s walking route.

Christine Robinson and the author in 2015 on Boot Pack Horse Bridge with Linnel Doublet and Hynholme Amber.

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

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.

Fell Ponies and Fossil Cycads

I did my evening pony chores early so I could go on a tour of what was at one time Fossil Cycad National Monument.  The parallels between this lost treasure and Fell Ponies on the fells of Cumbria were hard to miss.

Fossil Cycad National Monument was formed to protect a site here in the Black Hills of South Dakota where fossilized cycadeoids, an extinct order of plants on which dinosaurs once feasted, were commonly found on the surface.  The monument existed in name only, and just between 1922 and 1957, because most of the fossils had been removed from the site prior to the monument’s creation.  So complete was the removal of the fossils that my friends Bruce and Linda Murdock who have ranched adjacent to the monument for nearly fifty years have only once found a fossil cycad on their place.  The monument’s namesake is gone, making the monument unneeded.

Oddly the principal proponent of Fossil Cycad National Monument was also the person who is usually blamed for the monument’s demise.  George Wieland homesteaded the land and donated it to the federal government for the purpose of the monument.  At the same time, he also removed the greatest number of fossils from the site, most of which are now at Yale University’s Peabody Museum where he worked.  When it was widely understood that there were no longer fossil cycads at the monument named for them, the monument was officially deauthorized.

Linda Murdock holding a fossil cycad they found on their ranch adjacent to the former national monument.

I see parallels between the monument that’s missing its namesakes and the fells in Cumbria that are losing their Fell Ponies.  As National Park Service paleontologist Vincent Santucci has written about the ‘case of paleontological resource mismanagement,’ “I get a chance to go out to classrooms … and whenever we talk about [Fossil Cycad National Monument], there's sort of a disbelief that we've actually lost a unit of the National Park Service. We've all sort of been cheated the opportunity to get out and experience and learn about this remarkable resource that at one point stood at the threshold of becoming a national monument. So we need to think hard about ways to promote stewardship and preservation of these nonrenewable resources so that we don't see something like this happen again.” (1)  In the Fell Pony community, some people use similar words about stewardship and preservation of a unique resource when they talk about Fell Ponies on their native fells and the threats to their continued presence there.

On a somewhat humorous note, there is also a terminology parallel between Fell Ponies and fossil cycads.  Sometimes fossil cycads are referred to, incorrectly, as petrified pineapples.  I immediately thought of Fell Ponies being, incorrectly, referred to as mini Friesians.

I am hopeful that there is a sufficient drumbeat in support of Fell Ponies remaining on the fells that those hills won’t lose their namesake ponies the way Fossil Cycad National Monument lost its namesake specimens.  There is such value to being able to view a resource on its native land, rather than in some remote museum or stable.

1. Zimny, Michael.  “Fossil Cycad:  The National Monument That Wasn’t,”  blog post, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, 8/12/20, www.sdpb.org

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

For more about Fell Ponies, see my book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Rewilding's False Promise

When I turned the page of my business magazine and found an article on rewilding, I groaned.  NO!  I said it loudly, but I was the only one around to hear. Then on the next page I found a picture of Exmoor ponies illustrating the article.  My opinion, though, was unchanged, in part because the type of native pony wasn’t mentioned in the caption.  I suppose in some way it is laudable that Exmoors are being used in a rewilding project, but rewilding hasn’t necessarily been good for Fell Ponies.  In some places Fells are no longer allowed to graze fells that they have grazed for centuries. 

The article discusses an aristocrat, one of several in Britain, who “aims to return denuded farmland and deforested areas to their native state by removing invasive species and replanting and reintroducing native ones….  Rewilding attempts to reverse [denuded farmland and deforestation], not for the sake of nostalgia, but for a more viable future.” (1)  The article suggests that agriculture and forestry businesses are the cause of the problems that rewilding wishes to solve.  Having owned businesses in both those vocations, I know they don’t have to be the cause of problems; they can instead be solutions.  And with the right incentives, these sorts of businesses can be more enduring than philanthropy for problem solving.  Hence my vehement reaction to the heralding of rewilding by my business magazine.

While the intentions of people wanting to retain wildness and native species in our world are not bad ones, often these people miss an important point about our world and the landscapes within.  Denuded farmland and deforested areas have resulted from humans trying to meet our needs.   If our needs are not taken into account in these rewilding projects, then rewilding isn’t really solving the problem, is it?  It’s just punting the problem to the next landscape down the road, so to speak.  And no landscape deserves that, though there are plenty which have suffered that fate.

Often, native ponies like Fells are not considered native species by rewilding enthusiasts, hence the ponies’ needs are not a priority in a rewilding plan.  And the needs of their stewards, too, are often unaddressed because farmers and loggers are seen as the cause of the problem that rewilding is trying to fix.  In the Lake District and its environs, this is especially odd since the very landscape that was heralded by the World Heritage Site designation was in large part created by farming.  One would think that there, at the very least, the needs of farmers and their livestock would be addressed in any landscape management plan.

Because rewilding fails to take human needs of landscapes into account, its promise of a more viable future is a false one.  How can rewilding claim to be creating something viable when the needs of the most impactful species on the planet aren’t considered?  Instead, our planet needs each of us to be honest about the needs we have of landscapes and who we share those landscapes with.  Only when we make each decision – personal, political, business - with these things in mind can we create a more viable future.  There is no one-size-fits-all solution.  Each place has its own unique opportunities.  Our charge as citizens of this planet is to make our decisions wisely because all lives - humans and ponies and native species included - depend on it.

1)       Ekstein, Nikki.  “Keep Wild and Carry On,” Bloomberg Businessweek, 4/27/20, p. 55.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

Update on North American Fell Pony Population Status - 2018 stud book

Each year I review the stud book of the Fell Pony Society to learn about changes to the North American Fell Pony population. In January 2020, I finished my review of the 2018 stud book. The chart below shows how the population has changed since 2000 through 2018. 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 2018 stud book. 

• There are roughly 650 registered Fell Ponies in North America.

• As our population ages, the number of deaths annually is understandably increasing.

• The number of foals was greater by a dozen than the previous year.

• In 2018, we had sixteen breeders.  That is tied with the highest number of breeders we’ve had; the previous year we had that many was 2008.  Half of the breeders in 2008 weren’t still breeding in 2018. 

• There were two new breeders in 2018.

• There were about twenty five new owners of registered Fell Ponies in 2018.

For me, it seems like there are lots of Fell Ponies in North America now because 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!

This article was originally published in the January 2020 edition of my e-newsletter Fell Pony News from Willowtrail Farm. If you would like to subscribe, click here.

Fell Ponies, Gowbarrow Park, and The National Trust

I am elated that the Fell Pony Heritage Centre has recently arranged for Fell Ponies to return to Gowbarrow Park in the English Lake District.   What follows is an excerpt from a longer article about Fell Ponies and Gowbarrow Park, first published in Fell Pony News from Willowtrail Farm, June 2019.  The full article is available by clicking here.

J. Swinburn, Gowbarrow Hall, Watermillock in Reminiscences of Joe Bowman and the Ullswater Foxhounds by WC Skelton, 1921

Fell Ponies had been raised in Gowbarrow Park before the National Trust started its herd.  John Swinburn of Gowbarrow Hall bred and registered ponies from 1894 to 1926.  The first pony to appear in the stud books of the Fell Pony Society as bred by Mr. Swinburn is General Pride 641.  The Fell Pony Museum has this text from General Pride’s stud card:  “General Pride is a horse of class and character. His class of bone, hair, his legs, feet and pasterns, and his general appearance at once denote a breeding horse; in fact, he is admitted by competent judges to be a perfect model of the breed; and as regards his action, a single glance at the same will convince anyone that he is, without a doubt, the finest stepping pony in existence.”  The card then lists the many accomplishments of General Pride’s near ancestors. (1)  The stallion General Pride is found behind all modern day Fell Ponies. (2)

A mare Mr. Swinburn bred named Crow who was foaled in 1898 placed second for the Earl of Lonsdale in a Fell Pony mare class at Carlisle circa 1902.  (3)  Swinburn’s ponies were used to produce the Ullswater ponies at Knotts Farm. Watermillock-on-Ullswater in 1931. 

It was in the 1940s that the National Trust had Fell Ponies in Gowbarrow Park.  “The little herd of well-bred pedigree ponies… were presented to the Trust by the late Mr. Charlton (4) during the war.  At that time the breed was facing destruction with very few purely-bred foals being born, and a large number of crossbred Fell-Clydesdale ponies being reared to work on small farms.  The future of the breed was very uncertain, and it was hoped that the Trust would be able to preserve a small herd of pedigree ponies of the best type on Gowbarrow Park, by the shores of Ullswater, where there is ample ground, shelter and good grazing for a number of ponies.” (5)

In 1936, Bruce Thompson became the first land agent for the National Trust in the Lake District.  He and his wife Mary raised Fell Ponies, “and they often rode out together to the Trust farms to collect the rent.” (6)  According to Linda Lear in her book Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature, Bruce Thompson served a term as President of the Fell Pony Society after the Second World War. (7)  It is Mr. Thompson’s name that is associated with the first registrations of the National Trust’s ponies.  In Volume XXIV, three ponies - Gowbarrow Lad, Lass, and Lightning - are registered, all foaled in 1943.  They are all by Linnel Romany II and out of the Linnel mares Rosemary, Girl, and Flash, respectively, that were transferred to the National Trust in the same volume.  The National Trust’s address in this volume is given as Troutbeck, Windermere.

In 1948 a second generation of the National Trust’s herd began with the birth of Gowbarrow Rover out of G. Mary and in 1949 with G. Laverock also out of Mary.  The last Gowbarrow pony, Linnet, was foaled in 1949.  By this time the National Trust address was Ambleside.

Many of the Gowbarrow ponies were absorbed by the McCosh family into the Dalemain herd.  And then in 1950, “when the Fell breed was in a more healthy state, it was decided to dispose of the herd.  The Trust offered what remained of the herd to the Fell Pony Society…  The Fell Pony Society decided to accept the offer….  It was extremely disappointing to the Fell Pony Society that the Trust, with their vast areas of Lakeland, should dispose of their well-bred herd.  Eventually it was decided to resell the ponies to members of the Fell Pony Society at the 1950 Colt Show….” (8)  None of the Gowbarrow mare lines survive. (9) Today the Gowbarrow prefix is owned by Ruth Eastwood; no ponies have been registered under that prefix since the 1990s.

Ullswater from Gowbarrow Park. Courtesy Library of Congress (10)

I have now written a follow-on article about Fell Ponies near Gowbarrow Hall Farm. To request it, click here.

1. http://www.fellponymuseum.org.uk/fells/breed/g-pride.htm

2. Using the tools of the Fell Pony Pedigree Information Service, a search for descendants of General Pride was conducted in the 2007 and 2017 foal crops.  100% of foals with pedigrees deep enough showed General Pride behind them.

3. Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Volume 63, Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1902 p. cix.  As found on books.google.com.

4. This ‘late Mr. Charlton’ is not to be confused with our late Mr. Charlton.  The Mr. Charlton referenced here would be our late Mr. Charlton’s grandfather.

5. Fell Pony Stud Book Registrations 1898-1980, The Fell Pony Society, circa 1981, p. 182.

6. Lear, Linda.  Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature.  New York:  St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007, p. 395.

7. Lear, p. 530, note #36.

8. Same as #5.

9. According to the tools of the Fell Pony Pedigree Information Service, no Gowbarrow ponies from Thompson or Swinburn’s breeding show up in pedigrees of the 2007 or 2017 foal crops.

10. 4) Gowbarrow Park postcard from the Library of Congress at https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsc.08519/

I am grateful to Eddie McDonough for his previous research on the Gowbarrow Fell Ponies.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019 and 2020

Acknowledging Rose and Her Pre-Flight Checks

One of my earliest memories of my first Fell Pony Sleddale Rose Beauty makes me chuckle now, though at the time it was definitely Beauty who was doing the chuckling.  I had gone out to handle her feet, and I was using the technique that was working on my other (non-Fell) ponies.  Beauty, though, had absolutely no interest in cooperating with my approach, though I knew she knew what I wanted.  I could pull her feet off the ground by pulling on her feather, but I couldn’t get her to lift them for me.  Eventually, Beauty was one of my favorite hoof trimming objects because she was so cooperative, but that first time, I was the one getting the lesson about how things should go.

“What’s next?!!”

As I have been bringing my mare Willowtrail Wild Rose back into work, I have often thought back to other ponies in her line that I have worked with in the past.  In addition to her mother Beauty, I worked with her half-sister Lily.  When I went back and re-read things I wrote about working with Beauty and Lily, I chuckled with recognition.  Rose is definitely of that line!

In the last few days, Rose’s attitude towards me has definitely changed to one of intense interest in what we might do together.  The photo here shows her in that frame of mind.  What got us to this rewarding point was acknowledging Rose like I used to acknowledge her mother and doing pre-flight checks like I used to do with her sister.  To read about acknowledging Beauty, click here.  To read about Lily’s pre-flight checks, click here.

After I met my friend and mentor Joe Langcake, I asked him about Beauty’s type of cooperation.  He replied that he had owned a Sleddale mare once, and he had got shot of her because she was too much work; she took too much effort to bring along.  Christine Robinson of the Kerbeck Stud acknowledges that ‘they are certainly independent,’ but they have a type of physical package – legs and feet, bone and substance, broad back and wide chest – that make them worth the effort.  Christine has said, ‘I found all our [Sleddale] ponies were really willing to please and good workers.” (1) Joe acknowledged that when he later saw his former Sleddale pony at a show, he was very impressed with her.

When Rose was born, I thought that now I might have a pony in that line that I could work with.  I so loved Beauty’s type that it is a conservation goal of mine to keep it going since the Sleddale ponies are no longer being bred.  Rose is definitely of that line, but she also is willing to be a good worker, as long as I acknowledge her and pass her pre-flight checks!

1. Morrissey, Jenifer.  “The Sleddale Fell Ponies and Mr. Henry Harrison,” Fell Pony Express Volume 11 Number 2, Fall/Winter 2012, Fell Pony Society of North America, p. 10.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

There are lots of stories about Rose’s relations in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Hair Care: Supplementing Fats

I recently had visitors who were new to Fell Ponies.  They asked about hair care.  They observed the long manes on my ponies that were free of tangles, and they asked how often I brush them.  ‘Almost never’ was my reply.  I have found that the best way to get healthy and silky hair – coat but also mane, tail, forelock and feather – is to feed for it.  Then whenever I see a tangle starting to develop in the mane, rarely more often than every few weeks, I take the tangle out.

Here’s how I feed for healthy hair:

• Balanced and comprehensive vitamins and loose, free-choice minerals

• Copper supplementation (click here for a blog post on that topic)

• Good quality fats

It has always puzzled me why people add oils like corn and soybean to their equines’ rations.  Oils are the farthest thing from natural in an equine diet.  But then I read the following:  “Fat from any source will make your horse shiny….  Any fat will do; the type of dietary fat doesn’t matter when it comes to making the hair coat shine…”  (1)  So that explains one reason why people add oils to their equines’ diets:  shiny coats.  Another explanation is likely that the equine’s owner is making a laudable attempt to replace starches and sugars in their equines’ diets with fat as an energy source.

But then the quote above had an important caveat.  “Any fat will do; the type of dietary fat doesn’t matter when it comes to making the hair coat shine – but it sure does matter when it comes to your horse’s health.”  The point here is that a proper balance between Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids is crucial for equine health, just as it is for people. 

Pasture/grass has the proper balance.  Finding equally balanced supplementation when our equines do not have access to fresh grass can be more tricky.  Corn and soybean oil are heavy on the Omega 6s which can lead to inflammation if fed in sufficient quantity.  Flaxseed has been fed to equines since at least the 1850s. It is gaining popularity because it has a more favorable ratio, but how flaxseed is fed is crucial to its effectiveness.  But there are benefits of special interest to pony owners who are vexed by a problem some ponies face.  Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada “found evidence that the fatty acid source flaxseed can potentially reduce the allergic inflammatory response in horses susceptible to biting midges (Culicoides),” also known as sweet itch. (2)  “Also, omega-3s could have beneficial effects for horses suffering from inflammatory diseases such as heaves and osteoarthritis. Researchers have not yet determined the exact physiological mechanism to these benefits, and more research is needed to further examine flaxseed’s role in immune response.” (3)

Another Omega 3 source starting to show up in equine rations is chia seed.  It is higher in Omega 3s than flaxseed and is more digestible without processing.  Chia seeds are an ancient grain of the Aztecs and Mayans.  “Legend has it that when the Spanish conquered Mesoamerica, they banned the seeds, attributing the fierceness of the indigenous warriors to a diet of chia.” (4)  “Unlike flaxseeds, chia seeds have softer hulls and can be fed whole.  While chia seeds are likely to have similar benefits as other Omega 3 sources, no scientific research has been conducted on feeding them to horses.” (5) 

There are other sources of healthy fats available for equines such as fish oil and whole extruded soybean meal, but as with flaxseed, the key is in the preparation to make them both palatable and nutrient-dense. Because my ponies are off fresh grass part of the year, I make sure they get good fats when they need them. I attribute the health of my ponies’ hair in part to the quality of the fats that I feed them.

1. Getty, Juliet M., PhD.  “Myth:  A Shiny Horse is a Healthy Horse,” Horse Journals, 5/21/14, at  https://www.horsejournals.com/myth-shiny-horse-healthy-horse

1. Getty, Juliet M. PhD.  “Feeding for Immunity,” the Horse, 12/3/12, article #118796 at thehorse.com

2. Janicki, Kristen M.  “5 Facts about Flax,” the Horse, 7/15/19, article #148473 at thehorse.com

3. “Flaxseeds or Chia Seeds:  Which do I feed my Horse?”, Biostar, 7/31/17 at https://www.biostarus.com/blogs/formulators-corner/flax-seeds-or-chia-seeds-which-do-i-feed-my-horse

4. Moore, Jennifer, PhD.  “Top Sources of Omega 3 Fatty Acids for Horses,” Equine Wellness, Jan/Feb/Mar 2020, p. 40

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

Fell Ponies on My Road Trip

Kimber Bishop at Kimberlake Fell Ponies with some of her ponies and horses.

Whenever I travel away from my ponies, I try to incorporate something pony-related into my journey.  My recent trip was no exception.  I attended the Suffolk Horse Association annual meeting in St. Louis, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And then on the way home, I stopped and met two fellow Fell Pony breeders which was icing on the cake.

Like Fell Ponies, Suffolk Punch Horses are a rare breed and even more endangered.  I enjoying listening to the stewards of that breed talk about traveling stallions, looking for outcrosses, and striving to preserve type.  In January in Colorado there are two big draft horse shows, and it was disappointing to learn that Suffolks aren’t allowed to enter one of them because they aren’t Percherons, Belgians, Shires, or Clydesdales. Someday I’d like to hear more about that line of reasoning!  I also enjoyed watching the Y Bar Hitch of six Suffolk Punches pull an historic wagon around Suson Park.  If you’d like to see video I shot of the hitch, including getting to ride on the wagon, click here.

My first stop on the way home was at Kimberlake Fell Ponies between Kansas City and St. Louis.  Kimber Bishop was a warm and welcoming hostess as we toured around her paddocks and met all of her ponies save her homebred stallion and a gelding.  I had hoped to visit her stallion at a different location later in the day but I ran out of time.  I feel somewhat ‘related’ to Kimber and her ponies because two of hers are in Beverly Patrick’s four-in-hand that also includes Willowtrail Mountain Ranger.

Gina Schaffert of Prairie View Fell Ponies with her stallion.

My second stop was at Prairie View Fell Ponies in Aurora, Nebraska.  Gina Schaffert was likewise warm and welcoming, and I found her generosity of time amazing given she had a dog in labor that she needed to midwife!  On other trips to other places, I had met several of the parents of Gina’s ponies so it was fun to see full grown progeny.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed my time with her stallion, but I suppose I shouldn’t have been.  He is out of a Sleddale mare, distantly related to my first pony Sleddale Rose Beauty, and he captivated me!

I am grateful to all the breeders of Suffolk horses and Fell Ponies who made all those miles of driving worth enduring.  I always learn from other breeders and especially from seeing them with their ponies.  This time was no exception.  I came home looking at my ponies with fresh eyes, which is always a good thing!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

You can find many stories about breeders and breeding Fell Ponies in my book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

What Color is THAT?

This is the foal that got the whole conversation going!

Another breeder suggested that I was wrong about the color of one of my foals (see picture).  And then a potential buyer of the foal suggested the foal was grey.  I know from color genetics that the foal isn’t grey.  Responding to the breeder, though, required me to respond differently.  I had to say that based on my decade’s experience with this line and my nearly two decades experience with breeding Fell Ponies, that the foal is indeed black.

This foal out of the same mare seemed to have the mealy effect of her mother, making her brown, but she ended up black.

I understand why the breeder questioned my judgment.  When my first foal out of this line was born, I thought she was brown.  In this breed, the brown color is characterized by the mealy effect on a dark background (see mare in first and second pictures), and I thought that was what I was seeing in the foal (see second picture).  But as the foal aged, the lighter areas that I thought were mealy darkened.  In the end, I had to ask a breeder who had experience with brown ponies what color my foal was, and she said it was definitely black.  And she was right.  That foal has matured into a beautiful black Fell Pony.

The foal who began these conversations now is out of a non-black mare.  To most people’s eyes, she is bay, though in the Fell Pony she could be called brown with black points because she has the mealy effect on a dark background with black mane, tail, and lower legs.  When this mare is bred to a black stallion, then, every foal has the chance to be black, brown, or bay.  So far she has only had one non-black foal, and fortunately for me, that foal’s color was obvious from birth (see picture)!

This foal’s color was obvious, thank goodness: mealy effect on bay.

Being a breeder of Fell Ponies can be confusing when colors other than black are bred.  The confusion comes in part from the fact that there are at least two colors of black Fell Ponies:  jet black and summer or fading black.  Because my first two Fells were jet black and only produced jet black foals, I knew that black color well, but when a summer black joined my herd, I was in for an education.  It was her first foal for me fifteen years ago that informed my opinion of the foal before me now.

This foal was out of two black parents, so he is black but looks similar to the first foal above.

In that case, both parents were black, so I knew the foal was black, because that’s how color genetics work.  Nonetheless, he was very light in color, as the picture here shows.  Back then I wasn’t surprised when he matured into a black pony, as the picture at 9 months old shows.  Today, though, I might not be so certain, except experience is a great teacher!

This is the same foal as just above but at nine months, clearly black.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories about the joys of owning and breeding Fell Ponies 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.

Burn Moor

Burn Moor in Lake District National Park in Cumbria can be traversed via a 5 mile hike between the villages of Wasdale Head and Boot.  It is a route used by mountain bikers and fell walkers.  But it also has two historic pack horse connections.  The first was for trade: moving goods from farm to market and from town to town.  The second was as a corpse road.  Until the early twentieth century, Wasdale Head didn’t have consecrated ground for burials, so bodies had to be transported through Boot to Eskdale to be interred.

Numerous stories exist about this corpse road when pack horses were used to carry coffins.  The stories usually include the route’s hazards of bogs and fog, as well as the loneliness of the route.  And the stories include bolting equines, lost bodies, and ghosts.  Even today, walking across Burn Moor it is easy to imagine the truth of these stories.

To read more about Burn Moor and corpse roads, click here to request the August 2015 edition of Fell Pony News from Willowtrail Farm.

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.

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.