The free-living ponies within the Exmoor National Park: their status, welfare and future A REPORT TO THE EXMOOR MOORLAND LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP BY Peter Green BVSc Cert EO MRCVS South Woolley Farm, Shirwell, Barnstaple EX31 4JZ November 2013 The free-living ponies within the Exmoor National Park: their status, welfare and future. A REPORT TO THE EXMOOR MOORLAND LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP Peter Green BVSc Cert EO MRCVS November 2013 CONTENTS: Page 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 3. THE PROJECT BRIEF AND PERCEIVED PROBLEMS 2 4. METHODS ADOPTED TO RESEARCH THIS REPORT 3 5. THE PEOPLE AND AUTHORITIES CONSULTED FOR THIS REPORT 4 5.1. Pony herd owners, graziers and farmers 4 5.2. Land owners and Land Agents 4 5.3. Exmoor National Park 4 5.4. Exmoor Pony Society 5 5.5. Geneticists and evolutionary zoologists 5 5.6. Natural England 5 5.7 Horse passport, transportation and slaughter authorities 5 6. RESULTS 6.1. The free-living Exmoor pony herds and their owners 6 6.2. The health and welfare of the individual free-living Exmoor ponies 7 6.2.1. Supplementary winter feeding 8 6.2.2. Anthelmintic treatment 8 6.2.3. Casualties and losses 10 6.2.4. Sale and disposal of weanlings and youngstock 10 6.3. The purity and genetic integrity of the free-living Exmoor ponies and the implications for the breed 11 6.3.1. Are there significant numbers of non-Exmoor ponies loose on the open areas of Exmoor moorland? 11 CONTENTS (contd.) 6.3.2. If there are such animals on the moor, to what extent are they restricted in their range? 13 6.3.3. Are there any regulations, binding obligations or statutory powers to remove any non-Exmoor ponies from the moor and to restrict or prevent further introductions of non-Exmoors? 14 6.3.4. If the need to remove non-Exmoor ponies is agreed and all parties in the agreement co-operate in gathering the animals, do current regulations assist or hinder the removal of non- Exmoor ponies from the moor? 18 6.4. The Exmoor Pony breed – a unique zoological treasure? 21 6.4.1. A brief documentary history 21 6.4.2. The genetic evidence for the Exmoor Pony as a direct descendent of the prehistoric wild pony 27 6.4.3. The true status of the Exmoor Pony 33 6.4.4. The Exmoor Pony stud-book 35 7. THE OPINIONS AND CONCERNS OF THE HERD OWNERS OF FREE-LIVING EXMOOR PONIES 35 7.1. The perceived value of the bodies overseeing the free-living Exmoor ponies 35 7.2. Specific problems and concerns raised by the herd owners 37 7.2.1. DNA parentage testing of Exmoor ponies 37 7.2.2. Problems with handling and husbandry at gatherings 38 7.2.3. The lack of younger prospective moorland herd owners 39 7.2.4. Hot branding 40 7.2.5. The need for a ‘bridge’ or ‘link’ between unhandled Exmoor weanlings and the commercial pony market 41 7.2.6. The divergence of the show-type Exmoor pony from the moorland-type pony 43 7.2.7. The sentimentality about establishing a meat market for Exmoor ponies 43 8. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS DOCUMENTED IN THIS REPORT 44 8.1. Safeguarding the remaining genetic stock 44 8.1.1. Maintain the status quo and change nothing 45 CONTENTS (contd.) 8.1.2. Change the breeding practices 46 8.1.3. Declare a limited moratorium upon DNA parentage testing and return to registration by inspection whilst breeding practices are changed 48 8.1.4. Promote the free-living Exmoor pony as a food producing animal 50 9. CONCLUSION 50 10. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 50 11. REFERENCES 51 European Commission Decision 96/78 55 The Horses (Zootechnical Standards) (England) Regulations 2006 57 The Entry and Registration of Equidae Criteria in Stud-books for Breeding Purposes Regulations 2003 62 The Horse Passport Regulations 2009 63 Commissioned by the Exmoor Moorland Landscape Partnership 1. INTRODUCTION In March 2013 funds were made available by the Exmoor Moorland Landscape Partnership Scheme (EMLPS) and the Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) to commission a report upon the welfare, breeding and management of the free-living Exmoor Ponies within the Exmoor National Park. Following a tender process the author of this report was appointed to undertake the necessary research and to prepare the report. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The free-living Exmoor ponies within the Exmoor National Park are a valuable asset to the amenity and heritage of the Park. They are divided into separate herds, each belonging to a moorland owner, some of whom are also moorland farmers. The breed is recognised as a ‘Rare Breed’ under UK and EC regulations and is considered to be a valuable genetic resource under the terms of the Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) criteria. The Exmoor pony is therefore eligible for support by means of the ‘Native Breeds at Risk’ supplementary payments on land upon which a Higher Level Stewardship agreement is in place between land managers and Natural England. The widely held belief that the Exmoor pony is a direct descendant of the prehistoric wild horse or the wild ‘British Hill Pony’ is not supported by reference to documentary evidence or by recent genetic research. The genetic diversity of the Exmoor pony is limited. It has suffered from a very small foundation population, when the breed standard was set in the early 20th century and from significant in-breeding since then. Maternal bloodlines have been lost and a few stallions have dominated the stud-book. Concern has been expressed about the future purity of the free-living Exmoor ponies because of the increasing presence of non-Exmoor ponies living freely on the moor. There are considerable difficulties in disposing of foals from free-living herds without consigning them to slaughter, but limitations on breeding risk further constriction of the genetic base of the breed. There are no regulations or constraints upon farmers, graziers or landowners that compel them to safeguard the purity of the free-living Exmoor ponies. There is no mechanism or mandatory protocol whereby non-Exmoor ponies must be removed from the moor. Under current arrangements the survival of the Exmoor pony as a distinct type and colour of pony living freely on the moor is dependent solely upon goodwill and cannot be guaranteed. Large areas of Exmoor are in private ownership; the land owners are the only ones with the power to set and enforce terms of tenancy or grazing licences that would promote the Exmoor pony. The Exmoor Pony Society has adopted DNA testing of each individual moorland pony as the method of establishing parentage; without this laboratory-based parentage verification ponies of typical Exmoor appearance and character cannot be registered in the stud-book. The intermixing of stallions of both Exmoor and non- Exmoor types amongst some of the moorland pony herds and the inability to be certain about the identity of the dam has given rise to considerable difficulties with the registration of foals using the DNA tests. These difficulties are not replicated in any other UK native pony breed. The misidentification of some DNA samples has also complicated the scheme. Many fewer problems are encountered on securely enclosed areas of moorland where only one stallion runs with a group of mares, but over much of the moor boundaries are insecure and several fertile males are allowed to run freely. The need to manage the breeding programme for the breed on Exmoor and to include and promote rarer bloodlines cannot be met by present management and husbandry arrangements. The insistence upon the DNA testing scheme risks losing valuable genetic material that is present on the moor. If the free-living Exmoor pony herds are to thrive and the distinct character of the rare breed is to be preserved on Exmoor changes in management and in the criteria for registration into the stud-book are recommended. 3. THE PROJECT BRIEF AND PERCEIVED PROBLEMS The brief for the project posed a number of questions: What is a sustainable number of ponies to be bred on the moor? Is there a need for a breeding plan and if so, what does it look like and how should it be implemented? It is recognised that maintaining genetic diversity in Exmoor ponies is important. Are there any “poorly represented bloodlines” that should be bred from as a priority? Are there particular stallions or mares that are considered important and should be bred from? Conversely are there individuals, particularly stallions, which have already passed their genes on to a high proportion of the next generation? There are some bloodlines that are no longer present within the free-living Exmoor pony herds. Should they be re-introduced? How beneficial is DNA recording? Could the process be improved? Is there potential to improve the market for these ponies and if so, how could this be achieved? How should the National Park Authority, the Exmoor Pony Society (EPS) and the Moorland Mousie Trust (MMT) support the pony breed and the moorland pony owners? The Exmoor Pony Society supplied outline notes of the perceived problems, EPS being one of the three commissioning stakeholders in the project. These notes raised a number of additional questions and suggested some possible answers. The main points of this preliminary guidance from EPS may be summarised as follows: Too many foals are currently bred for a market that is very poor. This raises questions in respect of the ethical dilemmas associated with the humane slaughter of healthy youngstock. The market is much better for “made” ridden ponies.