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Ponies prepare for peat bog home

5th June, 2006

A herd of rare-breed ponies are moving to a Cumbrian nature reserve on Thursday (8 June).

The six Exmoor ponies have been given a new home at Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Drumburgh Moss National Nature Reserve, near Carlisle. The nature reserve is one of the last remaining peat bogs on the Solway Plain and needs constant work to keep rank grasses from encroaching on the delicate peat bog plant species. The new ponies will be chomping their way through the unwanted scrub over the next four years, greatly assisting the work that staff and volunteers do on the moss.

Belinda Lloyd, Northern Reserves Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, says:
“I am delighted to see these Exmoor Ponies arrive on Drumburgh Moss. Grazing of the moss is essential to prevent invasive species from dominating and drying out this important wetland habitat. The ponies will also add to the experience of visiting this special site and I hope they greatly enjoy their new home.”

Exmoors are an endangered breed and one of our oldest native ponies. Their ancestry goes back to the original British hill pony and probably pulled Boudicca’s chariot. They are particularly suited to the open and wet ground that would be difficult for other grazing animals to live on.

Juliet Rogers, from the Moorland Mousie Trust, who has supplied the ponies says:
“Sadly, despite their versatility and their rarity value, Exmoor ponies are not given the recognition they deserve. They are strong, hardy ponies, relatively easy to manage, once tamed, and have an added bonus in that they are excellent grazers - a fact that is now recognised, as they are used on many conservation sites very successfully.”

-Ends-

Note: the image associated with this release is reproduced courtesy of The Exmoor Pony Society www.exmoorponysociety.org.uk.

Story by RSWT

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