Exmoor ponies

One of the neighbours I met over the weekend is the owner of these Exmoor ponies that I blipped last week, so I now I know much more about them.

They were running wild on Exmoor until about 6 weeks ago.  Every year there is something called the "muster" where all the wild Exmoor ponies are brought down off the moor for their annual "check up" (if you are a Countryfile fan, you may have seen the film of Adam helping with this year's muster on TV on Sunday evening). The foals are weaned from their mothers, and all the animals get a health check.  Healthy animals are released back onto the moor.  Any animals that need treatment or are weak are kept indoors until they are well enough to be released.  And some animals are sold to breeders to prevent the moors becoming over-populated.

The foal, now a gelding, is called Kuala.  After he was weaned he was put with this mare, who is called Cuckoo, who is not his dam.  He tried to suckle at first, but she kicked him off (very few animals will accept young that is not their own).  They have settled down together now and she looks out for him, which is nice.  She is 6 years' old and has had her first foal, which has been weaned.  Her new owner hopes to carry on breeding from her.  Exmoor ponies are still an "endangered" breed but their numbers are increasing.