In 1818, when the Royal Forest of Exmoor was sold, Nicholas Milton bought some of the Exmoor pony stock and begankeeping ponies on Withypool Common.
Above: Fred Milton and ponies at Weatherslade Farm (1980's) |
Fred Milton, his great-great grandson wrote in 1968: “He was interested in Exmoor ponies and kept a number on the Common. His sons also learned to look after them, especially young Nicholas II, who spent much of his time riding his pony, shepherding and looking after the stock of ponies.”
Fred’s father, Charles John Milton, “took a very keen interest in Exmoor ponies, and in 1890 played the responsible part of collecting, marking and selling for his father, uncles and brothers.”
Fred Milton went into partnership with his father at Weatherslade Farm and after his father’s death in 1946, Fred continued the family tradition of keeping ponies until his death in 1998 aged 92. As Fred had no children, the pony herd passed to Robin and Rex Milton of Yeo Mill. The herd continues to roam Withypool Common. |
Although the herd started in 1818, it was much later, in the 1930’s/40’s, before the Miltons began registering their ponies as Herd 23 in the Exmoor Pony Society Stud Book. Their foundation mares were from their own stock on Withypool Common. They initially bred these mares with stallions from Herd 48 belonging to the Williams family.
Unnamed stallion 48/8 and Bradymoor 48/18 were used most but it was the stallion Ashill 48/20 who was to have most influence upon Herd 23 as he sired the stallion Forest 23/33 born in 1950. Forest ran with the herd on Withypool Common for 15 years and his son, Golden Gorse 23/69 succeeded him.
Golden Gorse 23/69 was the senior and dominant stallion on the Common until 1990 when he died aged 27. The pedigree of Golden Gorse shows that his dam was from Herd 1 owned by the Westcott family; thus Gorse1/64 (by Heatherman 78/2 out of Hawkridge Belle 1/30)introduced new blood to the Withypool population. A grandson of Forest, Royal Duke 23/06, also ran on the Common during Golden Gorse’s time and sired foals from 1976 to 1981.
 
Left: This photo is thought to be the stallion Ashill 48/20 as a youngster. Right: Forest 23/33 on Bradymoor.
Left: Golden Gorse 23/69 on Bradymoor in 1975. Right: Royal Duke 23/06 above Sherdon Track in 1975.
When Golden Gorse died, his son Prince Harry II 23/202 (out of Angela 23/134) was just 2 years old and for a time the normal herd structurewas in disarray with the mares focussing on an older gelding for a while. However, he soon became active and has siredmost of the foals since 1990.
Cricky Lad 23/216, one of Golden Gorse’s last sons (out of Red Cricky 23/82), was born in 1990 and was retained in the herd. Once he was old enough, the mares divided between these two stallions although Prince Harry usually has more than Cricky Lad.
Spectators at the annual gathering on Withypool Common over the last few years have been left in no doubt as to the rivalry between these two stallions who have fought each other when the two herds have come together at the end of the gathering. This was captured on film (see “Discovering Exmoor Ponies”) and it is Prince Harry II who is on the cover of the film.
Naturally, the dams of all these stallions have been very influential on the herd. Forest’s dam 23/6 was by 48/8 (unnamed) out of a Herd 23 foundation mare. Golden Gorse was not the only stallion whose breeding introduced blood from outside the herd. Royal Duke was out of Flash 32/4 (perhaps the pony that Fred was most fond of) whose breeding went back to Flicker 32/2, Herd 32’s foundation mare and Heather Minstrel 78/10 who brought with him Acland herd genes.
The mare lines within Herd 23 trace back to the Milton foundation stock through five mares Old Cricky 23/1, Kings Crick 23/4, Tiny 23/8, Un-named 23/10 and Kings Pixie 54/7.
Reading through the names of the Herd 23 ponies, certain themes become evident. One is the use of “Crick or Cricky”. The herd’s first registered mare 23/1 was Old Cricky and this derives from the fact that J&R Crick owned Great Ash Farm near Winsford, later owned by the Williams family who had Herd 48. Another theme is the use of the words “Golden”, “Bay” and “Red”. One of the characteristics of Herd 23 is that a proportion of these ponies are a rich, reddish brown or lighter bay colour. Many of the “Withypool Red” ponies go back to the mare Bright Bay 23/80, who traces back to foundation mare 23/10. “Maggie” also features regularly in names of mares and pays homage to foundation mare Maggie 23/9.
Herd 23 ponies are a recognisable type within the breed because they are generally a stockier pony of more robust build than many of the other herds. This has made them ideally suited to being ridden by adults and driven.
 
Left: Prince Harry II 23/202 on Bradymoor in 2003. Middle: Cricky Lad 23/216 on Bradymoor at the end of the gathering in 2003. Right: Cricky Lad and Prince Harry II in one of their minor skirmishes.
Left: Fred Milton and Flash 32/4. Right: An example of the reddish/bay colouring of some of Herd 23.
Several 23 herd geldings have been trained by Peter Farmer and Carol Bigge of Simonsbath for driving and it was their Forest Falcon 23/224 (by Prince Harry II, out of Golden Cricky 23/104) who brought the Rector of Exmoor Parish to Exford to bless the Pony Pilgrimage on its way to Stoneleigh in 1998.
Although registered into Herd H8, Knightoncombe Royal Mantle (known affectionately as Fred) was pure 23 herd breeding as Creenagh Mitchell had bought the mare 23/99 Sheila and ran her out on Withypool Common; Sheila departed from the Mitchell herd and took herself back to mate with Royal Duke 23/06 and ‘Fred’ was the result. This pony, as a gelding, proved to be the epitome of versatility and strength. He was ridden for a time by Tom Summersgill and was later to have something of a media career, acting as a Tibetan pony in a short film shot on the Common and later carrying TV presenter Shauna Lowry for a feature in the BBC series “Country Tracks”.
More recently, Tiger Moth 23/279 (by Prince Harry II, out of Gorsy Maggie 23/101) has shown the capability of these ponies in an array of different activities undertaken with owner and rider Lisa Clarke in Surrey. These have included in hand showing, dressage, gymkhana, hacking and the autumn gathering of his native herd on Withypool Common. At the
Breed Show in 2006, Tiger took top honours in the senior gelding class. Lisa’s future plans for Tiger include trying Le Trec. She says, “He is just fun fun fun – love him to bits!” Lisa and Tiger are also in the film “Discovering Exmoor Ponies” where they are riding across and alongside the River Barle on a beautiful summer’s day.
Another Herd 23 pony, Boy Harry, 23/302 (by Prince Harry II, out of Cricky Lady 23/253) won the junior gelding class as a two year old at the Breed Show in August 2006 and then took the Gelding Championship, beating Tiger. Owner Dawn Williams says, “He has taken quite a lot of time to socialise, but it has been worth it because, as his trust in humans grows, he is proving to be a lovely youngster.”
Jo Gingell and her mare Bay Gold 23/147 (by Golden Gorse 23/69 out of Cricky’s Gorse 23/106) competed in endurance riding for about five years starting when the mare was aged nine. Competing at Cirencester, they achieved the 40 miles distance. Jo and Bay Gold took part in the Pony Pilgrimage mentioned earlier. Jo recalls that Bay Gold had the fastest trot of any pony she had ever seen. Jo now rides Bright Red Poppy 23/227 (by Prince Harry II, out of Golden Bay 23/173). Poppy has taken on a public relations role: she was one of two ponies that were meeting the public at the South West Game Fair at Wimbleball Lake in 2006.
Left: Prince Forest Falcon 23/104 and Merlin III 23/133 (the latter by Prince Harry II, out of Young Cricky 23/71) were
driven as a pair by Peter Farmer. Middle: Tom Summersgill riding Knightoncombe Royal Mantle on the Dulverton West/Exmoor Pony Society Sponsored Ride. Right: Lisa Clark riding Tiger Moth 23/279 on a Sponsored Cross Country Ride at Glynde, East Sussex 2006.
Left: Jo Gingell riding Bay Gold 23/147 on the Alfred’s Tower Endurance Ride (Photo: Eric Jones). Middle: Dawn Williams with
Boy Harry 23/302 (aged 2 years), Gelding Champion at Exford 2006 (Photo: Don Hancock). Right: Knightoncombe Juniper Pug H8/15 on the South Pennines.
Knightoncombe Royal Mantle’s full sister, Knightoncombe Juniper Pug H8/15, known as Pippa, was a real all-rounder like her brother. She was ridden for many years as a Pony Club mount and gained a reputation for being fearless as a cross-country ride. At the age of 14 Pippa moved to Yorkshire and became herd matriarch of the Rossmill Exmoors owned by Sue Burger. She was first shown aged 15 and during the next five years gained several reserve ridden and in hand championships. Sue recalls, “She also participated in long-distance riding but always at her own pace which usually meant overtaking just about everyone else.” Pippa lived out all year round at over 1,000 feet on the rugged south Pennines and although she sadly never produced a foal, she was an excellent “aunty”, teaching the young foals their manners.
A number of other herds have been founded upon Herd 23 stock. Herd 54 mares also ran on Withypool Common until the late 1970’s with the Herd 23 stallions siring their foals. Herd 99 that runs on Molland Moor was started in the 1960’s with three “Milton mares”. The Snelsmore herd in Berkshire has recently sourced its mares from the Withypool herd and a nucleus of 23 herd ponies were taken to Germany in the 1990’s.
Herd 23 ponies may usually be seen in two groups, each with a stallion. The herds can wander freely over Withypool Common but the area called Bradymoor, north of the River Barle is a particular favourite location. Herd 23 is not able to accept visiting mares to the stallions but youngstock are available for sale each autumn following the Gathering and Exmoor Pony Society inspections in late October.
Please contact Mr Rex Milton for more information and to enquire about youngstock for sale.
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