Exmoor ponies, one of the UK's twelve Native Pony breeds, have remained genetically pure since the Ice Age and are considered to be a truly 'prehistoric' little horse. Unfortunately, their small numbers (only about 3,000 worldwide) mean they are listed as an Endangered Breed, but much conservation work is being done to preserve and protect this remarkable pony - one of the UK's most ancient national treasures!

Exmoor ponies live in both semi-feral, free-living herds and also 'in ground' in domestic pastures. The free living herds can be found within Exmoor National Park in Somerset, and in small pockets around the UK and overseas. Once they have been socialised to human contact and their trust has been won, Exmoor ponies can make fantastic riding and performance ponies. They are extremely robust, strong, well conformed and intelligent. Their evolution has involved them thinking for themselves and making decisions for their own survival - so the Exmoor pony has a bright, sharp, questioning character and a strong sense of right and wrong (as they see it...).

Positive, Trust-Based Training Methods
The training methods that work best with Exmoor ponies are positive and trust-based. The growing trend for working 'at liberty' with horses and ponies, understanding horse psychology and behaviour, and considering their well being and happiness in any activity they are involved in, is the key to unlocking the best from an Exmoor pony. Once trust is established on the ground, Exmoor ponies will accept you on their backs and, with their strength, speed, intelligence and sure footedness, they ride like 'little horses' and are extremely comfortable. They have natural rhythm, endurance - and can jump like stags!

Managing Exmoor Ponies
At Holtball Exmoors (web page), our ponies live in small herds, with our foundation stallion, Hawkwell Versuvius, running with mares and youngstock all year round. Once youngstock is weaned, they are introduced into another herd with youngstock and older ponies to guide them. A natural management system means the ponies roam freely from the pasture into their corralls and shelter and they have company at all times. Allowing the young ponies company continues in their training. When we are introducing a foal to wearing a headcollar, leading, handling and loose schooling, we will always ensure there is an older, more experienced pony (or ponies) involved. The foal gains great confidence from the calmness of his companions, and learns more easily what is expected of him, when others can demonstrate by example.

Headcollars and Loose Schooling for Foals
In this two-part session below, we are first of all giving our foal the opportunity to discover his new surroundings completely free of any restraint, so we have taken the headcollar off. This is his first ever time in the schooling area and he has never before been out of sight from his mother for longer than about five minutes, so we have brought his father with him to see what can be achieved. This colt lives with both his sire and dam, so they are well socialised. This is the start of the weaning process, which we like to do gradually. The first step is for him to willingly approach his handler and have the head collar back on again.

The stallion then shows his six month old son how to loose school around his handler. The aim of these short sessions is to allow the foal to move 'at liberty', and learn to focus on the handler, returning to the handler when asked. In this way, the foal becomes confident of both going away and returning to the handler, and becomes easier to lead, 'catch' and handle. The sessions are also fun and the older ponies usually take enormous pride in showing a youngster what to do. The foal is too intelligent for us to try to 'con' into thinking we are not a 'predator'. He knows full well that humans are predators. But, because we haven't hurt him, he is willing to consider that we might be 'protectors' and therefore worth dealing with. So it is very important for us to not abuse our postion of trust with this foal, and convince him that we are, indeed, his protectors, even though we are 'predators'. This is an ongoing process that he will question every day...

In the Loose Schooling photographs below, we were astonished at how calm the foal was, and how he both looked to his father for guidance, but was happy to approach the handler and remain calm and focussed. These initial sessions only need to be about five minutes. The foal was then given a feed so there is a positive consequence for going to the barn.

The sections below show us putting on a headcollar, and then introducing the colt to his first ever loose schooling session, with his sire.