native pony Native Pony
Arriving in the Czech Republic, the Exmoor mares will be joined by a stallion this spring
Another Exmoor Pony herd moves to Prague
The Moorland Mousie Trust are thrilled that after the enormous success of a project earlier in 2015, to introduce Exmoor ponies to the Czech Republic, the European Wildlife programme, co-funded by the Czech Republic State Environmental Fund programme, has chosen another herd of Exmoor Ponies to create a further herd near Prague.
Fourteen Exmoor Mares travelled from Exmoor to Dover for passport checks, then overnight on the ferry from Dover, before travelling to an overnight stopover in Frankfurt, prior to arriving in Prague. The Exmoor ponies left a wet and misty Exmoor to arrive two days later in a rather wet Czech Republic, so wet that the transport needed the assistance of tractors to access the site.
The project has been a collaborative effort with The Moorland Mousie Trust (MMT) which runs the Exmoor Pony Centre, working alongside the Exmoor Pony Society and
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Exmoor Committee of Herd Owners. Juliet Rogers trustee of MMT said, “Without the enormous support of the Exmoor Pony Society (EPS), herd owners, landowners and a compassionate vet, the project wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”
The process of choosing the mares has been a long procedure since the herds were gathered from the moors in October, with the programme requiring more feral animals, but also with strict veterinary testing to be undertaken before they could travel. Sue McGeever from the EPS said, “We were delighted to hear the Czech project wanted to source more Exmoor ponies and to take ponies from the free-living herds of Exmoor is a great boost to keeping the herds thriving and ensuring future sustainable breeding programmes,”
The new herd will be running on a new 120 hectare pasture in a former military training area in Milovice near Prague; they
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will share their grazing site with a herd of eight bison from another nature reserve in Poland. The new reserve is a prairieland habitat which includes critically endangered plant and animal species. Part of the area consists of young pine forest, with hawthorn groves providing shelter from inclement weather for the animals and scientists have made several pools as seasonal natural waterholes and a well deeper than 50 meters as a permanent source of water.
The new herd will be joined by a stunning stallion called Tawbitts Merlin
The Exmoor mares before leaving their native Exmoor in the UK
who will be travelling out to join the mares very soon. Not only will this be a wonderful new home for the ponies but a huge commendation to the Exmoor pony breed which has been choosen to graze the site due to its remarkable grazing ability to help the endangered vegetation as well as the hardy and enviable characteristics to survive in harsh climates.
The ponies will be exchanging the company of Exmoor’s red deer for wild bison - something only the intelligence and personality of the Exmoor pony could do.
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