Outcry over rare ponies put down in red tape fiasco

BREEDERS claim they have been forced to cull dozens of ponies because of delays obtaining paperwork proving their pedigree.

The Exmoor pony is listed as endangered by the Rare Breed Survival Trust and needs a “passport” to be sold.

Without it the ponies cannot be sold for their full value and some breeders say they cannot afford to keep them.

The Exmoor pony is a horse breed native to the British Isles where some still roam as semiferal livestock on Exmoor, a national park which straddles Devon and Somerset.

Delays

Breeder Rex Milton grazes about 40 mares and says that the pony’s value “lies in its registration”. He claims he has put down dozens of animals after “delays of several months, and in some cases, years”, adding it is “too expensive to keep them while waiting for the results”.

He said he did not breed the ponies for profit but to help keep the breed going.

Farmer Nigel Floyd, 64, said he and others could be forced to cull their Exmoor ponies due to increasing delays in getting them a passport that verifies their breed.

Mr Floyd has been a farmer on Exmoor his entire life and has a quota to keep 70 of the ponies on his 6,000 acres of land. This year he said 12 extra new foals were born by his mares but he is struggling to sell them.

He blames the Exmoor Pony Society for failing to provide documentation on time.

He said unless new buyers can be found by next week he would have no option but to have his excess ponies culled.

Mr Floyd added: “It’s a native breed to Exmoor. I’m native to Exmoor and the ponies are too.

“Hopefully we can look after them for future generations. We’ve had to put down so many over the years, it’s got to stop.” David Wallace, from the Exmoor Pony Society, said most herd owners do not face delays.

“We continue to look at improving procedures. We continue as a society to ask breeders to breed responsibly,” he said. “We ask for the best DNA sampling to be taken at the time the foals are inspected so we can turn the passports around.

“You’re hearing the other end of the spectrum. There are many passports which are turned round within weeks of the foals being inspected.”