Farmers forced to slaughter Exmoor ponies due to delays over rare breed ‘passports’

EXMOOR ponies are being culled by farmers because of delays in obtaining “passports” that prove their pedigree.

The animals are listed as endangered by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and require the paperwork from the Exmoor Pony Society in order to be sold. But breeders, who largely keep them to ensure the survival of the breed, have claimed that they are having to wait months for the documents to be issued due to red tape, and cannot afford to keep the ponies for that long.

One claimed that delays meant that it was too expensive to keep them. Marie and Nigel Floyd, who own a farm on Exmoor and have a quota to keep 70 of the ponies, said this year they had 12 foals born but were struggling to sell them, admitting they had had to cull them before.

“It is devastating because these ponies belong to the moor and we want to keep them here,” Mrs Floyd said.

“They cost us a lot of money, but for romantic reasons we want them because generations before us have done it; we want our children to do it. Exmoor without Exmoor ponies would be awful.” Mr Floyd, whose family has bred Exmoor ponies in Devon for decades, told Sky News that culling was “the last resort”. He added: “We are not allowed to sell the ponies without a passport.”

The number of breeding mares is now estimated to be between 100 and 300. The ponies run free for most of the year, but herds belong to the farm that owns the land’s grazing rights.

David Wallace, from the Exmoor Pony Society, said most herd owners did not face paperwork delays. “We continue to look at improving procedures,” he said. “There are many passports which are turned around within weeks.”