Exmoor Pony

Facts about Exmoor Pony, The Exmoor Pony largely wander as semi-untamed livestock on Exmoor, which is a huge area of upland in Somerset and Devon in the southwestern parts of England. Exmoor is a pony variety that is native to the United Kingdom. The Exmoor pony is an endangered species and it is one among the moorland and mountain pony varieties of the British Isles, having conformation as that of other cold-climate-tailored pony breeds. The Exmoor Pony variety is strong and employed for a range of equestrian activities. In its free-nomadic state, the presence of the breed on Exmoor provides the conservation and administration with several natural meadow homes.

Features

Usually, an adult Exmoor pony is bigger than its female counterpart, with the height of 50 inches (127 cm), whereas the female pony has a body height of 45 inches (114 cm). Sometimes, a female pony may grow up to a maximum height of 51 inches (130 cm).

The chest of the Exmoor pony is deep and it has a broad back, and an even croup. Their legs are small, with superior bone and firm hooves. They have a distinctly dissimilar jaw structure when compared to other horse varieties, which comprises the beginnings of growth of a seventh molar.

The head of the Exmoor pony is fairly big in proportion to the size of its body, with tiny ears, and has a distinctive feature known as toad eye, owing to the additional fleshiness of the eyelids that assists to redirect water and offer additional insulation. Like with nearly all cold-climate pony varieties, the Exmoor Pony grows a frost coat that is made up of a greater insulating woolly undercoating and a topcoat of long, greasy hairs that stop the undercoat from becoming drenched by redirecting water along the sides of the Exmoor Pony to fall from some drip areas.

The tail and the mane of the Exmoor pony are elongated and thick, and the dock of its tail is of a kind common in cold-climate ponies, having rude hairs, which redirects rainwater away from the underbelly and groin areas to fall from the elongated hairs on the back of the rear legs. Usually, the Exmoor Ponys have a dark brown color body, with mealy markings around their muzzle, eyes, flanks, and under their stomach.

Uses

Long ago, the Exmoor pony was employed as pit ponies and ponies that are not kept in semi-wild environments are used for a range of activities, as well as long-distance riding, showing, agility, and driving. The power of endurance of the Exmoor Pony breed makes it appropriate for protective grazing, and it contributes to the administration of several heath lands, chalk lowland and other natural meadow homes, in addition to the protection of the Exmoor Pony itself.

Behavior

The Exmoor pony is a strong animal, with a stocky, commanding body for its height, and it is renowned for its stamina and patience. The Exmoor pony breeds true to its variety at all times. Usually, female Exmoor pony offers birth to foals during the spring season and during early summer. During the autumn season, the flocks are driven down to the ranches. The Exmoor Ponys spend the summer season, running with their dams and constructing a store of fat to get them in the course of the tough winter ahead.

The average lifespan of the Exmoor pony ranges from 20 years to 35 years.