The 2017 Heritage Exmoor Pony Festival - For 2017, the Moorland Exmoor Pony Breeders Group and Exmoor Pony Project are expanding the format. This year's festival will include Exmoor's moorland farming and other indigenous animals - the Exmoor Horn and Devon Close Wool sheep, Red Devon cattle and the Red Deer, along with the Exmoor ponies. The Heritage Exmoor Pony Festival will run from May to Nove
mber, to embrace the free-living Exmoor pony herds and their new born foals in Spring, through to the autumn gatherings of the herds, when the foals are brought in and inspected. The 2017 Calendar of Events will include activities throughout spring, summer and autumn, including shows, farm visits, open afternoons, stud visits, moorland walks, talks, cream teas, specialist workshops (ie, photography, agricultural, equestrian, arts & crafts), social events and pony gatherings. The Calendar will be available at the new MEPBG website (which will be live very soon), together with information about the Moorland Exmoor Pony Breeders Group and its Exmoor pony herds. MEPBG Chairman Nick Westcott said, “We're very pleased to see the Heritage Exmoor Pony Festival going from strength to strength. It’s proving invaluable in helping people to understand the qualities of our indigenous native ponies and also the challenges we face in conserving and preserving them. It promotes awareness that good homes need to be found for some of the wild-born foals in the autumn and that with kind and patient socialisation, new owners are rewarded with the most wonderful ponies that can turn their hoof to almost anything - including endurance, riding, driving, jumping and agility - along with their skills as conservation grazers. The ponies are an iconic part of Exmoor and we’re keen to see more people get involved with the breed. This year we are looking forward to also celebrating and promoting better understanding of Exmoor moorland farming and our indigenous animals.”
Email [email protected]. Our aim is to support, promote and safeguard the future of the indigenous Exmoor ponies of Exmoor National Park - registered pedigrees, Heritage Exmoor ponies, unregistered pedigrees, unregistered purebreds, cross-bred and part-bred Exmoors. This Festival embraces, includes and celebrates all of the Exmoor ponies - free-living and in ground - and their herd owners, breeders, owners and enthusiasts. MEPBG Steering Committee
www.facebook.com/MoorlandExmoorPonyBreedersGroup
Chairman - Nick Westcott (Holtball Herd 11)
Treasurer - Maria Floyd (Tippbarlake Herd 387)
PR & Communications - Dawn Westcott (Holtball Herd 11)
Christine Allen - (Farleywater Herd H67)
Exmoor National Park Authority - (Simonsbath, North Hill, Haddon Hill, etc)
James Bryant - (Countisbury Herd 423)
Matthew Coldicutt - (Porlock Herd 100)
William Dart - (Moorland Herd 99)
Jessica Floyd - (Tippbarlake Herd 387)
Nigel Floyd - (Tippbarlake Herd 387)
Rex Milton - (Withypoole Herd 23)
Ian South - (Farleywater Herd H67)
Kate South - (Farleywater Herd H67)
Ben Williams - (Molland Moor and Badgworthy Land Company)
Christina Williams - (Molland Moor)
Peter and Diane Wyatt - (Chains)
Heritage Exmoor Pony Festival Working Group:-
Sue Byrne
June Eckhart
Maria Floyd
Millie Ker
Jamie Waters
Dawn Westcott
