Wilder Fell Ponies & Stone Walls

The wilder Fell Pony and dry stone walls have a very strong heritage link.

This morning it’s cold with a blustery wind blowing across the fell and the mares were are all standing in a line, bottoms to the wall which is just a little higher than their backs.

Yesterday it was raining here and they were out in the open grazing, but that strong wind has brought them to shelter under the wall.

It is said that nature has seen fit to see that the correct height for a Fell pony should be just below the fell wall as taller ponies catch cold and don’t do so well. I am so lucky to be able to see this living environment. A good example is the side of a dry stone wall which is such an iconic part of this Lakeland culture, just like the Fell ponies. For centuries this has been a place where ponies will find shelter. Their droppings and foot marks enrich the soil which is warmer in these protected areas, providing a place for insects to gather and to lay their tiny eggs. These hatching grubs provide food for voles, mice and shrews and for their growing families sheltering in the wall. This small mammal population in turn provides food for the birds of prey like the buzzard and short-eared owl. This is all part of the balance of nature, the fundamental structure of a web of life. The true hill-bred Fell pony holds onto its own genetic characteristics, but is constantly evolving in response to environmental variables and breeding a type that physically and mentally adapts to life on the open fell. Keeping these unique upland herds is the only way of maintaining the most suitable genetic characteristics. The breed population will adapt to any climate change as it will evolve with it.

The Enclosures Act of the 19th century resulted in even larger areas of common land sectioned off by stone walls, hand-built using the stone and slates of the area. The dry stone walls today are one of the Lake Districts 'Special Qualities' creating a patchwork of fields and enclosures on the landscape. They have been maintained by generations of farming families and are so important to the unique farming heritage of the area that they have been included in the UNESCO recommendations " Ensuring that careful attention is paid to conservation of landscape-defining features such as land-use patterns, structures such as shelters and dry stone walls "

We need the ponies unique farming heritage and their important role included in these UNESCO recommendations as well.