Exmoor Pony Sponsorship
£120.00 / year
Description
Our Exmoor ponies arrived at Mapperton in April 2023 to graze alongside the White Park cattle. A hardy, native rare breed, these intelligent animals fare well on conservation sites, as well as looking majestic on our parkland! These ponies are tolerant of rain and cold winds (a very handy attribute!) and require little human intervention so remain semi-wild.
Although strongly grass-based, the Exmoor pony is a highly adaptive forager but tends to avoid eating flowering plants. So with competing grasses removed, rare flowering plants are more likely to thrive. The ponies are useful in slowing down scrub encroachment by browsing seedlings and coarse herbs such as thistle buds, and eating tree bark of shrubs and saplings.
By sponsoring the Exmoor Ponies for £120 per year, you will be helping to ensure these graceful creatures continue to free-range our wildlands creating the structural diversity that benefits invertebrates, small mammals, and birds of prey.