Our History

In the UK, all registered herds of Exmoor Ponies are numbered, ours is Herd 2, one of the very first to exist!

How the Exmoors came to Edinburgh

Caratacus, one of the only Exmoor Pony stallions remaining after the Second World War

In 1920, Mr F.G.Heal bred a mare from Acland stock (the anchor herd). In 1927 he bred a colt from this mare. These were the first Herd 2 Exmoors. He continued to breed the animals until the mid 1930s when Mrs Etherington, wife of the rector at Withypool Church, took over the herd and along with other moor-bred Exmoors, they were managed as Herds 2 and 3.

The Etheringtons had two daughters, Mary and Joy. In 1943 their mother’s ponies were split between them, Herd 2 going to Mary, and Herd 3 to Joy. In the 1940s, the moorland population was almost entirely lost with fewer than 50 ponies and only 6 males remaining after the Second World War. Mary, already with a herd of her own, rallied the breeders and began to re-establish the moorland herds.

The Beginnings of Trekking

It was also in 1952 that pony trekking had begun at Newtonmore and was proving to be a great success. Mary suspected that the Exmoors would be an ideal trekking breed and roped in students of the vet school to lead treks in the Borders. Treks ran from Snoot Youth Hostel near Hawick for several years.

The Creation of the Exmoor Pony Trekking Section

When the Speeds decided to sell the ponies, a group of students who had been running the treks formed a syndicate and, in 1962, bought a core group of the Herd 2 mares: the trekking section was created and students offered the opportunity to work with, breed and handle a rare native pony.

Treks ran from Snoot in the summers up until 1992, when the Youth Hostel closed down. Since then the Herd has been kept in Edinburgh during term time and transported to Glendevon for summer trekking.

If you are an ex-member of the section and would like to share your stories with us please email us at info@exmoorponytrekking.co.uk

This brief history was put together in 2012 to celebrate 60 years of Herd 2 at the R(D)SVS and 50 years of the Trekking Section. Thanks to Alec Copeland and the Exmoor Pony Society for contributing to our history. Photos courtesy of Alec Copeland.