ABOUT DARSHILL EXMOOR PONIES

Having learnt to ride as a child I have always had a keen interest in horses. Later in life I decided to train as a veterinary surgeon, however having been allowed to study some genetics I became particularly interested in Exmoor Ponies. The Exmoor Pony population dropped to around fifty individuals after the Second World War and all Exmoor Ponies registered in the current studbook descend from these individuals, giving the breed a relatively small gene pool.

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My fist encounter with the breed came in 1999 when I travelled to Scorraig in the Scottish Highlands to meet the Davy family who care for Herd 21. The Davy family and their friends had spent a great deal of time ensuring that all of the breed's surviving bloodlines continued to for future generations to enjoy.

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Shortly afterwards I joined the Exmoor Pony Society and began to learn more about the breed. In 2005 I was awarded the Creenagh Mitchell Memorial Bursary for a university project looking at the various bloodlines within the breed. At the same time I began to train as a foal inspector for the Society, having spent several years helping at gathering time on the moor.

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After graduating in 2007 Darshill Exmoor Pony Stud was established, I have focused on breeding quality true to type Exmoor Ponies with a while helping to preserve under represented bloodlines within the breed. The ponies live out all year round on the West Pennine Moors, and come in for handling as foals and for showing. As the stud increased in size I decided to begin training as an Exmoor Pony Society Panel judge, which in combination with being a foal inspector also makes me eligible to inspect Exmoor Pony stallions for their breeding license.

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In 2014 I was awarded the Marsh Award for Conservation in Genetic Bio-Diversity. This Award has been running since 1996 and recognises an individual or group who have made a significant technical and scientific or practical contribution to the field of genetic bio-diversity. Nominations for the Award are put forward to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and are judged in partnership with the Marsh Christian Trust.

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In 2017 I was awarded the awarded the Helen Dashwood Rose Bowl for outstanding service to the Exmoor Pony Society having served two four year terms as a trustee, and then in 2022 I was made president Elect of the Exmoor Pony Society and I am currently serving as Exmoor Pony Society President.

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The stud continues to increase in size and as of 2023 we have bred 39 foals, my goal has always been to try and maintain genetic diversity within the breed as a whole while breeding Exmoor Ponies true to type, and hardy enough to live on the West Pennine Moors in Lancashire, which although several hundred miles from their ancestral home.

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PHOTO BELOW: Presenting the trophy to the Ridden Champion Blackthorn Poldark at Exford Show 2023.