The tale of horses and ponies in the UK to some extent embodies humanity’s relationship with the rest of the natural world. At times it is a relationship of deep love and respect. At others it is a tale of dominance, born of an idea that the rest of nature has purpose only in terms of what it can provide to us. As Western understanding of the natural world matures, we have come to see that each native species has a role to play within our ecosystems. Where this is out of balance, it also can have a negative effect upon humanity, since we are also a part of nature. Thankfully, there are still spaces where horses and ponies run wild, allowing us to get a sense of the role that they play and the limitations of this within modern society. Ultimately, we are beginning to see ponies as rewilding champions, shaping natural habitats as proxy for the wild horses of the past.

The Wonder Horse

Wild ponies are being reintroduced to play a part in reshaping lost landscapes as conservation grazers. They graze differently to other animals, such as sheep and domestic horses. Their more varied diet will adjust according to both the area and their own needs. This helps create a mosaic of habitats as they can keep shrub in check and prevent the dominance of one species over another. They have even been found to prevent the takeover of bracken, rushes, gorse, and invasive Molinia. Of note as I write this in the Summer of 2026, when many parts of our countryside are currently ablaze, the presence of grazing horses can help to create natural fire breaks in areas at risk from wildfires.

But their browsing habitats are not the only way in which ponies can help to shape landscapes; they also disturb the soil through trampling, breaking up sward and helping the landscape to retain water. They also enjoy wallowing in dry sandy soil, creating an ideal space for burrowing insects to build their homes and for a more diverse collection of wildflowers and grasses to germinate. And in areas which have become ecologically degraded, their natural manure enriches the soil.

In short, wild ponies act as a keystone species, creating dynamic landscapes which enable other native wildlife to thrive. When much of the UK has been damaged by the impacts of our behaviour, theirbehaviour can have a huge effect in bringing back our wilder spaces.

Not So Wild Really

Wild ponies can be found throughout the UK, from the Eriskay ponies of Northern Scotland to the Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies of Southern England. However strictly speaking none of these species can truly be called wild. Each has an owner, usually identified via a brand and a microchip. Attitudes towards the ownership of these animals however can vary from the usual understanding of ownership in modern Britain. During the days when farmers and commoners would rely upon horses as a means of transport, they were happy to share. From the herd, anyone could select any horse who seemed willing to carry them or their wares. This was, of course, on the understanding that the horse would be returned safe and well. It was only in circumstances where the horses were taken off the commons for longer periods that ownership rights would be employed, such as with horse thieves or, in one historic case, when a little girl who fancied having a horse took one home with her.

Strictly speaking, what we mean when we say wild is semi-feral. When compared to domestic horses, what makes them that bit wilder, is that they do not need to rely upon humans for their survival. Their ancestry in our true wild horses makes them hardy beasts. They wear a double coat to withstand our coldest winters and bear an inherited knowledge to find and select the plant species to support their health.

The key barrier to their true wildness is us and our – well – barriers really. Our wild ponies are enclosed by roads and fences. Whilst they can free-roam to an extent, they are confined to the limitations and enclosures of modern infrastructure. Because of this, someone needs to ensure sustainable and varied grazing all year round, so that they can remain healthy. They also need opportunity to run on landscapes where they can self-trim their hooves.  This is where the current model of ownership comes into play, a model where ownership can be equated with responsibility. Any rewilder bringing horses onto their estate needs to be vigilant to their welfare, and have enough space to allow them to naturally roam to meet their needs. They must also ensure genetic diversity be relocating some colts to other sites.  These responsibilities have also been passed down through generations of commoners.

The Ponies They Just Couldn’t Cull

For the commoners of North Wales, the ownership of the Carneddau Ponies is certainly far more a relationship of responsibility. It is a different sort of ownership than they have with the sheep grazing alongside them, since there is no expectation of financial return. It is a relationship which is also deeply rooted in community. The seven hill-farming families from Llanfairfechan to Bethesda who share grazing rights on the commons will rarely interfere with the natural behaviour of the ponies, though they will jump to the rescue on the rare occasion that one gets into trouble. In one year this amounted to just two occasions when one became trapped or injured. They do, however, hold an annual Carneddau Pony Gathering when ponies are driven down from the mountainside in a century’s old tradition, though now it involves farmers on quad bikes rather than on horseback. Once down from the mountain, the horses are given a health check and any unfit to endure the winter will be rehomed. A certain number of colts will also be rehomed to helped to mitigate against overpopulation so that the terrain is sufficient to meet the animals’ needs without undue stress.

Beyond this, the Carneddau Ponies are just left to it up in the mountains, behaving naturally and choosing their own mates. For this reason, they can’t be officially recognised as a breed, since there is no ‘studbook’ to record their lineage and retrospective DNA testing wouldn’t be financially viable. However, it could be argued that this breed is the closest to being wild, having never been bred for any particular purpose and traceable to the Celts, or even beyond.

The horses have endured entirely because they are the ones who are best suited to the Welsh mountains. It is the remote harshness of their habitat which has also been their salvation. When, in 1535, Henry VIII declared that all horses too small to be useful to him in war must be culled, the Carneddau Ponies managed to escape his reach. These sure-footed little beasts were far too elusive for his men to follow and kill. 

How Much is A Pony Worth?

The value of the Carneddau Ponies goes beyond any monetary calculations. Without being a defined breed, they are not eligible for subsidies. Yet, as integral to the landscape, the community of North Wales feels as connected to them as to their sense of place. They view protecting them to be part of their cultural heritage. Visitors to North Wales may also experience a sense of awe in coming across some of these wild ponies in a remote space on their trek through the Welsh Mountains. There is a value in this too.

The Carneddau Ponies have also been important teachers. Given there is such minimal intervention, these horses are as close to wild horses as we can get, making them a significant scientific resource.  Researchers, such as Suzanne Shultz, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation at The University of Manchester, have been able to study the horses’ natural behaviour and biology to determine causes of stress. This has helped them to understand the importance of social relationships within the herd, with a view to being able to help in the happiness and well-being of domestic horses. Given the deep love and affection that many people have for their horses, they will surely value the contribution this research makes.

In the modern age, we no longer need ponies to carry granite or coal, to pull the plough or canal barge, to carry prisoners across the moors or farmers to market. However, their worth must never be discounted just because we no longer recognise their benefit to us.

Rare Beauties

The rarity of many of our wild ponies is precisely because of our previous need to view nature in terms of how it can serve us.  Take the Scottish native horse as an example.  Evidence for these horses roaming the forests and hills of Scotland can be found from the earliest record of humans, in stone carvings and then in written descriptions. Though not kept in stables, people as far back as the Picts and the Vikings, would ally with those horses who lived nearby to help them in their work or ride them into battle. However, enclosure of Scottish land during the Highland Clearances and the worth of wool led to their removal from the landscape. Many were crossbred with other larger horses to become more useful for transport or war.  Thankfully, the remoteness of the small Hebridean Island of Eriskay (at one point only accessible by sea) ensured that some ponies remained. Here they were used by crofters, without crossbreeding, to carry peat and seaweed.  In time these few also approached extinction with the advent of motorised vehicles replacing their economic purpose. However, a concerted effort to save them began in the 1970s, demonstrating the value of these native horses to those within the conservation world. 

The attitude of humans could be wild ponies’ salvation or their destruction. In the South West of England, the latter was almost the case. Both Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies had been returned to the moors after their purpose had been served in the mines and in agriculture. Here they survived well, which is little surprise given the hardy nature afforded them by their ancestors. A hoofprint dating back 3,500 years evidences the presence of horses on Dartmoor. Others date their presence back even further. Unfortunately, whilst the wildness of the moors enabled the horses to get along without humans infringing too much upon them, that wildness also made it an attractive spot for training soldiers during the first and second world wars.  By the end of the World War 2, the unthinking use of these horses for target practice threatened them with extinction. Once again, it was the intervention of keen conservationists that saved them, and leading to their protection as a rare breed. 

Iconic and Symbolic

A perceived threat to ponies on Dartmoor also came this year when an effort to preserve the landscape by limiting grazing in at risk areas led to headlines that Natural England was calling for a cull. This was categorically untrue. However, it was pointed out that commoners choosing between grazing profitable livestock and wild ponies would prefer the former over the latter. This led to the government making clarifications on the changes and introducing new subsidies to protect these iconic species.

Both the UK government and Natural England made definitive statements on the vital role of Dartmoor Ponies to nature on the moors and their huge cultural value. There is an indefinable value to our wild horses in ways that we may yet not fully understand.  This is true both in terms of our connection to them and their importance to other species. 

Wild horses have long been seen as a symbol of freedom and strength. Yet, in a country enclosed by fences and attitudes, where money is power and we have lost all sense of the intrinsic worth of nature, for me their treatment has become a symbol of how humanity can mean nature’s destruction or its salvation.