The Exmoor Pony Chronicles

‘Finding out about Exmoor ponies and the people involved in their world at various times in the past has been like panning for gold – I’ve had to examine a lot of material, sometimes without result, but when a small nugget of the ponies’ story first sparkles, that is so exciting.’

Sue Baker has spent many years searching through long-forgotten documents and photographs and listening to the stories passed down through Exmoor families. Her ‘prospecting’ has resulted in this intimate portrayal of the ponies and the community of people who over the years have ensured their well-being.

This book is a miscellany of all things Exmoor pony: turning its pages may bring the reader to ponies harnessed for warfare; to meetings with a literary legend and a famous cowboy; to paintings by Britain’s greatest equestrian artists; to stories of Exmoors travelling to the Antipodes; to pony sales from central London to deepest Exmoor; to the Exmoor Pony Society secretary who became a horse trainer for Her Majesty the Queen; to lyrical poems; to how one Exmoor pony lived with bison; to threats from pony-rustling; to pony sculpting; to tales of ponies being a shepherd’s pillow or transport for the rabbit-catcher.

Within The Exmoor Pony Chronicles are answers to questions such as:

Did the Aclands truly conserve Exmoor’s indigenous pony?

Where were Exmoor foals hidden upstairs in a pub?

Who crossed an Exmoor pony with a wild ass? Can Exmoor ponies see pixies?

And, once and for all, did soldiers really use Exmoor’s ponies for target practice in WWII?

All this and more can be found in this fascinating and generously illustrated compendium.