I’m usually sceptical about “horses stolen for meat” stories (unless they come from Florida), but this one rings true. A Romanian has been arrested in connection with the theft of several draft horses in eastern France, allegedly for the slaughter trade. Some of the horses were already being raised for meat. (The Horse) The English …
Category Archives: Welsh Hill Ponies
Shetland Ponies out of Fashion?
A long piece in The Shetland Times reports that the economic crisis is putting the pinch on the traditional Shetland pony, and how changing fashions in colour and size of pony are affecting the stalwarts in the isles: Looking around the marts, my first impression is of a sea of red-and-white backs. You’d think Shetland …
The Price of Cuteness
I’d like to say straight off that I’m not a vet, also that to read this post properly you will have to click on a lot of links and read the material sourced at other sites in order to make up your own mind about this story. Anyone who is a vet is welcome to …
Keeping Tradition “Alive”
Another depressing piece on ponies kept on common land, this time on the Gower peninsula. It’s from This is South Wales: It costs as little as £2 to buy some foals — less than a pint of beer — but around £200 to put them down and dispose of them, according to the Gower …
“And a Grisly New Year…”
mutilated pony found in Hampshire ditch, police say “it would appear that its body has been mutilated to prevent it from being identified or its owners traced.” filly with broken neck found in Buckinghamshire. “It was emaciated, had a broken neck and both hind legs were bound together and the rope tied to a gatepost. …
Happy Eponalia!
Don’t forget to leave an apple, some beer and a candle out for Epona, the goddess of ponies! Alternatively, enter her virtual shrine here. Goodness knows, Britain’s ponies could do with the help: Dartmoor Hill Ponies, Welshies and now even New Forest ponies are being hit hard by the recession.
The Pony Cull
UPDATE: I’ve added a second post here with a historical perspective on ponies on the moor. A tip off about the mass culling of Dartmoor Hill ponies appeared on Horse and Hound On-Line yesterday, and appears to have been taken up by “Daily Mail Reporter”: Over 700 Dartmoor hill ponies have been killed in the …