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Shaun Barr with Fell Ponies, Cumbria

Shaun Barr Tells The Story of Cumbria's Fell Ponies

Fell Ponies - A Cumbrian Story

For thousands of years native fell ponies have been as much a part of the Cumbrian landscape as the very mountains they call home. Cumbrian-based photographer and freelance writer Shaun Barr takes a look at why this rare breed deserves much more of our attention. 

Fell Pony Fine Art Prints by Shaun Barr are available to purchase via the Contact Form.

'Cumbrian Beauty', Fell Pony Fine Art Print

In Search Of Cumbria's Fell Ponies

It’s dawn on a chilly February morning with a biting north-easterly wind blasting across the snow-covered fellside.

 

I’m just to the west of Tebay, standing on a hillside where one of the remaining herds of Cumbrian native fell ponies still roam free. My mission is to photograph them in the snow. 

 

I had hoped to find the fell ponies easily in the all-white surroundings which should have rendered them more conspicuous than usual, but I soon discover they are not where I expected them to be.

 

By way of some consolation the landscape is just stunning. The usual contours and definitions of the fells that stretch out towards every horizon are now smoothed out under a heavy blanket of recently fallen snow creating beautiful soft curves and shapes which spread out in all directions. Today, the fells look extraordinarily spectacular.

Heads Down, Fell Ponies in the snow, Cumbria. Photography by Shaun Barr

Rare Breed

I decide to head east in the direction of Borrowdale and climb steeply to gain a broader view of the landscape around me. The dawn light suddenly weakens and snow starts to fall once again.

 

As visibility deteriorates I begin to get the feeling that today I just might not see them. I pause every few minutes both to scan the greyed out skyline, and to take a breather on this tough uphill climb, squinting as the snow hits my face. Then suddenly, away in the distance, I can suddenly see a number of dark hunched figures and, as always at first sight of them, my heart skips a beat as I finally begin to see some of the herd. 

 

There’s a thrilling beauty to watching horses wander freely across the landscape all year round, it’s a landscape they are very much a part of, indeed shaped, covering miles of ground in all weathers just as their ancestors did.

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Native to the north of England, and Cumbria in particular, fell ponies are one of the hardiest breeds in the country and their history goes back a very long way.

 

Although their earliest origins are not clear, it's thought they go as far back as prehistoric times. It's believed that the Romans worked with them, possibly after their introduction of Fresian horses. The Vikings are thought to have first used them domestically for ploughing, replacing their oxen.

 

Although the fell ponies were kept on the farms and lived in the villages, the breeding stock always stayed on the fells, ensuring that those hardy qualities the fell ponies have become so well known for were preserved through the generations that followed.

Workhorse

As with many other horse breeds, the fell pony's fitness and strength was often used in local industries and these horses would often transport local goods such as wool, food, and iron ore along fell tracks, their sure-footedness a significant advantage on those steep mountain sides, which were often treacherous in wet and icy weather.

 

They would also form packhorse trains carrying goods the length of the country. As the decades rolled on the fell ponies would be used delivering both milk and mail to surrounding farms and villages. In the north east of England they were worked in the mines as pit ponies. 

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It’s only in very recent decades that the valuable role of rare breeds such as fell ponies for work has emerged again. They are being successfully used as part of conservation efforts to better manage grasslands, helping to increase biodiversity. 

 

Brought off the fell just twice a year, in late spring and early summer, the semi-wild ponies have minimal contact with their owners and roam wild and free for the rest of the year. 

Physically, fell ponies are well-built, stocky and stand at around under 14 hands. Most are black, some are dark brown with an additional lighter tone; there are only one or two grey mares in this particular herd and that is quite typical of the breed.

 

Their manes are especially long, and it’s often to difficult to see either eye, which can sometimes be challenging when it comes to photographing them!

 

Cumbria Fell Pony On The Lake District Hills in Snow by Shaun Barr Photography

Steady Temperament 

Although strong, they are a gentle breed with a steady temperament and in all my visits they’ve never been less than charming.

 

I’ve photographed fairly large herds of Koniks where keeping your wits about you is vital at all times. Sporadic skirmishes between harems would often break out without any warning.

 

Here on the Cumbrian slopes though things are usually much calmer and life appears to be lived at a slower, gentler pace. 

Through The Snow

Fell Pony Facts

A sturdy and athletic breed, fell ponies have strong bones and well-developed muscles.

 

They are typically between 13 and 14 hands tall and weigh between 400 and 800 kilograms.

 

Fell ponies have thick, flowing manes and tails, which help to protect them from the harsh weather conditions of their upland  environment.

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Renowned for their intelligence, courage, and gentle temperament, fell ponies remain a much-loved native breed.

Today they are moving particularly very little, conserving energy to keep warm. For what seems like hours at a time they stand motionless, their flanks white with frozen snow.

 

Every so often they once again forage for the grasses buried beneath; to them this is just another winter’s day and they are seemingly untroubled by it.

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In contrast I shudder after standing still for more than a few minutes and I feel the wind bite through my numerous layers of clothing. I have more than enough pictures for one day and I should begin to head back now.

 

Beyond admiration for their grace and beauty, I feel a real, palpable sense of calm when I'm with them.

 

Of course, the wild beauty around me plays apart in that overall sense of peace. At anytime of year I'm surrounded by stunning landscape at every turn, and enveloped in silence but for the sound of the wind. 

 

But it's only in the presence of the fell ponies that there is a distinct 'letting go'.​​​

Perhaps it's simply because the fell ponies are so absorbing to watch that everything falls away for a time. But then I've photographed lots of other wildlife and as thrilling and absorbing as it always is, I've never experienced the very striking sense of calm that I get when spending time with these horses. So whatever it is, there is something extraordinarily captivating about these endearing, enchanting semi-wild horses that makes spending time with them a real privilege from which I never grow tired. 

Fell ponies on the Cumbrian fells in winter by Shaun Barr Photography

I finally drag myself away, turning back a few times to see them stood motionless, still watching me leave, and I am already planning my return.

 

As I look back a final time I’m heartened to see a little blue sky break through the clouds and I can see their black coats shimmer in the brief appearance of some wintry sunshine.

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Words and photography, Shaun Barr.

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To purchase Cumbria Fell Pony Mounted Prints please see the Buy Prints page.

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