Latest from Horse & Hound in Konik-ponies

Equine lawnmowers fitted with GPS tracking

Caroline Bankes — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 07:55:52 +0000

Keeping track of the grazing patterns of the Konik ponies that are restoring a fen meadow in Scotland is now a lot easier.

The herd of 23 primitive Polish ponies were fitted with the latest GPS tracking devices earlier this month (2 September).

The technology — used on horses in the UK for the first time — will establish where the ponies are eating and what impact they are having on the wildflowers and plants.

The meadow is one of many being restored by the Heritage Lottery Funded project Save our Magnificent Meadows, run by the charity Plantlife.

In Scotland, the Konik ponies are being used to restore a meadow at Loch of Strathbeg that is overgrown with rushes.

“Koniks were chosen for their hardiness, tolerance of wet conditions — they are happy to stand knee-deep in the water at the edge of the loch — and their ability to thrive on rough grazing,” said a Plantlife spokesman.

First published in Horse & Hound magazine on 11 September 2014. Image: Laura Richardson

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Wild Konik horses used to help maintain Kent nature park

Amy Mathieson — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:12:08 +0000

A nature reserve in Kent is using primitive Konik horses to maintain the natural environment.

Koniks are primitive Polish horses, which are closely related to the extinct Tarpan, a wild forest horse from Neolithic times.

The small semi-feral horses have been set loose to sustain Wraik Hall nature reserve near Whitstable, which is known for its many nightingales and warblers.

The project is run by conservation charity Wildwood Trust, which has released another five herds of wild horses across the country to graze and keep grass short.

This will increase bio diversity as well as help to reduce the use of heavy machinery.

Peter Smith, chief executive of Wildwood, said: “This expands the number of sites being managed by Koniks to six which is really exciting.

“The work the horses are doing across Kent is invaluable they really are helping to breathe life into so many rare habitats.”

Konik foal born in Kent is welcome sign of spring

Horse & Hound — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:23:45 +0000

The first foal born this year to a herd of wild ponies on a nature reserve is coping well despite the cold weather.

The Konik ponies live at Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve in Kent as part of an innovative scheme to protect the site’s natural habitat and rare wildlife.

Martyn Nicholls, spokesperson for the Wildwood Trust, which manages the reserve, said: “This type of breed is very hardy and the foal is doing extremely well.

“The first foal of the year is always a cause for celebration and bodes well.”

The foal was born on 18 January.

Konik ponies are described as the closest descendants of the extinct Tarpan horse which roamed Britain in Prehistoric times.

The ponies were introduced to the reserve seven years ago from Poland as part of a scheme by Natural England and the Wildwood Trust to protect the marshland, wet woodland, reed beds and meadow at the reserve.

They graze a wide range of plants and help to preserve natural habitats important for the survival of rare species such as bitterns and corncrakes.

Konik foal Button fostered by Buttons the Shetland

Charlotte White — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:08:58 +0000

Staff at World Horse Welfare’s Norfolk base are playing nursemaid to a Konik foal who was rejected by his mother.

Button was found in the early morning of Saturday 18 October at Wicken Fen in Ely where the National Trust grazes a herd of the rare ponies to manage the vegetation.

Carol Laidlaw, conservation grazing warden for the National Trust says: “When we found Button on Saturday morning his mother had no interest in him whatsoever and he was receiving some unwelcome interest from other members of the herd.

“Thankfully World Horse Welfare has agreed to look after him until he is old enough to be reintroduced back onto the fen.”

Button is being hand-reared, with two hourly bottle feeds morning and night but senior groom Adele Edwards has a little help in the shape of unlikely foster father… Buttons the Shetland pony.

“Coincidentally the only suitable foster parent we had has the same name,” says Adele. “He is doing a great job and is a good influence on our new arrival.”

Hall Farm in Snetterton is open to the public every Wednesday and weekend from 10am – 4pm and visitors can watch Button the foal being bottle fed. Entry is free.

Konik ponies released to restore an Irish wetland meadow

Horse & Hound — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:20:32 +0000

Polish ponies have been released on a wildlife reserve in Northern Ireland as part of a project to restore an Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) wetland meadow.

The nine Konik ponies — a breed believed to be the last relatives of the extinct western European wild horse, the Tarpan — will graze shrubland at the reserve in Ulster to improve the habitat for birds and insects.

Portmore Lough Reserve warden John Scovell said: “We are very excited by the delivery of a herd of Konik ponies to the RSPB reserve at Portmore Lough.

As far as we are aware, they are the only Koniks in Northern Ireland and they will have an important role to play in helping to deliver our conservation goals.

“The ponies have been introduced to graze the reserve to help keep down areas of scrubland which can have a detrimental impact on species including lapwing, redshank, curlew, and the Irish damselfly.”

Konik ponies already graze an RSPB reserve in England at Minsmere in Suffolk and on Kent Wildlife Trust land.

Wild horses moved to city centre

Horse & Hound — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:26:47 +0000

Wild horses are to inhabit an inner city nature reserve in an innovative bid to help the environment.

Canterbury City Council, together with Wildwood Trust has imported a herd of wild horses onto a Whitehall Meadows, a grazing marsh on the river Stour, just five minutes walk from Canterbury high street.

“It is a bit unkempt at the moment and these horses will manage it,” commented Steve James from Canterbury City Council.

The horses are Koniks from Holland, the closest living relatives of the extinct Tarpan forest horses that roamed Britain in prehistoric times. It is hoped that by grazing on the marshland, the horses will help restore Canterbury’s precious nature reserve.

“The council is very pleased about this,” said Mr James. “We are committed to the conservation of the natural environment. Grazing by the horses will improve habitat for plants and animals and provide an opportunity for people to see the wild horses less than one kilometre from the city centre.”

Whitehall Meadows is one of seven local nature reserves owned and managed by the city council. If the scheme is successful Mr James confirms wild horses could be moved onto to the other nature reserves.