Mountain & Moorland (M&M)

Mountain and Moorland (M&M) ponies are the native breeds which can be found throughout the British Isles.

The title is used because many of these breeds are found in their natural homes, on mountains and moorland. Many breeding herds are still kept in semi-feral herds in their place of origin.

There are 12 seperate breeds including 4 Welsh sections. They are:

Shetland, Exmoor, Dartmoor, Highland, Fell, Dales, New Forest, Connemara, Welsh section A, section B, section C and section D.

Each breed has a dedicated breed society designed to promote the breed and register and protect bloodlines. The Dales is currently registered as critial by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, while the Dartmoor and Exmoor are listed as endangered.

In ridden classes, M&M ponies are divided into two categories, small and large breeds.

M&M showing classes have risen in popularity over the past few years. They have three main championships, the biggest being the M&M supreme ridden pony final held at Olympia in December.