Introduction & History

I have inherited Herd 14 Exmoor Ponies from my parents and would like to record some of the old memories, photos and stories that made Herd 14 so important to the continuing survival of the Exmoor Pony.

In the 1950s, my parents, Peter and Susan Dean, started farming in Cumberland and once they had settled on the type of cows and sheep they wanted (Friesian cows and Clun Forest sheep), they looked around for the sort of pony they wished to breed. After the war they had both spent some time at Porlock and had fallen in love with Exmoor.  So, Exmoor ponies were top of the list.

They had got to know Sidney Westcott of Draydon and owner of Exmoor Pony Herd 1. He encouraged them a lot and invited them down to gatherings of the ponies off the moor. He helped them pick some suitable foundation mares and suggested that the 2 stallions, Heatherman and his son Hawkridge Man would be a very good idea.  The first foals of herd 14 were registered in 1959.

The influence of these two stallions can be seen throughout the breed and especially Herd 14. Heatherman 78/2, bred by Miss Lilo Lumb, is an Exmoor legend, immortalised as the Exmoor in the Beswick Native Pony Series.  Owned and shown unbeaten for at least a decade by the Westcotts he spent the rest of his life in Cumbria.

I remember him being specially invited to represent the Exmoor Breed at the Ponies of Britain Northern Stallion Parade (can’t remember what year).  He was quite old at that point and had not left our farm in years; so, dragged off the fell, he went straight in the trailer to Northallerton.  He was a star – the Commentator talked him up so much she insisted he ran round the whole arena twice while he was applauded all the way.  He rose to the occasion and showed off beautifully, loving the attention, with my Father seriously out of breath, puffing away trying to keep up! It was an accolade he deserved.

His son Hawkridge Man 1/37, bred by Sidney Westcott, out of Hawkridge Belle,  probably had the most influence on forming the Herd 14 stamp and most of the mares still here can find him in their Great Greats.  He had a very lovely head and that is what I remember most about him. 

Of the mares that originally came to Cumbria, the ones I recall best are – Linnet 1/46 b. 1949 by Crackshot 1, mother of Sighty 1/74, Redsyke 14/48 a famous showing and breeding mare for Herd 14 and Dunwallought 14/38;   Lassie 12/40 b.1953 by Aclander mother of Agrippa 14/35:  Foxglove 10/10 by Heatherman, mother of Whinnetley 14/24.

Sighty 1/74, out of Linnet 1/46, was the most successful showing mare, winning many championships in the north as well as down country.  She bred 8 colt foals and 3 fillies.  The two most significant were Octavius 14/57 by Agrippa 14/35 and Twolads 14/57A.

Dumblar 78/27, by Heatherman out of Dunkery 1/44, bred by Lilo Lumb was also a great showing success. Her daughter Cat Loudy ii 14/39, by Heatherman was a legend – a driving pony, one of the most reliable of Peter’s Four-in-hand; a regular and popular mount for Riding For The Disabled, hunter and gymkhana pony, mother of Kersope 14/64, Cumrew 14/60 who went back to Herd 78 and Scaddeboth 14/84 mother to Tarquin to name but four.