Brighter days ahead for rare native ponies!

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) Watchlist has exciting updates on some of our fave four-legged friends!

There’s some fab news for pony lovers across the UK! The latest RBST Watchlist is out, and it shows things are looking up for several of our precious native pony and horse breeds. Yay!

The RBST Watchlist is a super-important yearly report that helps track how our native breeds are doing. It looks at how many breeding females (called dams!) there are and how much genetic diversity the breed has — basically, how healthy and varied its population is. This year, there are definitely reasons to celebrate!

Here are some of the highlights:

Fell ponies: These sturdy little beauties saw a huge 23% jump in the number of dams producing registered foals in 2024 –the best result for the Fell since 2010. Go Fell ponies!

Dartmoor ponies: Things are looking up for this delightful breed, too, with a 14% increase in dams and better genetic diversity. A win-win for Dartmoors!

Welsh Section B: After a few tough years, there’s a glimmer of hope. The 2024 stats suggest this stunning section of the Welsh breeds is starting to bounce back after being added to the Watchlist last year.

Cleveland Bay: Still in the Priority category but showing steady progress! There’s been a second year of more breeders, plus a fab 17% boost in registrations. Keep going, Cleveland Bays!

Eriskay ponies: The rarest native equine breed in the UK, the Eriskay is starting to trot towards improvement – even though numbers are still super-low. Fingers crossed they keep heading in the right direction!

But it’s not all sunny skies. Some breeds are still struggling and need all the support they can get.

Hackney horse and pony: This smart, showy breed is in a tricky spot. Female registrations were up a tiny bit in 2024, but the number of foal-producing dams actually dropped. Even more worrying, the breed’s genetic diversity is nearly at the ‘Critical’ level as defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. That’s only 50!

New Forest pony: Although they’re doing better than many, the New Forest ponies have had a slight drop in breeder numbers and dams. They’re staying on the 2025 Watchlist in the ‘At Risk’ category.

RBST Chief Executive Christopher Price said:

“This Watchlist shows welcome stability across many of the UK’s rare native equine breeds, which pays testament to the great dedication and commitment of owners and breed societies throughout the UK, day in and day out. It has been fantastic to see riders and owners showing the world just what our horse and pony breeds can do over the past year in the RBST Versatility Showcase.

“However, the picture remains very concerning for some of our rarest equine breeds, particularly the Hackney horse and pony. We will continue to work closely with the breed societies to improve the outlook for all rare equine breeds through scientific research, application of the latest conservation tools and techniques, support for breeding networks and promotion of the great benefits that these breeds can bring people, communities and the environment today and for the future.”

Want to know more or find out how you can help protect rare breeds? Gallop over to rbst.org.uk!