In all, some 160 ponies were rounded up for processing during the operation.

Over 160 ponies assessed for poor health

The owners of over 160 ponies on Bodmin Moor have been formally identified, thanks to a collaboration between Redwings Horse Sanctuary and the Bodmin Moor Commons Council.

From Monday 12 September to Thursday 15 September, Redwings head of welfare Nic de Brauwere, led a multi-agency operation to microchip as many ponies from the Moor as possible.

Three Redwings vets carried out health checks on the ponies before microchipping so they can be identified in the future. Those that were healthy and deemed fit enough to live on the Moor were released, while ponies in poor health received veterinary treatment as needed in discussion with their owners.

Funded by the Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust, the project involved Redwings, the APHA and Bodmin Moor Commons Council, as well as the Blue Cross, British Horse Society, RSPCA and World Horse Welfare.

“The fundamental aim of this project,” explains Nic de Brauwere, “was to formally identify the ponies of owners who have rights to graze on the Moor through microchipping and issuing passports.

"This safeguards the future of the ponies both by ensuring all the owners adhere to their responsibilities to their animals’ care and by preventing any unscrupulous individuals seeing the Moor as a dumping ground or opportunity to fly-graze their horses,” he adds.

A lack of formal identification of horses and a lack of enforcement of identification laws has led to ponies being abandoned or illegally grazed on the Moor. This overcrowding, together with poor grazing as a result of adverse weather, has made life particularly difficult for the ponies.

In all, some 160 ponies were rounded up for processing during the operation. Sixteen unclaimed ponies – some of which require urgent veterinary attention and others whose condition is such that they will not survive the winter – were rescued from the Moor and brought back to Redwings.

The Mare and Foal Sanctuary and the RSPCA also offered homes to ponies, and pledges for more homes were made by Bransby Horses and Blue Cross.

Image (C) Jonathan Billinger