IF you go down to Edgehills today, you are in for a big surprise.

There are now Exmoor ponies at the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) reserve, on Plump Hill, as part of the Foresters’ Forest HLF Landscape Partnership conservation grazing project.

Exmoor ponies are a hardy breed of wild horse that are ideally suited to roaming rough grazing land.

Kevin Caster, GWT Reserves manager, said: “These ponies are managed by GWT and have moved over from poors allotment in Tidenham. They have been specially-selected for the project as they will eat the heather, gorse, bracken and brambles that other animals will not eat. They have a large digestive system and heavy bones which means they can manage the difficult terrian and poor forage.

“As they are resistant to many equine diseases and develop a double coat for winter, they are natures best design of wild pony.”

The ponies are contained within a fenced enclosure in order to focus their grazing on the nature reserve, so that the heathland habitat evolving here continues to develop and foster a diverse range of species.

People can still walk through the middle of the reserve on the forestry track, but the ponies are wild and should not be fed as they need to graze naturally. If people are interested in keeping an eye on the ponies to monitor their welfare, please contact Kevin Caster at [email protected]

This site at Edgehills is the first conservation grazing site within the Foresters’ Forest programme, but the second site at Wigpool will receive Exmoor ponies soon. In the longer term, if the Foresters’ Forest programme is successful in gaining more Heritage Lottery Funding, there may be other conservation grazing sites in the Forest.