For the third consecutive year, equine welfare charities including the RSPCA, Redwings Horse Sanctuary and World Horse Welfare, in partnership with the Gelligaer and Merthyr Commoners’ Association, have carried out a two-day welfare operation on Gelligaer and Merthyr Common in an ongoing project to improve the lives of the ponies who call the common home.
On the 21st and 22nd October, assisted by staff from Blue Cross, Bransby Horses, British Horse Society, HorseWorld, The Mare and Foal Sanctuary and The Donkey Sanctuary, the charities removed 38 young ponies from the common to relieve the pressure on available resources before the challenging winter months. More than 50 staff from the organisations were involved in the operation.
At the end of September, a team from World Horse Welfare and volunteers from local group Hungry Herds carried out a drone headcount of the ponies on the common. After reviewing footage, a total of 182 ponies were counted. The majority are unowned, the result of previous abandonments and unchecked breeding. The ponies live as semi-feral herds, meaning they are not trained to be comfortable with handling by humans.
In this operation 18 ponies went to the RSPCA, 11 to World Horse Welfare, 5 to Bransby Horses and 4 to HorseWorld. This operation forms part of a wider strategic project, working towards a long-term sustainable, healthy herd that would be locally managed under a bespoke plan. This includes cataloguing all the ponies and removing those ponies who have a high chance of a good life in a private home. So far, the charities, who are all members of the National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC), have removed 134 ponies from the common as part of the project, and many have been rehomed through their rehoming schemes.
Roxane Kirton MRCVS, RSPCA Head Vet (Equine), said: “The project aims to reduce the numbers of semi-feral horses on the common in a way that supports good welfare for all the ponies. Pooling the expertise of the organisations, we are developing a population management plan that reduces indiscriminate breeding.
“Whilst it might seem that castrating the stallions would be the easiest choice, the unique situation of these ponies makes this anything but straightforward. As the ponies are semi-feral, they cannot be handled to ensure they get sufficient aftercare, meaning risks of castration are much higher. Mares also control the fertility and breeding rate of a herd, so castrations would only address the unchecked breeding if we could guarantee that no entire males were grazed, or abandoned, on the common going forwards.”
Nic de Brauwere MRCVS, Head of Welfare and Behaviour from Redwings said: “As part of the project we are removing youngsters, over a year old, who are becoming independent of their mums as the process of weaning would naturally begin. These ponies are less likely to have negative associations with people and are yet to have developed deeply ingrained habits of semi-feral life. Therefore, they are most likely to adapt to domesticated life and go on to be rehomed as loved companions or ridden ponies. It also means that we remove breeding stock of the future, helping to break the cycle of indiscriminate breeding.”
Claire Gordon, Chief Field Officer at World Horse Welfare said: “Now in its third year, our proactive work with the Gelligaer & Merthyr Commoners Association continues to improve pony welfare. Being able to carry out a headcount using drones has provided more accurate data on the impact of our efforts and it’s been encouraging to see the results so far — reduced grazing pressure has left the ponies in noticeably better condition and better prepared for the winter ahead. We’ve been really pleased with the progress of the ponies who’ve been rehabilitated and rehomed through World Horse Welfare’s centres so far and we’re looking forward to seeing the next lot of ponies flourish.”
Huw Williams, Chairman of the Gelligaer & Merthyr Commoners Association said: “The Commoners Association is pleased to continue our work with the charities to protect the ponies on the common, and work towards a future where there will be sustainable numbers of healthy ponies.”
To find out more about the project, or support the charities involved, please visit their websites.
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