Researchers believe that ancestors of the rare Exmoor ponies may
have been used by warriors in service to Queen Boudicca in the
first century CE. The ponies are being imported to the Drumburgh
Moss National Nature Reserve, maintained near Carlisle, England,
by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. According to naturalists,
invasive grasses threaten to dry out the peat bog and destroy
native mosses and other plant life. Six of the Exmoor ponies
were moved to Drumburgh on June 8, 2006. The ponies provide a
natural way to remove the invasive grasses, and they are unusual
in their ability (and willingness) to wade belly-deep into the
bog to graze. They also are unusually resistant to the hoof-rot
that would afflict many other equine species. Thanks to David
Boyes, Justin's modern-world boss, for providing this story
lead.