E p i c e n t r e
Issue 3
Editor's Introduction
Welcome to Epicentre 3! We all hope that you are enjoying a prosperous start to the millennium!
EPICENTRE this year will be appearing on the EPIC website only. The site is linked to a variety of
others so will be available to a wide audience and we hope this will make it more flexible than paper
copies. EPIC welcomes articles on any topics which may be of interest to native pony enthusiasts,
or conservationists. Reserve/management news of any equine grazing project is also welcome.
These can be added as 2000, progresses, so if you wish to raise relevant issues make comments or
observations. feel free!
Power to the Pony People!
.
What's a nice girl like you ..........
Firstly and most importantly a word of appreciation to all those volunteers in various parts of the
country who are working so hard for the ponies and the environment. Their efforts are certainly are
reaping rewards not just in terms of the appropriate management of particular site they are
involved in.
The benefits of a well supported project is almost limitless and is undoubtedly an 'all win'
situation.
It's off to work we go!
EPIC has managed to locate people interested in helping to manage ponies on new sites
with the help of the British Horse Society, Exmoor Pony Society, the International League For the
Protection of Horses and local universities. Interested local people have a great contribution to
make in helping to manage a group of grazing ponies, from a variety of viewpoints, whether
actively dealing with pony problems or just helping to keep a watchful eye on them.
It's nice out, isn't it?
A successful
volunteer group may even extend themselves to working with the site manager, recording
improvements to the site, monitoring changes and making general observations which will be
helpful in future.
Community Conservation.
In Y2K environmental management should no longer a spectator sport. Many people really want to
go beyond recycling cans and get their hands dirty! Providing useful and effective opportunity for
active involvement and sharing skills, which not only helps to support their local reserve, but raises
the profile of important issues and brings conservation into everyday life, has to be a way forward.
When's it our turn to lie down?
EPIC NEWS
One rather exciting feature of 1999 was the opportunity to publicise the role of Exmoors for
conservation grazing on National BBC TV. A small article in Country Living magazine seem to
spark of the interest of the media. Northwest Tonight, a regional news programme was the first
appearance for the ponies on Gait Barrows. The local response was overwhelming, with people
arriving on the reserve from all over the region, highly interested in the ponies and their role here.
You keep him talking while I go through his pockets
The next media visit was from BBC's Country File team, who did a superb job of illustrating just
what they could do. BBC Breakfast News were hot on their heels, who gave the ponies a four
minute prime time slot in the morning and on the children's 'Newsround' programme.
Each team presented the information creatively, with a different slant and in a way which would
appeal to everyone. The ponies played their part by charming even hardened journalists during the
course of filming, behaved like stars throughout and in the style of equine prima donnas, revelled in
all the attention!
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