Keeping track of the grazing patterns of the Konik ponies that are restoring a fen meadow in Scotland is now a lot easier.
The herd of 23 primitive Polish ponies were fitted with the latest GPS tracking devices earlier this month (2 September).
The technology — used on horses in the UK for the first time — will establish where the ponies are eating and what impact they are having on the wildflowers and plants.
The meadow is one of many being restored by the Heritage Lottery Funded project Save our Magnificent Meadows, run by the charity Plantlife.
In Scotland, the Konik ponies are being used to restore a meadow at Loch of Strathbeg that is overgrown with rushes.
“Koniks were chosen for their hardiness, tolerance of wet conditions — they are happy to stand knee-deep in the water at the edge of the loch — and their ability to thrive on rough grazing,” said a Plantlife spokesman.
First published in Horse & Hound magazine on 11 September 2014. Image: Laura Richardson
