REPRINT: Grey Fell Pony Lines
This post is a reprint of a chapter in my book Fell Pony Observations: Volume 2.
The data is current to 2015. Since then, descendants of Tebay Cloud have been imported to North America.
Two people have suggested to me the need for more genetic diversity in the grey Fell Pony population in North America. I hadn’t ever given the topic much thought, although I was generally aware of the problem. When I added a grey Fell Pony to my herd for a short time, I of course became more curious.
Clive Richardson’s book on the Fell Pony suggests that the grey color entered the breed with the dissolution of the Cistercian monasteries in the 16th century. (1) However, Sue Millard’s research for the Fell Pony Museum website suggests otherwise. (2) Grey equines were apparently quite common during that period outside monastic ownership, so grey Fell Ponies likely existed outside the monasteries as well.
While the grey color may have been common at that time, more recently it’s been quite rare in the breed. Richardson only shows one grey pony in his 1990 book, none in his 1981 book, and only one in his 2000 book. And there is only one pictured in the ‘black book,’ the Fell Pony Society Stud Book from inception to 1980. Neither of the named grey ponies in those books have descendants in the modern population. (3)
Even in the 2005 book Hoofprints in Eden by Sue Millard, while greys are shown in herd situations, none are called out by name in photographs. (4) The Fell Pony Museum website has many more pictures and even videos of greys, perhaps a reflection of a current interest in the color.
When thinking about genetic diversity in our breed, it is of course important to recognize that our ponies’ pedigrees are only as accurate as the information reported to the Fell Pony Society by breeders. From the first day I was introduced to the breed, I’ve been warned that not all pedigrees should be taken as accurate. Because the gray color is dominant, a gray pony must have at least one gray parent, making it a little easier to assess a valid pedigree. Nonetheless, in the course of my research, I’ve found gray ponies registered as having two black parents, which isn’t possible genetically, calling into question their true ancestry. The data presented here is taken from the stud books of the Fell pony Society, accurate or not.
PONIES REPRESENTING THE SEVEN LINES OF THE GREY COLOR IN THE MODERN POPULATION; NOTE THAT NOT ALL ARE IN NORTH AMERICA. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT, THE LINES ARE: LUNESDALE MOUNTAIN MIST, SEVERNVALE GREY BOBBY, GREENHOLME JESS, TEBAY CLOUD, HILLHEAD JEAN, LUDWORTH ADAM, AND FOGGY GILL DAPPER.
GREY FELLS ARE BORN DARK AND LIGHTEN WITH AGE. THE TOP RIGHT PHOTO IS COURTESY JNL TRANSPORT. THE TWO LOWER RIGHT PHOTOS ARE COURTESY GORDON MILLER. THE LOWER LEFT PHOTO IS COURTESY LEE ANN LOUGHLIN. THE SECOND PHOTO FROM THE TOP ON LEFT IS COURTESY PATRICIA BURGE AND KITTY COURIER.
In North America, as of 2013, greys made up 9% of the population which is close to the worldwide average. (5) Table 1 below shows the source ancestors of the 52 grey Fells in North America at the end of 2015. (6) Source ancestors are the pony that is the first common ancestor not living on this continent. As shown in Table 1, just three grey ancestors account for 77% of the North American grey population: Lunesdale Mountain Mist, Foggy Gill Dapper, and Ludworth Adam. (7) This high percentage supports the contention made by the two people who suggested we need more genetic diversity in our grey lines on this continent. Three other ponies account for the rest of the grey population.
The newest addition to grey genetics came in 2015 with the importation of two Murthwaite mares who go back to Greenholme Jess. There is one grey source not represented in North America’s population. On the June 2016 page of the Fell Pony Society calendar, two grey mares in Cumbria are pictured that go back to Tebay Cloud. While Cloud has descendants on this continent, they are all black.
The addition to my herd that inspired this inquiry came from the lightly represented Severnvale Grey Bobby line. However, ‘lightly represented’ is only a matter of generations. It turns out that four lines - Lunesdale Mountain Mist, Ludworth Adam, Severnvale Grey Bobby, and Greenholme Jess – all go back to Mountain Flash II, as does Tebay Cloud. In the worldwide 2015 foal crop as well as the 2008 foal crop, one generation back, there are just three root sources of the grey color: Mountain Flash II, Greenfield Stella, and Frizington Lady Grey. Table 2 shows that Mountain Flash II significantly dominates the worldwide 2015 foal crop. In the 2008 worldwide foal crop, Mountain Flash II was similarly dominant at 88%. Table 2 also shows from which root sources most current grey lines descend. For instance, the many grey ponies of the former Murthwaite stud all trace back eventually to Mountain Flash II.
Table 3 shows that the North American grey population is actually more diverse in terms of sources of grey than the worldwide 2015 and 2008 foal crops. Only 63% of our grey ponies descend from Mountain Flash II, compared to 94% of 2015 worldwide grey foals and 88% of 2008 grey foals.
Always, when considering the genetic diversity of our breed, it is important to select for proper type before rare genetics. Some rare lines may have become rare for a reason – they may not have had good Fell Pony type. However, in the case of grays in North America, it is precisely a concern for proper type that one person recommended to me the need for more diversity. One dominant grey source introduced what many consider an undesirable trait into the breed.
Richardson, Clive. The Fell Pony. J.A. Allen, Allen Breed Series, London, 1990, p. 32.
“Pack Ponies in Medieval Times – Rough Roads “ at http://www.fellponymuseum.org.uk/fells/15_16C/packpony.htm
Using the Fell Pony Pedigree information Service tool to find descendants in a given foal year, no descendants were found for either Mountain Dew of Cleveland (in Richardson) or Flimby Hall Grey Cloud (in the stud book) in the 2007 worldwide foal crop. Mountain Dew of Cleveland does trace back to Frizington Lady Grey, so shares grey ancestry with Foggy Gill Dapper and the Orton Hall ponies.
Millard, Sue. Hoofprints in Eden, Hayloft Publishing, Kirkby Stephen, England, 2005.
In Morrissey, Jenifer, Fell Pony News from Willowtrail Farm June 2015, the article “A Colorful Herd”, shows the 2005 worldwide foal population % of greys at 8% and the 2013 worldwide foal population % of greys at 9%.
Per the Fell Pony Pedigree Information Service database through the 2014 FPS stud book, plus 2015 foals and two known grey imports.
Original research by Jenifer Morrissey.