A herd of fell ponies has helped reintroduce a rare breed of butterfly and boosted several other species at Wild Haweswater in Cumbria.Their grazing alongside native cattle is helping to create a more diverse habitat, tackling more dominant vegetation and allowing delicate plants to thrive, as well as giving young trees the chance to establish. Many species of animals are also benefitting including insects, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds thanks to the grazing animals creating different heights of vegetation. Wildflower seed is also spread in their manure, and the dung itself helps insects too.Conservation grazing is one of the key elements of our work here alongside restoring natural processes such as re-wiggling rivers, re-wetting peat bogs and planting thousands of lost trees and plants, to benefit wildlife, water and people, said Annabel Rushton of RSPB Haweswater.We use native breed cattle and Cumbrian fell ponies to help us deliver some of our landscape restoration aims. These large, heavy-footed animals are emulating the wild herbivores aurochs being the wild ancestor of cattle and tarpans being the wild ancestor of the pony that would have roamed the UK for thousands of years before the bronze age.The ponies have been used for a number of years in Swindale, where rush and coarse grasses had become dominant.A butterfly success storyThe Fell Ponies are probably my favourite colleagues, Annabel said. One particular success story is that this has resulted in an abundance of devils-bit scabious coming through. This is the food plant of the marsh fritillary butterfly, a species that was nearly extinct in Cumbria in the early 2000s, but has since made a comeback due to the Cumbria Marsh Fritillary Project led by Butterfly Conservation and Natural England. The rare butterflies can now be found in a number of locations around the county, and in 2023 the RSPB Swindale team discovered they had returned to the area.They were in the very fields we had been concentrating the fell pony grazing efforts, where the devils-bit scabious has returned, said Annabel. This plant can now be found in several locations around Swindale Valley, thanks to fell pony grazing, and the butterflies are spreading out.On this years caterpillar survey we found 225 webs with dozens, and sometimes hundreds of marsh fritillary caterpillars in each. Its a fascinating connection between such a large herbivore as the fell pony and something so tiny as a marsh fritillary caterpillar.A hardy native breedFell ponies are the native to Cumbria and are ideally suited to the steep, rough terrain and challenging weather of the Lake District. They grow thick coats in the winter and an abundance of fine hair in their manes, tails and legs helps direct the rain from their bodies and keeps them warm in the colder months as well as detering flies in summer. They are excellent riding and driving ponies but are also perfectly matched for conservation grazing in areas like Wild Haweswater.Their are currently six fell ponies grazing in Swindale, who are owned by Nicola Evans of Helmside Fell Ponies. Their day-to-day care is carried out by the RSPB Conservation Grazing team, which they carry out alongside managing the charitys herd of native cattle.Conservation grazing allows the ponies to live as natural a life as possible. There are fences to keep the ponies within the areas the team wants them to graze, but apart from feeding them wildflower hay from their meadows in the worst winter weather, they do not receive any supplementary feed.The ponies mostly drink from streams and springs, and shelter behind dry stone walls and under trees. They are checked daily to ensure they are as healthy as possible and need minimal interventions.We also work closely with one of our partners Fell Pony Adventures, to help people connect to this fantastic breed, added Annabel. Tom Lloyd from Fell Pony Adventures is super knowledgeable about the breed and has his own herd of fell ponies. He takes visitors off on wild camping experiences here at Wild Haweswater, with his trusty fell ponies carrying the tents, food and equipment, walking on the old pack horse routes here, following in the footsteps and hoofprints of people from the past.Images by Nicola EvansRelated contentExmoor ponies find a new home 12,000 miles awayNatures pharmacy: Getting started with introducing plants and herbsHow to provide a stabled horse with the three Fs (and why its so important that you do)Poisonous plants for horses: in picturesThe post Herd of fell ponies instrumental in return of rare butterfly appeared first on Your Horse.