Holtball Herd 11 Exmoor ponies was re-established in 2009 after Nick and Dawn Westcott married and their multi-champion moorbred Exmoor pony stallion, Hawkwell Versuvius ' Bear' sired his first foal out of Holtball's foundation mare, Hawkwell  Smarty Pants 'Maisie' - Holtball Kick 'em Jenny. 

Herd 11 was originally established along with Herds 10 and 21 by Nick Westcott's great grandfather, A G Westcott, and his two brothers. The Westcott family (the 'Porlock Westcotts') had maintained moorland ponies since at least the 1870's. A G Westcott was a founding committee member of the Exmoor Pony Society in 1921. The Westcott family ran semi-feral moorland ponies, including Exmoors, across the vast open (and then unfenced) moorland area which stretched from Porlock Hill to Dunkery. By the 1950's, these pony herds were dispersed.  We were delighted to be bequeathed 'Herd 11' in 2009 to re-establish the herd.

Our founding stallion,  Bear, has sired some beautiful, quality Exmoor ponies and is able to put his impressive stamp of strong bone, excellent conformation and movement and stunning good looks on his progeny. He has excelled in the show ring, standing Overall Supreme Champion of the Exmoor Pony Society Breed Show in 2006 and Overall Supreme In Hand Champion in 2010. He stood Overall Reserve Supreme Champion of the NPS/Kilmannan Stud M&M In Hand Silver Medal Championship Final in 2011, winning a gold medal rosette. Bear has many other championships to his name including standing Champion Exmoor at Royal Bath & West, Devon County and Royal Cornwall shows. In 2011 and 2012, Bear twice stood International Horse Agility World Champion, after competing in the year-long worldwide leagues. His compelling story is told in Wild Stallion Whispering .

His son, the lovely Cheritonridge Mont de Brouilly, sired three beautiful fillies before he was gelded in 2014. Two of them remain in Holtball Herd 11 - Holtball Princess Khaleesiand Holtball Princess Cristal. 

In 2015,  Bear sired a stunning filly, Holtball Black Bess, out of the Herd 23 mare,  Anstey Princess, who is one of the very few remaining daughters of the legendary Herd 23 moorland stallion,  The Highwayman. He tragically remained unregistered after early DNA testing failed to identify his parents, although he passed his stallion inspection with flying colours.  

In 2015, Bear ran with a small number of carefully selected herd of semi-feral Farleywater H67 mares at Farleywater Farm. In 2016 his first moorbred foals were born on Buscombe - Farleywater Tanana, Kenai, Cherokee and Yogi Bear. Colt foal Farleywater Yogi Bear has joined Holtball Herd 11.. 

In 2016 Bear also sired two lovely colt foals, Holtball Pierre Parfait, out of  Penelope Pitstop (by Ebony) and Holtball Kilimanjaro out of Maisie.  In September 2017, Anstey Princess produced a beautiful colt foal, Holtball Dick Turpin. 

In 2017  Holtball Princess Khaleesi won her MEPBG class at Holnicote Show, stood Champion Exmoor at Porlock Show, won the M&M Nora Harding Trophy at Exford Show, and stood MEPBG Overall Supreme Champion and Reserve Champion of Show at Brendon Show. She was shown bitless on all outings and was accompanied by her father Monty, who stood Overall Reserve Supreme Champion at the MEPBG Exmoor Pony Show at Brendon Show. 

In April 2018, we saw the arrival of Holtball Princess Goldilocks, sired by Bear out of the lovely moorbred mare, Farleywater Scarlet. We were also delighted to welcome Bear's daughter, Yellowcombe Lapwing, to our herd. A superb Exmoor mare, Lapwing has stood Reserve Supreme Breed Champion at the Exmoor Pony Society Breed Show. She also stood MEPBG Overall Supreme Champion in 2018. 

In 2019, we welcomed filly foal, Princess Phoebe to Holtball Herd 11, sired by Bear out of Farleywater Scarlet. Bear's lovely 3 year old son, Farleywater Yogi Bear, passed his stallion inspection and is now fully licensed. 

In 2021, Herd 11's standing stallion Yogi Bear ran with two mares, who in 2023 produced two beautiful pedigree filly foals, Holtball Annabel (out of Farleywater Annie Ridd) and Holtball Helena (out of Lady Myrtleberry of Countisbury). In 2023, pedigree filly Holtball Spirit was born (out of Annie Ridd). 

We are committed to, and stakeholders in, the Exmoor Pony DNA Whole Genome Project, which we hope - once completed - will result in the introduction of a vital supplement and upgrading system to the Exmoor Pony Stud Book, through being able to confirm the purity of purebred Exmoor ponies currently languishing outside of pedigree registration. These ponies and their progeny are currently lost from the breeding gene pool. There are examples of such ponies on Exmoor, across the UK and across the world. With an endangered breed and such a dangerously small gene pool - and the acknowledgement that genetic drift - and potential loss of 'true moorland type' - can start to occur after only two short generations of breeding off the moor.

We continue to work with our fellow Exmoor farmers and breeders to safeguard the best possible future for the Exmoor ponies, and to encourage kind, trust-based ways of handling and training them. 

From time to time, Holtball Herd 11 youngstock and ponies may be available for sale or loan to the right homes. Please contact us to discuss and email in the first instance to DawnWestcott@hotmail.com or telephone 00 44 (0)1643 862466.