Type and conformation.

A good animal's head is ponylike with small pricked ears and a fine muzzle. She has a good length of rein and a well sloped shoulder. Her mane and tail are fine, straight and profuse, and her back is not too long. A longer back is often countenanced in a mare on account of her needing "room to carry a foal", but it is not liked in a gelding or stallion.

Flat, clean bone is preferred in the lower leg, without any tendency to being calf-kneed or back at the knee (but see this fault in Merry Maid's off fore, below). Good clean limbs are best seen in the photograph of Mountain Ranger (below), Tebay Vespa in the 17th C page and "Sir George" (possibly Heather Boy) on the late 19th C page. It is interesting to compare the stock of 90 years ago with stock today.

Two mares from the Lune Valley.

Tebay Jenny (above left), black 13.1, with the look of her sire Tebay Campbellton Victor (below). A workmanlike pony typical of the Howgills stock in 2000 (photo courtesy of Thomas Capstick.)

Merry Maid II (above right), dark bay 13.3, 1st prize winner, Polo and Riding Pony Society class for Fell mares, at Kirkby Stephen in 1910.

Tebay Campbellton Victor Left: Tebay Campbellton Victor as an aged horse; note the abundant feather and good forelegs, and compare his "hairiness" with that of the mare above. Tebay Campbellton Victor was born on the Monday of Appleby Fair Hill gathering, in early June of 1976.

David Trotter considered him, even then, the best foal he had bred. At just a few hours old he had silky feather from the back of his knee to the ground, "just like a little Clydesdale", and a "sweet little head". David invited Jimmy Campbell, a visiting Irish gipsy, to inspect the new colt. The Irishman said that he was the best Fell pony foal he had seen, and asked David to name him after "the best pony ever to come out of Ireland - Campbellton Victor"... The spelling and spacing given here, although it is different from that in the Stud Book, is what his breeder intended and has always written.  Both photos of Victor, courtesy of Barbara Muller.

Two stallions: 77 years apart.

Above left: Waverhead Prince II, black 13.3hh, was foaled in 1983. He is by Greenholme Geoff x Waverhead Magic and has been a highly successful sire. In the photograph, he was champion at the 2000 Fell Pony Stallion Show at Dalemain, which he had won on several previous occasions.

He is in heavier condition than Mountain Ranger. He has rather more feather and his tail has not been docked, which makes it harder to compare his limb conformation. However he is a horse of great quality.

Above right: Mountain Ranger, black 13.3hh, was foaled in 1906: he was by Park End King X Scoredale Queen (a daughter of Blooming Heather). Both parents were grey.

His main prizes were won in 1906 and 1907. He was premium stallion in 1912 for the Middleton-in-Teesdale district where he was bred, and won first prize at Egglestone Show in 1917. A horse of great presence and quality, he would be a prize winner today. His limbs are particularly notable for their clean flat bone.

His stud card is in the Museum.

Two mares in 1910.

Above left: Grey Fell mare, 2nd prize winner at Kirkby Stephen in 1910

Above right: Sweet Heather, dark brown filly 13.3 hh: 2nd prize winner in 1910 and 1911 at Brough in the Polo and Riding Pony Society class for Fell mares.

Height.

Fell ponies should be around 13.2 hands, and not over 14 hands high. They are stocky, active and strong, with hard dark or "blue" coloured feet and flexible, resilient pasterns. A good Fell should have a measurement of at least 8 and a half inches round the cannon bone of the foreleg under the knee, and the measurement round the natural "waist" in the ribs where the saddle girth lies is usually about 65 inches but often more. Fells usually have lots of feather - long hair fringing the lower leg and hoof - and long silky manes and tails. Some ponies may cast the feather in summer and regrow it in winter; kept in muddy conditions in winter, they will lose the fringe around the hoof.

While Fells are powerful and hardy they should not be at all "horsey". Their heads are comparatively broad for their length. They should look brisk and alert with kind eyes and pricked ears. In the show ring, straight silky feather, mane and tail hair is preferred although many ponies do show more or less tendency to wavy locks and this may be of varying quality.

Mare class at the Breed Show 2000 Tom Capstick at the head of the line with Heltondale Misty IV.

Lunesdale Mountain Mist at Stallion Show 2002 It is rare for a Fell to move crookedly, and their action is ideally long and ground-covering, moving from the shoulder with a moderate amount of knee action. The late Bob Atkinson, farrier and horsebreaker of Brough, used to say a Fell should move as though the ground was red-hot. Mountain Mist is now in Czechoslovakia and is a great ambassador for the breed there.