Exmoor Horn Sheep
Over the years, I have been asked on several occasions to write about the remarkable Exmoor Horn sheep which are the native breed where I happen to live. I thought I’d put a collection of these old articles on here because… Well, because I find it interesting and maybe you will too.
Our beloved Westcountry moorlands look as though they are genuine areas of unmolested wilderness. Vast, lonesome, wilderness areas like the tops of Exmoor and Dartmoor are too high, wet and cold ever to have been intensively farmed, so it’s easy to imagine they have remained pretty much untouched down the centuries.
In fact, those rolling heather clad hills look the way they do because mankind has been keen to hear the mass chomping of teeth. Ever since the first Bronze Age pioneer kept a small herd of animals up here in these inhospitable parts, mankind has realised that – although he can’t do anything to turn the high pastures into food – his four legged friends can.
Develop a tough enough breed of sheep, for example, and you have a bleating machine that is capable of converting inedible plants like heather and coarse grasses into delicious meat. Such a sheep would even have the added bonus of supplying you with a raw material so you could make something to wear in order to ward off that highland cold.
The Exmoor Horn is just such a sheep – and, though its numbers dwindled in the last century, the breed is now enjoying something of a renaissance.
EXMOOR HORN PROMOTION LAUNCH
An indigenous breed of West Country sheep could become the Rolls Royce version of the lamb trade if a new marketing initiative proves to be a success. Just like a beef-lover may have asked for Aberdeen Angus in the past, connoisseurs of prime lamb and mutton could soon be demanding cuts of Exmoor Horn.
That’s the hope of the Exmoor Horn Sheep Breeders’ Society which this week launched a branding exercise aimed at capturing the imagination, and taste buds, of the meat-eating public. It’s the first Westcountry breed of sheep to be singled out for such attention and will now be vying with the Cumbria’s famous Herdwicks for a place on menus in the most exclusive restaurants.
“The quality is there without doubt,” commented Richard Guest, head chef at Taunton’s Castle Hotel, who spoke to us after tasting the meat at the launch. “I wasn’t sat there thinking: ‘I’ve got to be polite’. For me, though, the main selling point is that it’s seasonal. It’s like native oysters from Cornwall – you have to wait until they’re in season – and sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
The Exmoor Horn is traditionally reared in the hills, which means the lambs aren’t born until late spring and the meat only becomes available at the end of August. “A lot of the meat trade is all about extending the season,” says marketing consultant Ian Rigby who has been helping the Exmoor Horn breeders.
“Some breeds start lambing at Christmas, and so on – there’s a staged lamb production throughout the UK. But we are not going to chase that market - we’re not housing the ewes in winter and feeding them inside. You will get them as it is produced - lambs start coming into maturity at the end of summer and they’re finished by Christmas – so you’ll only buy in season.”
The new scheme, which is operated under strict breeding criteria, was backed by a £42,733 grant from Exmoor National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund. There’s a belief that helping the breed to remain economically viable can lead to a win-win situation both economically and environmentally.
“They were designed by evolution,” says Pauline Lyle, who was partly instrumental in gaining the grant and who keeps Exmoor Horn.
“That’s why it’s so important they stay on Exmoor like the ponies and Red Devon cattle - the landscape would completely change unless we keep them. They wandered the moors centuries ago and they are strong and hardy enough to withstand the freezing and rain.” Two new logos extolling the delights of both Exmoor Horn lamb and mutton have been designed and a marketing initiative is now in place as well as a meat box scheme.
EXMOOR HORN WOOL
Exmoor Horn sheep have been around for a very long time - in fact scientific studies have shown that the ancient breed is genetically adapted to suit the harsh environment of the West Country hills - but what is new are the products now being made from their special high quality wool. Socks for outdoor lovers and now a selection of classy pullovers and luxury cushions are part of a range being made and promoted by the 120 farmers belonging to Exmoor Horn Sheep Breeders’ Society.
The woollen goods are being marketed under the name Exmoor Horn Wool, a company set up two years ago to try and add value to the high quality fleeces. The endeavour to give value to the special wool has been something an uphill struggle for those involved. “It is a complex industry and we have learned an enormous amount as farmers and as members of the society,” said spokesperson Lindy Head.
“Normally we just produce sheep for meat or wool and it goes off the farm. Unless you are doing some meat for friends and neighbours you never see your end user or consumer. “This is the first time we’ve had any interface with the public and all the things that go with promoting yourself we’ve had to learn from the bottom up.
Things like creating a website… “Farmers are traditional people and having to promote yourself and put yourself out in the world is all a novelty to us - so it’s been a huge leap for the society,” said Lindy. “On our journey we discovered a traditional, complex, many-layered industry which had been declining in recent history. In the current environment, small scale producers like ourselves face many challenges, but the future is different rather than bleak.”
Lindy told me that she and her colleagues had been amazed to discover the extent of the decline of the UK’s wool industry: “The closure of mills since 1980 has resulted in widespread redundancies multiples times - especially for skilled engineers, for whom there is no longer a training college - though Germany has a university for textile engineers. “So getting everything done and ready for the market has been frustrating at times, but it is terribly exciting,” she told me.
“When we got our cushion covers into the Wool B&B in London we were delighted because we’d been told only the big boys get in there. I was over the moon. “What is frustrating is getting to grips with things like forcing to people to meet deadlines - chivvying people along to deal with glitches. It can be worrying. But it is worth it. I believe that having a sense of localness is how you identify with where you live - if you can buy something to eat or something to wear that is local, it is what gives us our identity and makes us different.”
EXMOOR HORN EXHIBITION
It’s not often that a humble breed of sheep gets a two-year exhibition to tell its unique tale, but that’s exactly what was launched on Exmoor yesterday. The ancient Exmoor Horn breed of sheep – which is on the “at risk” category of UK farming breeds – is the subject of a new exhibition which will be a feature of Dulverton’s Guildhall Heritage and Arts Centre for the next two years.
And it’s recognition which is very much deserved, according to fans of the breed. “If we hadn’t had the Exmoor Horn or the ancient prototype which came before it, we would not have the moorland here that we have now,” commented the chairman of the Exmoor Society as she helped open the exhibition.
“The Exmoor is a fantastic grazing machine,” declared Rachel Thomas. “It is the best mower we’ve got.” But she added: “It’s old, it’s hardy - but it is at risk.” Richard Clark, chairman of the Exmoor Horn Sheep Breeders Society, explained: “There are between 12 and 13,000 registered breeding ewes – so the breed is not endangered, but it is at risk. That’s because we are geographically concentrated – if foot and mouth or anything like it happened again and took out Exmoor – the breed would be in trouble.”
However, Mr Clark also explained that the Exmoor Horn is particularly hardy and has adapted to withstand the harsh wet winters up on the moors. Breed society secretary Gina Rawle said she was hoping the new exhibition will help spread the message about this remarkable breed: “We’re hoping it will educate more visitors about the local sheep. It would be very difficult to introduce the breed to visitors in any other way.
“I shouldn’t think many of the visitors who come to Exmoor realise there is a local indigenous sheep,” she told me, adding: “The society is grateful to the Dulverton and District Civic Society for the opportunity to showcase our very special breed, and to the Exmoor Society whose grant has enabled us to fund the exhibition.”
The exhibition illustrates the breed history and explains to visitors the basic year in the life of this remarkable sheep. Mrs Thomas commented: “Two million visitors come to Exmoor every year and people are intrigued by the local sheep with its horns - but they don’t make the link with it and the landscape and the food that’s on their plate. Hopefully this will help them to do that.”
