About Dawn Westcott

About Dawn Westcott - Connecting with Exmoor Ponies

Dawn Westcott is author of equestrian best-sellers Wild Pony Whispering and Wild Stallion Whispering and Wild Herd Whispering (published in hardback by Halsgrove) and new in 2023, Rowan The Exmoor Pony. 
Dawn's husband, Exmoor farmer Nick Westcott very sadly died in 2023 (read his tribute here). They established Holtball Herd 11 Exmoor ponies and the Exmoor Pony Project, which helps to safeguard and promote the endangered Exmoor pony breed. 
Dawn uses trust-based horsemanship techniques using gentle Core Energy Connection and working at liberty.  She is also a Reiki Master and artist.
Nick and Dawn co-founded, along with other Exmoor farmers and land owners, the Moorland Exmoor Pony Breeders Group (MEPBG). Dawn is a member of the Exmoor Pony DNA Whole Genome Project team.

In 2020, Nick and Dawn established Exmoor Compost, selling very well-matured, friable, easy to handle Exmoor Pony Multi-Purpose Compost produced by the Exmoor Pony Project herd, which was supported with an  Exmoor National Park Authority Partnership Fund grant. 


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Background

Dawn Westcott has twice stood International Horse Agility World Champion (2011 and 2012) with moorbred Exmoor pony stallion Bear , also a wonderful ridden pony (often bitless) and a working stallion.

Dawn has produced Exmoor ponies to top level in showing. 

Bear's son, Yogi Bear, now stands at stud with Holtball Herd 11. 

In 2013 Nick and Dawn founded the Moorland Exmoor Foal Project to give wild Moorland Exmoor foals a good start in life, which was re-named the Exmoor Pony Project, as the concept evolved. This work has evolved to benefit Exmoor ponies from foals to veterans, along with their breeders, owners and enthusiasts, on Exmoor, across the UK and overseas.

Dawn's work with Exmoor ponies involves PR and publicity, marketing and promotion, working with others to manage and safeguard the Exmoor ponies of Exmoor National Park, Exmoor pony taming, training and development, and work as an author and journalist. 
Dawn Westcott's work appears in national and regional magazines and newspapers, and TV appearances include ITV This Morning, ITV News Westcountry, BBC Points West, Sky News, BBC Flog It, BBC Spotlight and BBC Countryfile. 

Before Exmoor: 
Before moving to the Westcountry in 1999, Dawn Westcott worked in glossy magazine publishing in London. Her career in publishing started at Centaur Communications (The Lawyer and Money Marketing) and  on the financial advertising team at The Telegraph.  Dawn then joined Country Living magazine to run the Advertorials department, before becoming an art director, stylist and designer, which included working with Country Living, Tatler, House & Garden and the Evening Standard as well as various PR companies. This led to seven years at BBC Worldwide as Advertorials Editor - art directing, styling, designing and editing advertorial features for BBC Homes & Antiques, Good Homes and Gardener's World magazines - along with other freelance projects. 


Photos by Murray Sanders

A short video about our work with Exmoor ponies & my new book Wild Herd Whispering

This is a short video we made recently to introduce you to some of our ponies and explain more about Wild Herd Whispering.  It also features some of the characters from Wild Pony Whispering and Wild Stallion Whispering - including Monsieur Chapeau and Bear. 


Wild Pony Whispering BOOK SHOP
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