Langeland’s Wild Horses
Langeland’s wildest natural grazers help create variety, biodiversity and space for richer nature.
On Langeland, horses and cattle help shape the natural landscape as they graze. These large animals do work that would otherwise require machinery, and their grazing creates more varied vegetation with open landscapes, scrub and taller growth.
The Wild Horses on Langeland
Langeland’s wild horses are Exmoor ponies – a hardy breed characterised by their brownish coat and muscular black legs. Studies show that the Exmoor pony is the breed genetically closest to Denmark’s original wild horses. Their winter coat, made up of a dense undercoat and protective outer hairs, becomes so thick that snow can lie on their backs without melting.
The horses find most of their food in the wild and roam the enclosed areas all year round. This gives visitors the opportunity to observe natural horse behaviour from a distance and on the animals’ own terms.
Although the horses are not groomed and cared for like ordinary riding horses, they are checked on every day.
Here you can experience Langeland’s “Wild” Horses
The Wild Horses - Gulstav Mose
Bagenkop, Funen and the Islands
The Wild Horses - Flådet, Tranekær
Tranekær, Funen and the Islands
Wild horses and Cattle at Skovsgaard
Humble, Funen and the Islands
Grazing creates space for richer nature
When large animals graze an area, they influence which plants are able to thrive. Without grazing, species such as hawthorn and dog rose can spread rapidly and gradually come to dominate the landscape.
The horses and cattle help create varied vegetation with open landscapes, scrub and taller growth. This provides different habitats for plants, birds and other animals. It is precisely this variety that matters. The aim of nature management here is not to create a uniform landscape, but a natural environment with a wider range of habitats and therefore better conditions for biodiversity.
In Denmark, bones from wild horses have been found that are up to 11,500 years old. At that time, horses were attractive prey for hunters. Wild horses are generally considered steppe animals, but in Denmark they also lived in the country’s primeval forests. It is believed that the last of Europe’s wild horses disappeared around 1870.
You can also see many other animals here….
If you are roaming around the island close to sunrise or sunset, you will be unlucky not to see roe or fallow deer. In some places you can also see Highland cattle grazing in the fields. Birdlife on Langeland is exceptional and finally we have a population of rare black squirrels.
