Rum holds the oldest Highland Pony stud in the world with currently 18 ponies on the island with these rare ancient bloodlines. The ponies are a working herd and are used during the deer culling season to extract deer carcasses from the hill. They are also used as a grazing management tool outside of the deer culling season when they live out wild on the hill and can be found grazing at Harris.
Being an island population these ponies are of particular importance to the Highland Pony breed. Should equine disease ever affect the mainland highland pony population, the Rum ponies would act as a reservoir for mainland breeders to re build stock and would therefore play a vital role in preserving the Highland pony breed.