Regulation means dead ponies

It's a general theme around here that not all aspects of life need to be subject to government regulation. In fact, that large parts of life work very much better free of such burdens. It might be possible to describe this as the non-Germanic approach - we do not need rules for everything.

One point that perhaps gains less recognition than it should is that it isn't just government imposition which is the problem, it is that attempt to regulate itself often enough. As with the Exmoor ponies:

Exmoor ponies are being culled by farmers because of delays in obtaining “passports” that prove their pedigree.

The animals are listed as endangered by the Rare Breed Survival Trust and require the paperwork from the Exmoor Pony Society in order to be sold.

But breeders, who largely keep them simply to ensure their survival, have claimed that they are having to wait months for the documents to be issued due to bureaucratic red tape and cannot afford to keep the ponies for that long.

This is not to castigate the penpushers it is simply to point to the end result. 

Sure, Exmoor ponies are special, we, along with many others, are entirely happy with the idea that they therefore be specially treated. But look at what the end result here is. Exactly the system built to ensure that specialness is what ends up with some of them being shot. Not for any reason other than that the regulation itself places a bottleneck across the normally free flowing market.

It's undoubtedly true that certain regulations are worth more than their cost. It's also undoubtedly true that some are worth less. Our contention is only that we're currently at the point where much of the regulation we have is in that second class and should thus be headed for the slaughterhouse. You know, so that rather fewer ponies do.