It is believed that over two thousand years ago, Phoenician traders introduced ponies to the West Country. These original ponies evolved into two distinct breeds, the Exmoor and the Dartmoor.
The pony now native to Dartmoor has evolved to suit whichever part of the Moor it lives on. The colours are mainly bay, grey, chestnut and black, with some coloured ponies.
Just over one hundred years ago, the pony breed showed a split into two categories. One group began to concentrate on breeding for the show ring (where appearance is most important) and the other group work on breeding for purpose (where adaptability and suitability for work is most important).
This was the beginning of the Registered Dartmoor pony breed.
The foundation stock, according to records, included Hackney, Thoroughbred, Welsh, Arab, Exmoor and even a Fell, all in the search for that elusive “quality”. Judicious crossing soon demonstrated what could be achieved.
In 1918, a mare called Blackdown (sire; a carriage horse, dam; a native Dartmoor Hill pony) had a foal by an imported Arab stallion called Dwarka, 14.1 hands high. This foal was bought by Sylvia Calmady-Hamlyn and was called “The Leat”. He had a quarter Dartmoor Hill pony blood. He was registered in the Dartmoor stud book despite a resolution forbidding judges to pass any pony with more than a quarter arab thoroughbred or hackney blood!
The Leat was aptly named as his blood flows in the veins of virtually every single successful Registered Dartmoor pony in the years that followed, right up to the present day. In “The Dartmoor Pony, a history of the breed” by Joseph Palmer, he says “He was of course the supreme example of the uncertainty of breeding.” (Page 38).
By 1925, the Dartmoor Pony Society had formed, and the type was established. Sylvia Calmady-Hamlyn used a Welsh stallion, Dinarth Spark, on a mare called Juliet IV. The resultant stallion, Jude, became a prolific sire and model for the Registered Dartmoor Pony of today.
No longer another Native running wild on the Moor, it was a recognised and properly recorded breed, with qualities governed by man.
The selective line breeding under expert and dedicated direction has created our beautiful and versatile Registered Dartmoor Pony of today.
Why the Native Hill Pony was still valuable.
The mining industry found the native Dartmoors incredibly useful, and crossed them with Shetland ponies nationwide working underground, and there was a good market for Dartmoor Hill ponies.
The farming industry required a sturdy weight-carrying pony, so ponies who were strong and had good depth of bone were chosen as breeding stock.
The introduction of polo as a sport saw a new role for the Hill pony, and they were crossed with arabs and thoroughbreds to produce the athletic pony needed for the sport.
In current times, its job is as a tool of ecology keeping Dartmoor as we know and love it. Stock is chosen specifically with hardiness and ability to thrive on Dartmoor, although as there is a strong requirement under current market forces to produce coloured and spotty ponies, our foundation stock now includes coloured and spotty stallions and even cobs and arabs. This evolution merely carries on with the ancient traditions of breeding for purpose and adapting to market changes.