The Dartmoor Hill Pony
There are approximately 1500 ponies living on the Moor, all owned by farmers with Commoner’s rights. This amounts to less than 10% of the numbers that lived on the Moors 50 years ago. The reason that the numbers have declined is because the Commoners have not received enough income from the sale of ponies to cover the costs of maintaining the herds, and they have therefore either given up or vastly reduced their numbers.
The gene pool that resides within these ponies is a treasure, which must never be lost, as we could never replicate what has emerged from thousands of years of adaptation to life on Dartmoor in all her moods.
The Dartmoor Hill Pony Association has worked hard on behalf of the Commoners to raise the value of the ponies, so that it becomes economically viable to maintain the herds. The Association also subsidises colt castration, and raises awareness of the value of keeping this gene pool going. It has formed a Dartmoor Hill Pony Display Team to show how clever these little ponies are. There is also an annual Dartmoor Country Fair with an extensive range of classes for Hill Ponies to compete in.
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“Far from being a load of rubbish being bred on Dartmoor and going cheap in the Sales, the Hill Ponies of Dartmoor have huge strengths that make them suitable for all kinds of jobs apart from their main one of being the tough Custodians of the Moor. We hope that this information will help to inspire a better understanding of the Dartmoor Hill Pony and encourage people to take the time and effort needed to discover these fantastic ponies,” says Charlotte Faulkner from the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association.
The Registered Dartmoor Pony
These ponies are bred to a standard introduced in 1925, and have pedigrees registered in the Dartmoor Pony Society Studbook, which is recognised worldwide. Their value in the Show ring is undisputed, please refer to the Dartmoor Pony Society website for details.
There are very few of these beautiful ponies living on the Moor, as with their neat little heads, elegant necks, fine bone and shining coats they are not suited to the harsh conditions.
There is however the New Take scheme, by which approved Hill Ponies can be used for breeding to enlarge the depleted gene pool of the Registered Dartmoor, and which can be included in the Dartmoor Society stud book. New blood from the Hill Pony is invaluable as a source of hybrid vigour, and the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust has appointed a panel to choose and support approximately 300 mares from the ponies on the Moor that most conform to the standards laid down in the Registered Dartmoor Pony breed standard, in 1925.