Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust Ensuring a future for these iconic ponies

Ask any visitor what Dartmoor means to them and they will inevitably say ‘Dartmoor ponies’! Ensuring a sustainable future for these animals is vital for the preservation of traditional bloodlines, for the ecology of the moor and for the benefit of tourism – a key income source for Devon.

There have been many achievements and hundreds of ponies have found homes through the Bovey Tracey-based Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust (DPHT) since it was established in 2005 - yet the plight of the moorland pony is still serious.

Elizabeth Newbolt-Young of the world famous Shilstone Rocks Dartmoor pony stud at Widecombe founded the DPHT. She said: ‘It was clear the diminishing number of traditional, single colour Dartmoor ponies running on the moor had reached a point when something needed to be done, so the origins of one of our most popular native ponies would not be lost.

‘Pedigree ponies have achieved success as family ponies and in the show ring all over the world; but many of us fear the loss of moorland bred animals with the tough, hardy attributes of feral stock living high on Dartmoor.’

Dru Butterfield, who runs the charity, said: ‘Over the years we have taken a lead in developing markets such as conservation grazing and sold well over 1,000 ponies to homes all over the UK on behalf of farmers. Instead of being worth just a few pounds, our free handling and basic “starting” not only enables more ponies to be found homes, whether as conservation grazers or as pets, riding or driving ponies, it also ensures better income for Dartmoor farmers and pony keepers, as the ponies gain a sensible value. This is vital to enable farmers to continue to breed the best ponies and to manage their herds.

‘We work with the Dartmoor Pony Society to carry out inspections of youngstock to ensure they meet quality and type expectations for the traditional Dartmoor. We also co-fund castration of colts, a direct saving for the breeders and vital for the ponies to be more manageable and saleable to private homes. This reduces the cost for pony keepers and helps to make the ponies a more viable “crop”. We fund stallion vasectomies as part of our support to controlling breeding on the moor and are involved in research to find alternative methods of managing the pony population.’

The DPHT continues to seek new sales avenues for ponies belonging to members of its Recognised Pony Keeper Scheme and to develop those already established, including conservation grazing with the National Trust and other organisations around the UK. There are now Dartmoor born and bred ponies as far afield as Cornwall, Dorset, Norfolk and even Scotland – also ensuring a ‘gene bank’ of potential breeding mares, should there be any sort of devastating disease outbreak on Dartmoor.

The Trust leases land at Bellever, near Postbridge, where it provides the public with free guided walks to learn about the moor’s history, archaeology, flora and fauna – and the way of life on Dartmoor over the centuries. It also runs a herd of up to 26 ponies – providing free grazing for pony keepers to enable some of their youngsters to mature, perfectly demonstrating the role of equines in land management and improving biodiversity, in partnership with the Forestry Commission.

DPHT is also undertaking a research project in conjunction with Plymouth University to provide scientific evidence of the impact ponies make on the landscape and biodiversity of our environment.

As well as the Trust’s ‘showcase’ for the Dartmoor pony at its centre in Bovey Tracey, perhaps the ‘flagship’ of the DPHT’s work to promote the temperament of the Dartmoor pony is through an innovative Equine Assisted Learning Programme. Ponies Inspiring People is primarily aimed at young people with a range of life challenges in both mainstream and special needs schools. Most visible from the range of courses is ‘Fresh Tracks’, a special category of the famous Ten Tors Jubilee Challenge.

Says Dru: ‘Over eight to ten weeks of training – particularly building self-confidence - our ponies have helped up to 18 teenagers a year to overcome the demands of trekking across tough Dartmoor terrain. Fresh Tracks has enabled them to re-form their minds and hearts and take their new skills and can-do attitudes back to home and school life.’

The students benefit from the closeness, unconditional love and attention from the ponies. Students’ responses have been very positive and they show resilience to new situations, acquiring skills that are transferable into everyday life.

One parent explained: ‘The change is incredible: he is so much more confident and comfortable with life; he is taking responsibility for himself and getting prepared for the day ahead; he doesn’t get so stressed and worried. Our family life has improved so much you wouldn’t believe.’

According to one teacher: ‘Before doing FT, if I had suggested to these lads that we do a ten mile walk on Dartmoor, they would have laughed at me, but in school we started to see more enthusiasm, more positiveness and self-control. Taking on this challenge they didn’t just walk up and down the tors, they climbed mountains – in their minds - and came back asking to do it again.’

Reliant on huge support from volunteers and good partnerships with local famers, the work of the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust to ensure a long- term future for the native Dartmoor pony and promote their amazing temperaments and flexibility continues.

Clare Stanton

To find out more about the work of the DPHT, to adopt a Dartmoor pony, volunteer for the trust or to buy a pony, please visit www.dpht.co.ukor call 01626 833234.