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Hello
there.
Back again for another flick through the pages of my Dartmoor Diary.
Last
time I introduced you to my home town of Widecombe.
This month I thought we'd take a look at a creature synonomous with
the moors,
The Dartmoor Pony.....
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The
Dartmoor Pony
What would Dartmoor be without the Dartmoor Pony?
It would lose one of its most unique features and its identity. Imagine
losing the tors and rocks, the prehistoric monuments, hut circles, cairns,
standing stones or other archaeological artifacts. Make no mistake, if
the livestock on the moors disappeared it would have devistating effect
on the ecology of this beautiful upland of the South-west of England.
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Ponies
being rounded up in the rain
on the annual drift
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The Wild Dartmoor
Ponies, yes they are wild! in the sense that they're not tame, but they're
not wild in the same way as the foxes, badgers or rabbits are wild. Every
pony is owned by someone and each October they're gathered into the nearby
farms. This is known as the ‘annual drift’.
They're then sorted out between the owners. How do they know which ones
belong to who? Well if you look carefully at the mature ponies you'll
notice that they have a brand mark on them. Sometimes it's a shaped mark,
but more often it's the initials of the owner.
Jan Stewer’s ponies would have JS on their rump or back, while those belonging
to Harry Hawk would have HH and so on. All the local owners will know
eachothers marks as well as their own.
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A
young foal at market
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When the mares are
divided out from the herd, each young foal will immediately go the gate
of the field where its mother is and "whinnie" to her. Once that recognition
takes place they'll be reunited.
Hence Jan’s ponies in one field and Harry’s in another and so on. When
this process is completed each group will be taken back to the owner’s
farm where those that the farmer intends to keep and ultimately return
to the moors - and in future breed from - will be branded.
The
annual pony drift and the concern about market prices is not a new
thing - click
here to watch Carole Madge's report from 1998.
Real 56k |
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Those too old or
considered by these experienced moorland stockmen to be not hardy enough
or of the right type to be returned to the moors will be taken to market
and sold.
This process has
been going on for generations, culling the old and weak, and in so doing
maintaining healthy and hardy stock on the moors.
| Turn
another page of Tony's Dartmoor Diary |
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