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Tony
Beard is a farmer, a broadcaster and an entertainer. Each month
he completes another page of his diary.....
Hullo
there,
This month we look at how machinery and technology
has affected the working life of one of the animals synonymous to
the moors...
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A new
era for the Dartmoor Hill Pony
Let us consider the
traditional Dartmoor Pony. What was it bred for these last 3000 years
or so? When man started to domesticate the wild animals and bring them
under his influence and utilise their power and productivity, what was
he looking for?
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Time
for a drink for these two
Dartmoor ponies
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Some of our mammals
were domesticated and handled for their productivity, sheep for wool and
skins for clothing and of course meat, cattle for their hides, meat and
milk. The horse however, was utilised and bred for its power and adaptability.
Here in Devon we have two wonderful examples, Exmoor with its distinctive
breed of pony with what I call its "mealy nose" -looking as if it has
just stuck its nose in a bag of barley meal - and Dartmoor with a slightly
smaller animal, whose versatility has been developed for many uses.
The ideal pack horse
Going back over the centuries the Dartmoor Pony has been a real general
purpose "work horse". On the farms, it made an ideal riding pony
to go up on the high moors to check the moorland stock. It was strong
enough to pull a trap to take produce to market, the farmer and his family
to town, and on Sundays to Church or Chapel.
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This
tractor may have seen better days but it was responsible for making
the horse reduntant
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It would work as
a team with others or individually, in the round house to work the mechanics
of farm machinery, from cider making to crushing corn and - with its substantial
feet and strong legs - it made the ideal pack horse, and what a load they
could carry!
Then came mechanisation. The horse was made redundant. The quad bike replaced
the pony, the tractor replaced those workers of the land, cars and vans
replaced the trap for leisure and business, even the pits were mechanised
and now the least desired "knackers" have no market to offer.
The value of the Dartmoor pony has virtually disappeared.
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