July Pony Update.

Summer! What summer? The ponies are all in their best summer clothes and here we are, soaked to the skin and freezing to death. All the ponies have been very busy this month. They have all taken part in school visits and have been with the children through the various forestry trails in and around Brimpts.

Golden Flame has really softened and become extremely friendly over the last few weeks. She is in her summer coat and looks the proper lady that she is. She enjoys her one-to-one contact with people while keeping a north-eye on the other ponies.

Charlie. These last few weeks he has been testing the boundaries. He began by giving his handler a nip on the arm. This was not acceptable and he was shown that we did not appreciate sore arms. Then, just as quickly he stopped and began to walk like a gentleman. We wondered at one time if he was a little slow on the uptake; but, we have now decided that he is the opposite and very quickly gets bored. He is in his best casual dress complete with out of control hair.

George has a much more gentle nature and can easily be intimidated and, as such, we are careful how we handle him. He works with the visitors and loves being near children. He will always come, with Charlie, when we call them.

Rolo is in his best suit and he looks a treat. He is still lean and athletic, a typical youngster. He will come and put his head out to have a halter put on so that he can go on a walk. He loves to see the visitors and all the fuss that comes with them.

Boss and Annie are at the centre, although, little Annie is now for sale, for more details see the Sales List on our website. She has been handled from the day she was weaned and will make a small child very happy. She is totally trustworthy and adores people. Boss is on loan to the charity, although I would dearly love him to be an adoption pony. He is, just like Golden Flame, a wonderful example of a Heritage Pony; in both stature and temperament. We are so pleased to have him and he has settled well into the job of working with children and welcoming visitors.

DPHT Annual Report – 2007 / 2008

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction – John F Kennedy

2007 has been a year a successful year in establishing the breadth of work undertaken by the DPHT. We are now starting to reap the rewards from the previous year’s strategy to grow.

We have concentrated on the following key areas:

Dartmoor Pony Preservation Scheme

• Our annual grant of £25,000 from the Dartmoor Sustainable Development Fund (DSDF) was not continued and in October 2007 following our annual inspection of Heritage herds we administered the final support payments to pony keepers partaking in the Dartmoor Pony Preservation Scheme. This caused some concern as we had always discussed a six year support package ending in 2010. However, we did secure three further years funding for a value added initiative from the same funding source.
• The DPHT produced a booklet to promote the use of Dartmoor ponies for conservation grazing. This was mail dropped to 1,200 ecologists and land managers throughout the UK.
• The new DSDF grant enabled us to run a value added initiative. Concentrating on handling young stock and castrating colts not suitable for breeding. We also ran a foal foster scheme, 28 foals were homed for the winter period. Alongside an aggressive marketing campaign, an annual private sale and promotion of ponies for conservation grazing. The Trust has been directly responsible for selling in excess of 100 ponies for local pony keepers for above market prices.
• The DPHT worked in partnership with the Dartmoor Pony Society and Natural England to create a specific Heritage Trust List, allowing true to type moor bred ponies the opportunity to be officially recognised by the Dartmoor Pony Society as Heritage Ponies. HTL status has helped improve the value of these ponies as they are now eligible for the lucrative Higher Level Stewardship Scheme – Native Breeds at Risk Supplement payment.

Education Programme

• The DPHT has continued to grow its educational facility and achieved 21 educational visits based on a 2 hour visit throughout the last year. We worked with a range of primary and secondary schools.

• We also visited a number of local schools to give talks.

• In November we visited the Equestrian Unit at Bicton College for a 3 day pony handling course, working with over 100 students.

• We continue to visit local WI’s, providing an hours talk about the work of the Trust and ponies on the moor.

• Our work with hard to reach audiences continues to grow; we worked closely with students from Millford Special Needs School and Downham College, culminating in a successful if not soggy Ten Tors event. We were delighted to welcome students from West of England School for Little or No Sight and had a wonderful day introducing the ponies to these delightful children.

• The Prince’s Trust visited on two occasions for a full days entertainment based around equine behaviour, all participants were eager to return unfortunately funds did not allow us to continue this work as our insurance did not cover young offenders and was cost prohibitive, something we hope to change in the next financial year.

• The DPHT gave 3 wild foal handling demonstrations at Pennywell Farm, Cotehele and Bicton College all three events were well attended and ponies were sold on the back of such positive handling sessions. Pony handling sessions were offered throughout the autumn and many people booked on our courses to participate.

• The DPHT ran a training day for National Trust wardens in November teaching handling techniques for managing semi-feral ponies. The event was a great success and secured further sales of ponies to NT. The training event will be repeated again next year.

Income Generation

• The DPHT successfully secured a Service Level Agreement with the Dartmoor National Park Authority to provide education, herd inspections and promotion of the Dartmoor Pony.
• We also secured three further years funding from the Dartmoor Sustainable Development Fund to run a value added initiative.
• In February we secured a 10 year tenancy agreement with the Forestry Commission to take over the grazing of 84ha of moorland surrounding Bellever Tor. Shortly following this opportunity we were successful in applying for a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme agreement for the next 10 years.

Publicity, Promotion and Media Coverage.

The DPHT has focused on building a strong image, we promote our work through a variety of media and have received, national and regional television coverage (Johnny Kingdom series) national and local radio (Matt Baker half hour Radio 4), plus a number of features in local press and magazines. We have a super website which has helped increase our opportunities to promote our work and sales of ponies.

Furthermore, we have formed excellent working relationships with the following statutory bodies: Forestry Commission, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Natural England and Devon County Council.

We have particularly strong partnerships with the Duchy of Cornwall, Harbour Drug and Alcohol Service, Hamoaze House, Devon Discovery, West of England School for Little or No Sight, Millford Special Needs School, National Trust and GAP (Grazing Animal Project). These relationships continue to grow for mutual benefit.

None of the above would have been possible to achieve without the blood, sweat and often tears from our wonderful team of volunteers and trustees. A huge thank you to you all.

As we look to next year with the threat of ever changing legislation which has been so detrimental to the viability of our Heritage ponies, we can only take a deep breath, recognise our achievements to date and fight harder for our emblem of Dartmoor.

Abraham Lincoln said: Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle – here’s to another year of hustling!

Mrs. Dru Butterfield

Charity Manager

Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust

Registered charity no. 1109196

TRAINING DAYS

Join our team for a week of pony handling and training from the 14th to 18th July - preparing ponies for our annual sale. 30 unhandled ponies will be arriving at our sale site near Ashburton in need of handling and prepartion for sale, join the team for an unforgettable experience.

If you would like to book on to a day or weeks course or have further questions regarding this area of our work please contact: Dru Butterfield- Charity Manager, Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust - 01626 355 314 Or email us

The DPHT Annual General Meeting will be held on the 27th June at Brimpts Farm -12noon. Immediately followed by a trustee meeting.

Jubilee Challenge Special.

 Dartmoor Ponies making the difference at this year’s Ten Tors.

Jubilee Challenge, 2008.

This is a red letter day on the calendar for our charity because it is one of the ways we show everyone about our work with less fortunate children and at the same time promote the Heritage Pony.

The Jubilee Challenge is a demanding one day event designed for young people with special physical or educational needs.

Held on the Saturday of Ten Tors weekend, the Jubilee Challenge entrants share the same pressures, achievements - and weather - as the Ten Tors Teams!

The Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust ponies are used to motivate and encourage students around the route!

The ponies were prepared on the Friday before the big day, groomed, fed and watered; and were driven over to a holding area near to the start area, by Dru and Donna. They were met by Vanessa, Phillip, Emma and Kerry who settled the ponies in readiness for Saturday.

Three of the DPHT’s adoption ponies; Golden Flame, George, Rolo and pack-ponies Boss and Frosty walked with the students on the eight mile route.

Golden Flame, George and Rolo thoroughly enjoyed all the fuss and attention. Boss and Frosty have been involved with the Trust’s Education Programme for the last year and took part for the first time. This was our largest entry of ponies to date.

The weather was kinder than last year and all the ponies, handlers and children completed the course safely. As you sit reading this page think how much effort those children put in to completing the course, some in pain, some with little or no sight and some with extreme walking problems. Humbling, isn’t it? The smiles of achievement were all we need to make us sure that next year, we will do it again. I have laid a bet that Dru says,” Next year were are taking ten”. Her enthusiasm knows no bounds and without her a lot of what we do would not happen.

7am on Saturday  5th April 20 Dartmoor Heritage Ponies arrived in Norfolk, 16 ponies for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) and 4 ponies for Norfolk County Council.

After successfully selling 16 ponies in 2006 to NWT, Grazing Officer Mel Slote returned to Dartmoor  to purchase a further 16 ponies for a new 500 acre site.

We are glad to report all ponies came off the lorry fit and well and showed no signs of stress or fatigue. In fact true to type they quickly had their heads straight down to eat. 

These ponies make such wonderful conservation grazing machines that it shouldn't be long before we are able to confirm more orders. 

Mel Slote spent two days with Dru Butterfield DPHT Charity Manager. Day one was a training day run inconjunction with Positive Horsemanship in handling techniques for semi-feral ponies, whilst Day two, was a whirl wind visit of local pony keepers. A thoroughly enjoyable couple of days for all concerned.

Teignbridge District Council has recently purchased five Dartmoor Heritage ponies for conservation grazing on their internationally important dune grassland habitat at Dawlish Warren. The ponies were sourced with help from the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust with funding coming from Natural England. Together with Positive Horsemanship, the Trust also helped train the site's Rangers how to handle the ponies safely.

Dawlish Warren is a National Nature Reserve situated at the mouth of the River Exe in South Devon. The site supports over 2000 species of invertebrates and 620 different plants, many of them rare species. The area also provides a haven for birdlife. Conservation grazing is essential to maintain the site in good order for its many wild and human visitors.

When Teignbridge District Council, who own and manage the site, decided they needed to introduce conservation grazing, they contacted the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust (DPHT) for help in finding suitable ponies. The ponies were selected from a traditional Dartmoor herd kept at Frenchbeer Farm, Chagford, by Mike Malseed.

The mares will spend the autumn and winter at Dawlish Warren and the remaining half of the year on National Trust land along the South Devon coast path near Kingswear. The coastal sites are similar to Dartmoor in many ways, having plenty of gorse and rough vegetation that benefits from being controlled by grazing. Dartmoor ponies are ideally suited to conservation grazing on such sites. Unlike cattle and sheep, they will graze for up to 18 hours a day and they are adapted to survive on vegetation that has little nutritive value. In addition, the traditional Dartmoor Heritage ponies are eligible for payments through the Native Breeds at Risk Supplement (Higher Stewardship Scheme) run by Natural England. <

The DPHT offered to handle the mares before they went to their new home and it was decided to incorporate the pony handling into a full two-day training course for all the Rangers involved. Six members of staff from Teignbridge District Council and the National Trust learned how to rope and handle feral Dartmoor ponies, while maintaining the ponies' wariness of people. It was important to get the right balance, since if ponies become too tame they can become a nuisance in public areas and both sites have high visitor numbers; so achieving the balance between wildness and the ponies being manageable is vital.  "We needed the ponies to avoid people but be manageable by us," said Phil Chambers, Senior Ranger at Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve. "In two days, we - and the ponies - were trained to the point where we can halter them and carry out inspection and work on hooves, but the ponies still avoid approaching people. A very impressive couple of days."

The main goal of the DPHT is to preserve the traditional type of Dartmoor pony, now known as the Dartmoor Heritage pony. In 2007, DPHT embarked on a major campaign to promote the Dartmoor Pony for conservation grazing. "We set out to add value to the ponies," says Charity Manager, Dru Butterfield. "Finding new markets for the ponies has been an important area of our work and I am delighted with the interest we have created in Heritage stock."

The service offered by DPHT in helping buyers to source, handle and train both ponies and site managers has made a big different in the fight to secure the future of the traditional Dartmoor Pony. "The Pony Handling course run by the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust and Positive Horsemanship was excellent and gave the staff involved increased knowledge, awareness and confidence of handling wild Dartmoor ponies. I would recommend it to anyone involved with managing ponies for conservation grazing," said Mike Ingram, Area Warden for the National Trust.

You can imagine how delighted we were when Tony Beard, otherwise known as the Wag From Widecombe, agreed to be a Patron. Tony is a keen preserver of Devon life and culture. Tony has spent many happy years as a farmer. He talks of his love of the moors, countryside traditions and the characters who live and work on the moor in his Radio Devon 'Dartmoor Diary'.

The Dartmoor Pony is the emblem of Dartmoor, but then some would say Tony is!