Dartmoor pony
Origin
England
History
The Dartmoor has its natural habitat on the wild moorlands in the Southwest of England. Its environment was easily accessible by land and sea, and up to the end of the 19th century, the Dartmoor ponies were crossed with a great variety of outside blood. At the height of the Industrial Revolution, Shetland stallions were turned out on the moor to produce pit ponies. That was a disastrous experiment since the tough Dartmoor that was good for riding almost disappeared. Nevertheless, the breed was saved by the introduction of Welsh Mountain Ponies, a Fell Pony, and the polo pony stallion, Lord Polo. But the greatest influence on the Dartmoor“s development was The Leat, a stallion by the Arabian, Dwarka (foaled in 1922). The Leat“s daughter, Juliet IV, mated with the Welsh Mountain Pony Dinarth Spark, produced Jude, the most famous Dartmoor stallion of all.
During the Second Word War, the breed was again close to extinction since the moor was used as a training area. But once more, the Dartmoor was saved by the efforts of a few dedicated breeders. In the 1920s there were three distinct herds on the moor.
Through this mixture of disparate bloods, the Dartmoor is one of the most elegant riding ponies in the world. Along with the Welsh, the Dartmoor has dominated the riding pony classes and contributed significantly to the development of the British Riding Pony. Most of today“s Dartmoors are bred at private studs throughout the UK.
Description
- Head:
small and refined with a broad forehead and small, alert ears - Conformation:
-neck of average length, strong but not heavy
-well sloped shoulders
-back of medium length
-well muscled quarters
-lower legs having short cannons with sufficient bone, flat joints, and perfectly sloping pasterns
-tough hooves, well shaped - Average height:
11.2 to 12.2 h.h. - Colour:
the most common are bay, brown, black and grey. A few chestnuts are seen as well as an occasional roan. Piebald and skewbald are not permitted for registration, and white markings on the face and legs are allowed but discouraged - Temperament:
it has a quiet, gentle disposition - Today:
it is very popular in Europe, and in Belgium the ponies are even raced. It jumps as well and it can be successfully crossed with the Thoroughbred and the Arabian. The second cross with the Thoroughbred produces a good cross-country horse or hunter.
The Dartmoor Pony is a great 1st pony. He stands not about 12.2 hands, and has excellent low and straight movement coming from the shoulder with good hock action but without exaggeration. He absolutely loves being brushed and loved on by small kids and will stand quiet for hours. He is extremely kind and gentle on the ground and very easy and fun to ride. His canter is very comfortable, perfect to teach kids how to canter on. He will jump around and is safe and honest to the fence. He trailers and is wonderful to clip.