6o Breeds of Horses 



Dartmoor ponies have the " homing " instinct very strongly 

 developed, and though but little of the moor is enclosed, they 

 never stray far. Some breeders, however, put their mares on 

 enclosed ground in May, turning from a score to a score and a 

 half of mares to one stallion. Foals begin to be dropped as early 

 as May, and occasionally, but not often, an August foal is seen. 

 They rough it from the beginning, for they are soon turned on to 

 the open moor, and there they remain till the middle of winter, 

 when some of them are brought into enclosed moors for shelter. 

 We must remember that "Dartymoor" is from 1200 to 2000 ft. 

 above sea level. What is known in some districts as hand food — 

 that is, hay or oats — these ponies never get in their moorland 

 homes, or, at any rate, but seldom, and that under exceptional 

 circumstances. 



Curiously enough, there is the best demand for them in the 

 north, and railway rates have been known to run to nearly the 

 value of the ponies, which is certainly rather hard for the breeders. 



The value of Dartmoor ponies is scarcely so high as that of 

 Exmoor ponies. An average price for suckers is from £2 to 

 £2, \os.\ ponies rising two years old, from ;^3 to ^5; and mares and 

 foals, from £(> to ;^iO, prices which fall far short of those realized 

 at the sale held by Mr. Watts's executors in the early 'seventies. 



Dartmoor ponies are excellent for children, and in a wild moor- 

 land country they make excellent boys' hunters. It is sufficiently 

 exasperating, as the writer can say from experience, to see a light 

 boy threading his way fearlessly through an awkward bog which 

 necessitates a wide detour for the man on a high-class hunter. 

 And the Dartmoor pony also can show a fine pace. There is a 

 good, or, at any rate, an increasing trade in Dartmoor ponies with 

 America, and with a little trouble this might be considerably 

 increased. One thing that is necessary to bring about this very 

 desirable state of things is more attention to the registration of 

 pedigrees. The semi-wild life which most of our mountain and 

 moorland ponies lead is, of course, somewhat against regular and 

 systematic registration in the Stud Book; and perhaps there is a 

 sort of indefinable prejudice against registration. The importance 

 of it, both from the standpoint of the breed and of trade, cannot 

 be too much impressed upon breeders. 



The principal fairs for Dartmoor ponies are Princetown, South 

 Brent, Chagford, and Okehampton. 



[The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. T. Palmer's 

 interesting article on Dartmoor ponies for some of the facts of which he has 

 made use in this article.] 



