700 Dartmoor ponies shot :(

I don't think they are pure dartmoor ponies as in "registered dartmoors" they are ponies that live on dartmoor, BIG difference between the two!


Yuletide_Gal said:
Sad?

SAD?

It's a blinking national tragedy! Pure Dartmoor ponies are rarer than Giant Pandas!!!! If someone announced they'd just shot 700+ young pandas, there'd be outrage! International agencies would come down on those responsible like a tonne of bricks! Heads would roll, and roll and roll...

But because they're Dartmoor Ponies, on the critically endangered list of the Rare Breed Survival Trust, it's okay.

As for grazing, ponies are much pickier grazers than sheep and cattle, so much better for natural parks. A few near us have bought exmoor ponies for that exact purpose.

Breed them pure and breed with pride, else you might as well sign the death warrant of the whole breed.

From the ex-owner of a stubborn, badly behaved right royal pain in the arse - from dartmoor.
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nativetyponies said:
the NF stallions are inspected every march before they are allowed out on the forest...the ones that dont make the grade, just dont go out on the forest..its as simple as that..the same should happen on Dartmoor and the welsh hills
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Too true and they should also get back to only pure registerable Dartmoor ponies on the moor not those ugly scraps called Dartmoor Hill Ponies which have absolutely no place on the moor IMHO. I remember years ago, only Dartmoors were allowed on there, same as NF and Exmoors; it's such a shame the farmers were allowed to turn out any Tom, Dick and Harry to cover Mary, Molly and Mandy without considering what they would be producing and now they are reaping the casualties of those decisions; the Park Authority should get a bit more bite and insist that those should all be culled or removed asap and never allowed back on.
 
Yuletide_Gal said:
Sad?

SAD?

It's a blinking national tragedy! Pure Dartmoor ponies are rarer than Giant Pandas!!!! If someone announced they'd just shot 700+ young pandas, there'd be outrage! International agencies would come down on those responsible like a tonne of bricks! Heads would roll, and roll and roll...

But because they're Dartmoor Ponies, on the critically endangered list of the Rare Breed Survival Trust, it's okay.

As for grazing, ponies are much pickier grazers than sheep and cattle, so much better for natural parks. A few near us have bought exmoor ponies for that exact purpose.

Breed them pure and breed with pride, else you might as well sign the death warrant of the whole breed.

From the ex-owner of a stubborn, badly behaved right royal pain in the arse - from dartmoor.
Click to expand...

i'm not sure they are pure dartmors , but dartmoor hill ponies.... something , sadly, quite different....
 
suestowford said:
"The various herds are all owned and managed by farmers but to ensure that
the ponies do not group together to form one big herd and therefore graze
the moor unevenly, the use of stallions is vital as they keep their own
mares to their own 'lear' and do not stray to other areas therefore ensuring
that grazing levels are balanced all over the moor. Therefore it is not
possible to simply "stop" breeding unless valid forms of contraception could
be introduced. However, these methods are still being trialed in the USA and
Australia and are unlikely to be implemented any time soon as we were hoping
for funding from Natural England."
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That's utter *******s from the Dartmoor Hill Pony people!

I spent a day with the grazing manager at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust last year and we went out to look at one of their "wild" Konik herds. The stallion had been vasectomised. Result - still grazed in the desired fashion, but no new foals.
 
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ISHmad said:
I agree with Over2You.

The New Forest have a great way of managing their herds. These farmers need to be equally responsible and then this wouldn't happen.

Definitely agree that being PTS is far better than an exhausting arduous journey to a foreign slaughter house. Sooner the indiscriminate breeding of horses stops the better.
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I'm sorry to say this but over breeding is a problem in the new forest to. They have been talking about a cull of forest ponies. :( :( I don't understand why they don't just leave the stallions off the forest for a season and give the poor mares a break :mad: . There is little food and I have already seen afew very poor looking ponies on the forest, the winter has only just begun. It makes me so sad. :( :( I do agree shooting is the best option when things are this bad. At the sales this year ponies just wern't selling any that did probably went to the meat man anyway. :(
 
i've got 2 ponies that are 'meant' to be dartmoor x cob, now i don't see any cob whatsoever in the one and people are normally shocked when i say he's a cross. i've contacted the DHP people and they came back to me with the name of the farmer that is in the passport.
they said that only 2 farmers in that area put cob stallions out with the mares in the hope that the ponies will be more substantial riding ponies.

from what i could gather the farmers leave their stallions on the moors all year round.

i'm lucky that my ponies are well put together but i did see a couple of others that weren't when i went to pick mine up.
 
its too easy to sit at a computer and say shoot them, how exactly does one shoot humanely a wild foal? are they shot on the moors or captured first? not all the facts are here, yes its true they are not agri animals and not under the min of ag if this was dolphins or some wildlife in far away places treated like this there would be a public outcry against it, is this the attitude of modern society, if so life is very cheap.
 
nativetyponies said:
One thing i will say though, is that the mares should be graded as well as the stallions..and those not up to scratch, sold or culled.
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God, isn't that ever the truth. There are some so-called graded stallions on the Forest whose stock I would actively avoid but a huge majority of the mares are not fit for breeding at all but until someone wakes up and brings in a grading process, there will continue to be the pathetic rubbishy foals such as the colts that didn't even get a minimum bid (10 guineas) at the last sale.

I can remember having a lengthy discussion about 10 years ago with a commoner and he agreed that no stallions should be allowed in the Forest for something like 5 or 6 years in order to "sort things out a bit" and to grade the mares that are turned out.
 
My understanding is that the Dartmoor Hill Pony is used on the moor primarily as a conservation tool to maintain the landscape, together with the sheep and cattle that also graze.

They are a mixture of breeds and are supposedly chosen for their hardiness and ability to survive the moor environment.

I have a Hill Pony (he didn't sell as a foal was only about 5 months when he went through the sales) and so was given to my Godmother (a softie who saw him when she went to a trials at the farm he came from) and I inherited him last year.

He actually looks quite like a Dartmoor but is very unlikely to be so due to the mixture of breeds up on the moor and it's virtually impossible to trace their breeding anyway.

There are so many of them that they are essentially worthless but would rather see them shot in this country that exported.

Would be nice to see a programme in place to control the breeding etc but I'm not sure how likely that is . . . .
 
tristar said:
If this was dolphins or some wildlife in far away places treated like this there would be a public outcry against it, is this the attitude of modern society, if so life is very cheap.
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Completely agree with that. Look at the reactions regarding the Japanese dolphin slaughter and Australian kangaroo slaughter. People are baying for the blood of those responsible. Not here. Oh, no. People are actually praising the farmers - heralding them as heroes for this atrocity. Those poor ponies. May they all rest in peace.
 
i agee with overtoyou it is an atrocity
the entires should be rounded up and castrated, so no more more are covered at all next year, of course there is already a large number in gestation to be born in the spring, too late for those poor little sods.
i think the breeders should be made to feed them hay at 6 pounds bale and look after them like everyone else PROPERLY out in the bad weather, there's nothing like having to pay out to motivate them into reponsibility and planning for the future
they've got of scot free i hope they can sleep at night
 
I live near (ish ) here and went to a couple of the markets.. now thats sad! Seeing these frightened foals with not a scrap of anything on them. They werent even selling for a fiver a pair!. ... If this stops some of this happening then it has to help. There needs to be some wising up from the people that own these mares and stallions to have some control over breeding.
 
nativetyponies said:
And EXACTLY where are people "praising" the Farmers?
:confused:
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Posts 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, all praise the farmers for taking "responsibility." Not acknowledging that it was their sheer and utter stupidity that caused the problem in the first place. Not to mention all the others (including yours) who seem to take great delight in recommending culls. In fact the vast majority of your posts are in favour of killing horses and ponies. If there is the remotest possibility one could be 'dangerous,' kill it. If one had the audacity to be born with poor conformation or a limb defect, kill it. I don't know how anyone can go through life with that attitude. Thankfully some of the comments here (including mine) are more sympathetic to those who aren't 100% perfect.
 
And thankfully some people, the ones who actually matter, have a more practical, less fluffy bunny, approach to life.

No-one has ever said that over breeding is a good thing. Of course it should stop.

No-one has said culling the ponies a fabulous idea and they should keep over-breeding so they can keep culling. Everyone has expressed how sad it is that it got to that stage. BUT that it's by far the best things that could happen to the poor little mites now they're here and make the desicion to kill them was the most resposible one avalible.

But it's a bit late for discussing the wrongs of over-breeding - so what would YOU do with 700 unhandled small wild ponies? Presumably you've got a really big backgarden to keep them all in?
 
I totally agree on the culling of the Dartmoor ponies, it is very very sad, I live on Dartmoor and see the little foals from the day they were born and very wibbly wobbly on their legs to cheeky little monkeys who love to come bouncing up behind you (without you knowing) and spooking your horse. Unfortunately the type they breed on our moor have no use as most of them don't even reach 11hh they seem to be a cross between Shetlands and whatever else is running on the moor, until the commoners start breeding sensible ponies there will always be this terrible waste. At least those that were culled will not end up been transported live in inhumane conditions via Ireland to end up on the plates of our continental friends. They are probaly now running around in horsey heaven with their friends.:eek:
 
Its about time the breeders of these unwanted low value animals were prosecuted for irresponsibility and breeding them in the first place. I hope they have to pay £100 for each one to be shot and disposed of. Until these people are hit in the pocket they will just carry on breeding ,blame everyone else or the economy for not being able to sell them. ITS THE BREEDERS FAULT no one elses. They should remove the stallions and colts and run better planned breeding programes, only supplying to demand for their product. These poor foals are the innocent parties in all this.
 
I do agree they need to do something about the hill ponies, these ponies are not all runts I have two dartmoor hill ponies, I show them both they have great conformation and are placed above the highlands and welsh ponies they are always first or second in shows.
These ponies are our history, the farmers need to understand that they no longer have the job role they once did and stop breeding in the manner they do.
 
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