Dartmoor Pony Training Centre DPTC

Originally Dartmoor Pony Rescue Centre

We are the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre, we set up in September 2005 as the Dartmoor Pony Rescue Centre to take on ponies at the annual sales that are either unsold or selling for very low prices to dealers which means they would have a very uncertain future and could well end up in the meat trade having been transported live for long distances. We recently changed our name as we wish to promote our non-confrontational training methods more and also promote the selling of Dartmoor ponies privately direct from the farmers as opposed to them going through the trauma of the sales, if the sales can be cut out altogether there won’t be a problem!

Once we have got the ponies home we allow them time to settle and then start handling training. When they are ready we re-home them in pairs to permanent loan homes. We insist on homing in pairs as ponies make close bonds with each other and we feel at such a young age they have already had a traumatic time so it is good that when they move they move with another pony they already know, it helps them feel a little more secure. We also insist they are homed with at least one older horse/pony as we strongly believe they need the stability of an older horse as how else are they going to learn to be ponies and do what ponies do properly?!

In October 2005 we took on our first four ponies which were left unsold at the pony sales, they were Star, Socks, Basil & Reggie. We then took on 4 slightly older ponies from a local farmer as the ones from market were only around 3 months old and needed a stable herd to help them feel settled. These four were Pippin, Pixie, Trixie & Merry and are ponies that can be sponsored though we have recently taken the decision to re-home Pixie & Pippin and withdraw them from our sponsorship scheme. Pippin is a very nervy pony so not ideally suited to lots of show visits and people surrounding him and wanting to stroke him. He needs a home with someone who can give him lots of one on one attention as does Pixie. Although not scatty like Pippin (she will stand perfectly still for anything) you can see that she is very stressed and internalises these feelings of anxiety, all you need to do is look in her eyes to see it. For this reason we wish to home her in a home that can pick up on this, many people don’t notice this kind of feeling in ponies as there are not really any outward signs such as dancing around! My own mare is very much like this and freezes out of fear though it could appear that she is being stubborn!

After lots of work with all 8 of the ponies we could fully handle them all, though Pippin depending on his mood at times...! To train them we initially sit in the field with them and get them used to us being there, we then sit on their hay so they have to sniff us. They are eating and have their heads down so this keeps them relaxed, gradually they allow us to touch them and we then start using food to get the headcollar on and lead etc, we do this by insisting to get the food they must let us touch them. They all decide it is worth it in the end though some go away and think about it longer than others! It is a great stress free way of training them and all it takes is time and patience, gradually we build up to their legs and picking up feet but by then they have normally learned to trust us and we can do most things. Once they have no anxiety about us we sometimes use clicker training to teach them to back up and pick up feet which has worked very well though it has to be done properly to ensure the pony doesn’t end up nippy! To teach them to lead we use the pressure & release method. To find out more information on any of our techniques please see our website which is quoted below.

We have found lovely homes for Star & Socks together near Okehampton where they are keeping a horse named Marco company, as well as some goats in the summer. We also found Basil & Reggie a wonderful home near Exeter where they keep two horses Meander and Strawberry company, they really do have a luxurious life with an American Barn to wander in and out of at all times! Please see our website for more information on their new homes!

Having re-homed our first four in 2006 we ended up taking on 12 more from market. The saddest was a mare who was very weak and had a 2 week old foal at foot, she didn’t sell and we took her on. She is much stronger now and the foal is adorable, definitely a lot of Shetland in her breeding! We will keep these two together for a long time to recover then hopefully one day re-home them. Mares and their filly foals usually spend a long time together so we have no plans on weaning, we will just leave them to it.

The other 10 we took on were all colts, one chestnut and the rest bay. It is usually these that go for low prices as they are plain coloured and would need gelding.

We have already homed two of them together Ronnie & Archie. They went to a wonderful home near Okehampton called Easterbrook Farm which is a residential farm for young people with special needs and learning difficulties. We also worked with the Mare & Foal Sanctuary who provided a further Dartmoor pony called Tavy as they didn’t have an older pony as a companion.

So far we feel our organisation had been a great success, we are currently applying to become a registered charity though for the moment are a not for profit organisation, every penny we raise goes to the ponies and we always need more! This winter has been very expensive having taken on so many ponies from market and we are also paying monthly for a field shelter and have castrations and vaccinations to save up for which are happening in May. To raise funds people have donated us things to sell at car boot sales, and also on Ebay which has been very successful. We also run a sponsorship scheme where for £15 a sponsor will get a certificate of sponsorship, a photo, a letter introducing them to their pony, a birthday and Christmas card and 3 updates and newsletters a year, they make great gifts. As mentioned above we now only have 2 ponies in the scheme Trixie & Merry.

If you are interested in further information about us, sponsorship of a pony or how you can help the DPTC in any other way please contact us:

See details of Dartmoor ponies seeking homes in our horses for loan section.

Phone 01364 654609

or e-mail us: dartmoorponytrainingcentre AT yahoo.co.uk [replace AT with @ and close up spaces].

Please also feel free to view our website at www.dprc.org.uk.

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