Dartmoor Ponies - Permanent Loan Homes sought
Mikey
Mikey is a bay colt who came to us from Chagford Market in October. He is a 2006 foal. He is due to be castrated in May. He is quite a character, although grown quite a bit since he arrived in October he can still get under the fencing! He has worked out a way of bending his legs so he is almost kneeling to get under it! Whenever it is feeding time Mikey is always there to help, before we opened our grassy field up he was also often found helping himself to hay! He is a lovely pony though a little nervous, with plenty of attention to build his confidence he will do very well. He can always be bribed with food!!
Read more information about Mikey and how he has been getting on at the centre.
Bertie
Bertie is a bay gelding, he is around 12hh and coming up 2 this year.
He came to us a nervous wreck following his use in a demo of a training technique that went horribly wrong. No-one could get near him for a long time but with a lot of time and patience Natalie has turned him in to a very confident pony. However his confidence goes as soon as he is introduced into a new environment or new situation. For this reason he needs a very experienced home who will know how to deal with him without setting him back to the initial nervous wreck that he was. He is a wonderful friendly pony who loves attention and will be big enough for a lightweight adult to ride in a few years time.
Visit our web site for more information www.dprc.org.uk
Buzz
Buzz is a bay colt, around 8hh and is a 2006 foal. He is due to be gelded in May. He came from Tavistock Market in October and has proved to be an amazing pony! He was certainly no older the 4 months when we took him on but he was bold as brass! We could do practically anything with him from day 1. In December we took him to Trago twice to meet the public and he loved it. Whoever homes this wonderful pony will have so much fun with him!
Read more information about Buzz and how he has been getting on at the centre.
THE DARTMOOR PONY TRAINING CENTRE
We are the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre formerly Dartmoor Pony Rescue Centre and are a voluntary organisation set up in 2005 to take on ponies left unsold at the annual pony markets or to take on some of the ponies that would otherwise end up in the meat trade. These ponies are often bay colts which are unpopular because of their plain colouring. They also have to be gelded which can cost over £100.
Unfortunately, if these ponies aren't sold at the sales, their future does not look very bright. Once we have taken on the ponies we spend a lot of time with them getting them used to people. Most of the ponies we take on will have been born that year and will have spent their lives out on the moor with their herd. The drifts and sales can therefore be very traumatic for them as they will probably have been separated from their mothers and their herd. All the ones we have taken on have been very young, some even only 3 months of age.
It can take a lot of time to get the ponies to trust us and eventually be halter broken. We use non confrontational methods to do this. We initially just sit with them whilst they eat and they soon get used to our presence, we then give them hay by hand and in return for a touch on their nose or neck they get some hay. With time an patience we can stroke them all over, get a head collar on them, lead them and pick up their feet. Some are more confident than others.
We are looking for homes for the ponies we took on at market this year, they will be loaned to their new families, we hope this to be a permanent lifetime loan, we will not sell them. We will keep a close eye on them throughout their lives, and monitor their progress and their achievements! We home them in pairs as we feel it unfair for them to be separated from their whole herd and put out alone in to the big wide world! We also require the home to have an older horse for them to live with. As they are so young they need the stability of an older horse. They live out 24/7 all year round and do not need rugging. They cannot be kept on rich grass as though none of them have suffered from laminitis Dartmoors can suffer from this if not managed properly. At the moment they are fed supplements as they are so young and they need vitamin B particularly as they cannot yet produce this, they would normally be getting this from mum, however next winter all they will need is hay.
We are looking for homes within the local area and will give the new families any support they or we feel is necessary (we will not however interfere!). Once the pony reaches an age where it can be broken in to ride or drive, we will endeavour to give the families as much support as they need with this.
We ask any one who homes a pony for a yearly donation for each pony, the amount is at their discretion.