No image of Dartmoor is complete without a Dartmoor Hill Pony. The iconic logo for Dartmoor National Park is based on the noble profile of these beloved ponies.
Hardy and independent enough to survive the harshest high altitude winters, with thick coats and self-maintaining hooves, Dartmoor Hill Ponies have an innate knowledge that allows them to source food and water when other breeds of pony, not to mention cattle or sheep, would perish.
Dartmoor Hill Ponies have particular areas that they call home and the way they graze changes throughout the seasons to naturally make best use of the available food supply, eating the moor grasses that are in abundance in summer and spreading out and grazing on gorse and bracken in the winter. To allow their herds to remain on Dartmoor with the minimum amount of interference helps to ensure the survival of this unique landscape. Studies have shown that pony grazing is essential in supporting many rare and endangered species on Dartmoor.
