06/09/2026
These photos appeared in my memories and I thought I would share them with you. Recent followers may not realise that Hill Pony Resources was founded 12 years ago. Myself and Co Founder lived in different locations on Dartmoor and loved & admired the beautiful ponies that we shared the environment with. We were horrified that many of these ponies ended up going to feed the animals at the zoo. At the time another organisation were claiming that eating pony meat was the way forward in order to save them. We decided to join forces and save as many ponies from either fate and over time we also arranged for gelding clinics in an attempt to keep ponies on the moor without the need for so many to be culled every year!
Of course as the years went on it became apparent that there were regular shockwave stories relating to Dartmoor Hill Ponies in the news effectively keeping the ponies in the spotlight and drawing people to the sales every year. Saving ponies at the sale is just the starting point of course - and while there are experienced kind loving homes to take the ponies on to date there is no assessment of home suitability at the sale this so does not safeguard ponies futures. Often the ponies are sold on either quickly (to make a quick profit) or later on when the novelty wears off. It is good to see that there are specific feral pony information events set up over the next few months. Before taking on semi feral ponies it is important to get some information on what to expect - Be prepared is a good motto ! My initial go to resource https://sarahweston.co.uk/wp/no-fear-no-force/ followed by much on line research until I found a method that worked - although to be honest when faced with the many challenges that the ponies can present you learn to be resourceful and skilled in problem solving 🥹. You also need a Good Sense of Humour 🙃 Anyway back to the beginning of this post - these pictures are of Lee Moor Whisper. After the ponies had been drifted one year as usual it went really quiet for a while - then we noticed the lone c**t who had managed to avoid the drift because he was so calm & quiet we decided to call him Whisper.
Whisper was a beautiful pony with a quiet confidence who would approach you but still remained cautious. He was a regular visitor to our house and also the field that we rented nearby. The farmer didn't get around to capturing Whisper (lone c**ts are a bit difficult to catch apparantly) and when later on we noticed he was covering a local mare we called the farmer to ask if he would castrate him to prevent him producing more foals - we were set the task if we could catch him yes he would do this ! Well Whisper was such a regular visitor to our house it didn't take long before he was grazing outside so we invited him in to our small postage stamp garden with a carrot in a bucket - it was as easy as that - no drifting or pony wrangling needed. I think the farmer was a bit surprised that he was waiting at our house lol. Anyway pony collected - castrated at next vet visit and returned to us as a gelding - to the field we were renting. We prepared a contained area using Heras fencing - he could see the other ponies but not touch them there I set about working with Whisper. He was quietly confident but still had the cautious wild pony in him (he had witnessed the drift after all so why should he trust us ) and it took quite a while to prepare him for rehoming. While updating on his learning journey on FB Whisper was spotted by one of our followers and soon after left for a new life where when he was ready he was broken to drive. It was quite emotional walking him on to the transport Pegasus Horse Travel and to realise how far he had progressed.
I thought I would share this story as the photos brought back these memories from the early days of running as a charity. This sometimes gets lost in the day to day running and keeping the charity going. I do miss the training of the foals but we have some long term ponies with us now and also the steady stream of returners (as they don't always stay in their homes !) to help to find new homes. We are very grateful for everyone who has supported us along the way and if you are thinking of taking on a feral pony please do a little research first they really are worth every effort you put in and more. Or if you want a pony without all the feral pony training It is also worth reaching out to local Charities who have Dartmoor Hill Ponies who are looking for loving homes too ...........
