20200817_053822_UK-Jane-ponies

AND TO SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND, WHERE WILD OPEN MOORLANDS ARE KNOWN FOR STUNNING SCENERY AND EXTREMELY CHANGEABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS. A SPECIAL RESIDENT OF THE MOORLANDS IS THE DARTMOOR PONY, A BREED THAT'S BEEN LIVING HERE FOR AT LEAST THREE-AND-A-HALF THOUSAND YEARS, AS OUR U-K CORRESPONDENT JANE WERRELL FOUND OUT. video upload: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l_isBaVxhg6zq9Bp3N7AuqySutEt3NL-/view?usp=sharing Dru “When you come out here, if you have any worries or concerns, you can just let them go, because it's so vast it actually lets you feel small.” “And they don't have any worries. Their biggest worry is what to eat, what to drink, and where to go next.” This breed of pony, native to Dartmoor, can be traced back to the Bronze Age. Dru Butterfield Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust “They were the equivalent to the modern day quad bike, everybody would use a pony.” “They aren't brown and white, black and white, or spotty. They are just one block colour.” “Typically they're bay and if you just want to move your camera that is a typical Dartmoor pony there with their foal.” The pony’s small size means it makes a good child’s riding companion -- They've been used for carrying trading goods, and in the early 1900s up to the 60s, the ponies were used by guards for escorting prisoners. But their main role in the modern day is for conservation. The landscape here is shaped by the way the cows, sheep, and ponies graze. Dru Butterfield Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust “A visit to Dartmoor, really does affect you when you see these ponies living wild and free.” “There's something about a pony that hits the heart. And it's a very different relationship to a cow or a sheep.” “It gives locals and visitors a sense of place. And something that people return to again and again and again. And when you hear them calling, it calls to my heart and I know it will call to every visitor that comes here.” The advice for visitors is to not get up too close to the semi-wild ponies, in case they bite. Dartmoor heritage ponies are on the endangered list. There are thought to be about 350 breeding mares left. Dru Butterfield Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust “These places become incredibly special.” “They deserve protection they deserve looking after. And it teaches you respect and self respect.” “And I think that animal that is so rare, makes you realise that maybe we become rare. We're all pretty rare.” She says while the granite tor is the static emblem of Dartmoor, the pony is the living, breathing, emblem. Jane Werrell, NTD News, on Dartmoor