A shiny new pony

[bunn]

When I was walking the dogs this morning, I met a brand new foal and his Mum. His legs weren't quite working properly yet, and his mum was still trailing afterbirth. I am not sure why she chose the spot right next to the busiest carpark with footpaths either side busy with people and dogs, but she did.


Baby pony looks just like his Dad, who with his various wives, has the job of keeping the grass in the park trimmed. I think they are Dartmoor ponies.

I am slightly worried about what happens to all the baby ponies: there seem to be six or seven new ones born every year. I *hope* they all get nice homes!

Bonus photo of a bramble flower looking frail and lovely.

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

They used to have a sign up saying the ponies were from some Dartmoor pony group, but that was a while ago so perhaps the arrangements have changed: I admit I'd wondered about the colour!

The ponies that graze that hill are much taller than the ones you see on Dartmoor itself. I guess somewhere on Dartmoor there must be real Dartmoor ponies, but the ones I usually meet look more like woolly miniature hippopotami.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

There are very few 'real' Dartmoor ponies on Dartmoor - indeed, there were very few 'real' Exmoor ponies on Exmoor when I rode a real Exmoor pony there about forty years ago. There are a couple of accredited herds, but they are kept separate from most of the ponies on Dartmoor. These are rounded up as yearlings and sold at auction - often for as little as twenty quid.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Yes, this has been the case for many years now - in fact I've heard of them going for much less than twenty!

A couple of months ago I found the skeleton of a dead pony on Dartmoor. It was in the process of being picked clean. Everyone seems to think Dartmoor has way too many ponies.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

With good horseflesh extremely cheap at the moment (as a look in Horse and Hound will testify) and Irish breeders trying to unload their spare stock over here, because they bred far too many horses and then the market crashed, and the credit crunch affecting many people who would otherwise like to keep horses, I'm afraid there are going to be a lot of heartbreaking stories around soon.

I follow an American blog which has recently had dreadful stories about several hundred horses being abandoned without food and water (one of the people who did this also abandoned his granny!)