# 700 Dartmoor ponies shot :(



## PogoPumpkinBecky (4 December 2010)

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/news/Shock-700-ponies-culled/article-2966369-detail/article.html
I understand their reasons, but is still so sad, shows how important it is not to over breed!


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## JoG (4 December 2010)

Very sad news...but IMHO a bloody big pat on the back for those owners who had the courage and sense to take this option rather than having the ponies ending up in the live export meat trade.


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## Kallibear (4 December 2010)

Sad but sensible. They have had a better life than most cattle and sheep bred for meat and there are far worse fates than being quickly shot. Hopefully it will be the wakeup call needed.


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## ofcourseyoucan (4 December 2010)

at least they wont be shunted from pillar to post. they will never be mistreated or under fed or not looked after properly. sadly so, but a very sensible caring decision.


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## noodle_ (4 December 2010)

read this in the express today...

i agree with above.... pts is the kindest option...very sad though


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## Over2You (4 December 2010)

Bet they don't get penalised at all for this. There are NO repercussions whatsoever for over breeding. Therefore there is nothing to discourage it. They can carry on without fear of anything happening to them. Same goes for the sports horse industry. In the end - it is the animals that suffer. More than 700-ponies dead, including foals who never had the chance of being ponies. I have no praise for the farmers at all. It was their own damned fault the problem arose in the first place.

Disgusting!!


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## AMW (5 December 2010)

Bloody annoys me all the overbreeding. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. sadly the ones responsible take the cattle/sheep attitude with breeding ponies but they arent meat animals, not in this country anyway.

many many animals end up being slaughtered before they have a long happy life, think its called the meat industry.


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## meandmyself (5 December 2010)

It is really sad, but 99% of those ponies should never have been bred in the first place.


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## Ravenwood (5 December 2010)

Why don't the Dartmoor National Park take some steps to prevent this?  Why don't they stop stallions being run on the moor?  If they are anything like the Exmoor National Park - tourism and a good public image are what is most important to them so surely stories like this would make them act?

It is a great shame that the ponies on Dartmoor are not pure, mostly shetland crosses now, otherwise owners might take a bit more pride in their breeding - like the Exmoors.  However having said that, Exmoors fetch as little as £50 (and less) at the sales   Unbelieveably really for a recognised rare breed.

Better to be shot though than end up in France being sold for their skin to make handbags in Italy


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## silver zaanif (5 December 2010)

Over2You said:



			Bet they don't get penalised at all for this. There are NO repercussions whatsoever for over breeding. Therefore there is nothing to discourage it. They can carry on without fear of anything happening to them. Same goes for the sports horse industry. In the end - it is the animals that suffer. More than 700-ponies dead, including foals who never had the chance of being ponies. I have no praise for the farmers at all. It was their own damned fault the problem arose in the first place.

Disgusting!!
		
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the problem is you are looking at them as pets instead of livestock, if it said 700 lambs killed humanely for meat you would say, yeah and? but because its a pony..... much better than live export, well done to these farmers for makeing the right decision rather than shipping them off on a journey of hell, i want to see hill ponys on the moor and with out ways of manageing the population the farmers will soon stop keeping them.


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## ISHmad (5 December 2010)

I agree with Over2You.

The New Forest have a great way of managing their herds.  These farmers need to be equally responsible and then this wouldn't happen.  

Definitely agree that being PTS is far better than an exhausting arduous journey to a foreign slaughter house.  Sooner the indiscriminate breeding of horses stops the better.


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## Gingerwitch (5 December 2010)

Better to be shot than surviving a miserable winter


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## sleepingdragon10 (5 December 2010)

Over2You said:



			Bet they don't get penalised at all for this. There are NO repercussions whatsoever for over breeding. Therefore there is nothing to discourage it. They can carry on without fear of anything happening to them. Same goes for the sports horse industry. In the end - it is the animals that suffer. More than 700-ponies dead, including foals who never had the chance of being ponies. I have no praise for the farmers at all. It was their own damned fault the problem arose in the first place.

Disgusting!!
		
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Sadly, this is very true. Stop the horrendous levels of overbreeding, then there won't be any need to shoot 700+ ponies!


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## Alec Swan (5 December 2010)

Traditionally these moorland feral ponies were viewed as a crop,  by those who farm the land,  and quite rightly so.  They have come to form an important part of the ecology of those moors,  and previously supplied a modest income.

The income seems to have evaporated,  in part because of the recession. I would imagine that those who own these ponies,  have found it difficult to apply correct and previous management policies,  because there has been virtually no market for their produce.

If stallions were to be turned out with the mares,  but for a limited period,  they would then have an established foaling period,  the horses gathered at weaning,  and those which fail to enter the ridden horse band,  could be offered for legitimate slaughter.  It's how we manage other livestock.

I realise that there are many who view the slaughter of horses,  for meat,  as an abhorrence,  but without an end use for those foals which are born,  then the very well being of the herds,  and importantly the land which they graze,  will be in jeopardy.

It seems to me that if a market were available,  for carcasses and hides,  then those who already do their very best for their charges,  would be given a fresh impetus,  to the benefit of all.

Some of the quoted 700 horses will probably end up in zoos,  as feed for carnivores,  but the disposal costs of the wastage,  the gut,  skins,  bones etc. will be huge.  Those for which a use can't be found for,  will be incinerated,  again at a massive cost.

Better I think,  to find a commercial use for them,  and to give the owners,  the land,  and importantly the ponies,  a realistic future.

Alec.


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## silver zaanif (5 December 2010)

Alec Swan said:



			Traditionally these moorland feral ponies were viewed as a crop,  by those who farm the land,  and quite rightly so.  They have come to form an important part of the ecology of those moors,  and previously supplied a modest income.

The income seems to have evaporated,  in part because of the recession. I would imagine that those who own these ponies,  have found it difficult to apply correct and previous management policies,  because there has been virtually no market for their produce.

If stallions were to be turned out with the mares,  but for a limited period,  they would then have an established foaling period,  the horses gathered at weaning,  and those which fail to enter the ridden horse band,  could be offered for legitimate slaughter.  It's how we manage other livestock.

I realise that there are many who view the slaughter of horses,  for meat,  as an abhorrence,  but without an end use for those foals which are born,  then the very well being of the herds,  and importantly the land which they graze,  will be in jeopardy.

It seems to me that if a market were available,  for carcasses and hides,  then those who already do their very best for their charges,  would be given a fresh impetus,  to the benefit of all.

Some of the quoted 700 horses will probably end up in zoos,  as feed for carnivores,  but the disposal costs of the wastage,  the gut,  skins,  bones etc. will be huge.  Those for which a use can't be found for,  will be incinerated,  again at a massive cost.

Better I think,  to find a commercial use for them,  and to give the owners,  the land,  and importantly the ponies,  a realistic future.

Alec.
		
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well said, it makes me cross when i see mares  HUGE with foal in oct/sept, they are going to foal in the middle of the winter.... manageing the stallions on the moor should be more proactive.


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## Cuffey (5 December 2010)

There is, or could be, a home market for the skins, but it needs a rethink in attitudes and perhaps some of the big charities declaring that this is OK instead of people like the woman in the last paragraph of this article.
It is time we had less waste in society.

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/east-central/95376-sporran-makers-to-turn-to-pony-skin/


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## SusannaF (5 December 2010)

Here's a (fact-filled) piece from the Independent in _1998_, when the bottom had supposedly dropped out of the pony market. There's another Daily Mail piece from 2001 telling the same story. It's not like they didn't have notice...

I think they have to decide what they're breeding these ponies for, and operate it like a business. Is it for conservation? If so, they could learn something from people like the Norfolk Wildlife Trust who keep _and manage_ pony herds (ie monitor their health closely and geld/vasectomise as appropriate). Is it for zoo meat? OK, well make sure there's a feasible market for all you produce, or else trim production. Is it for ponyskin? Slaughter them here rather than letting them be shipped to Italy. Is it as children's riding ponies? Invest in worming and the labour of handling them so that they're worth it.


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## tristar (5 December 2010)

well i think it is a national disgrace, they should be ashamed of themselves, horses, i my opinion are not meat animals, it should be stopped by the government, where are they in all these things? too busy robbing the nation from their expenses, living in a sodding dream world while things like this go on, they should get out in the REAL world  and put an end to these disgusting scenarios, if they can make the effort with all the cuts they think necessary to save the economy why the hell can't they sort out a few idiots who cause so much suffering, nothing anyone says will change my opinion, i"ve seen too much and every life is life and valuable beyond our conception  and judgement, to start a foals life and shoot it at weaning is totally wrong.
if they can't practice proper horse management, and that includes castrating males and take responsibility for the creation of unwanted lives  as needed, they should be banned from owning horses... as of NOW


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## thinlizzy (5 December 2010)

Ditto long term plan put in to place as well our local cat and dog shelter neuters males and females and have put the adoption fee up and this was implemented years ago and locally there is a difference , why cant they do this i suppose its all down to money as well , such a shame at least it was done humanely and they didnt suffer on a  allotment or transported around the sales (


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## cumbriamax (5 December 2010)

Its these so called 'breeders' that ought to be culled. if the ponies on the moor were a good standard of dartmoor it would be better but there are nondescript type crossbreeds. there is no breeding programme in place. I'm sure the moor wouldn't take any harm for having a few less ponies grazing it.

the haflinger sociery geld/cull colts that are not of certain standard.

the overbreeding needs to be stopped.


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## tristar (5 December 2010)

the whole point is they should"nt be bred in the first place. it"s not good enough to say its better to shoot them the word better is used is the wrong context.


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## MotherOfChickens (5 December 2010)

tristar said:



			well i think it is a national disgrace, they should be ashamed of themselves, horses, i my opinion are not meat animals, it should be stopped by the government, where are they in all these things?
		
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it's because they arent meat animals/livestock that they don't fall under DEFRA's remit.


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## SO1 (5 December 2010)

It is sad but better than traveling miles in bad conditions.

I have a feeling that the dartmoor hill ponies are just random ponies who happen to live and breed on dartmoor as opposed to a registered breed.

Registered dartmoor ponies did very well at HOYs this year and are popular as child's and small adults ponies.

I don't know how the stallions that run on dartmoor as chosen, are they registered dartmoor stallions approved by the dartmoor pony society? Is there any regulation to prevent interbreeding?

I do think it is important to preserve native ponies living in their natural mountain and moorland environments as they are an important part of the hertitage of many of our competition ponies and horses, but the stallions running out should at be least good quality examples of their breed and registered with the relevant breed society.


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## Haha (5 December 2010)

As it's already been stated it's about time the farmers took responsibility and were fined for leaving or even putting stallions on the moor.  They should be kept at the farm and only bred with chosen mares and limited even then.  The breeding of any on the moor should be halted for at least 3 years, then selective (you never know may even get back to a true Dartmoor  I do not agree with culling where the farmer has not taken steps to prevent.  The farmer should be heavily fined from now on.  As someone stated it's not as though this has just happened they have been aware of all this cross breeding and over breeding for years.


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## SO1 (5 December 2010)

I guess that might be a big part of the problem along with it being winter and a recession so it is harder to sell even quality ponies.

My NF gelding used to be a forest run stallion and he had to be approved by the breed society and the people who manage the forest before he was allowed to be turned out on the forest. Even if I say it myself he is a quality pony, he has been well placed at the breed show and at a county show and his offspring are doing well too, with one of his sons now approved as a forest run stallion.

If the stallions are not good quality then you could end up with poor quality stock that no-one wants which is sad and does not need to be the case.



nativetyponies said:



			I doubt it very much, SO1....i was at Sedgemoor sales begining of the year, and a stallion came through the ring...it was proudly announced that he had run on dartmoor for the previous 6 years...i have honestly not seen an animal with worse conformation than this chap...he was horendous.....and quite rightly, was bought by the "meatman"..sadly, his offspring may well be on the market next spring...
		
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## suestowford (5 December 2010)

I read recently that Dartmoor National Park Authority want MORE ponies on the moor to manage the grazing. You might be interested in reading http://www.dartmoorhillpony.com/news.html this page to see what is being planned, money permitting. As for why they say they need to breed, the following quote comes from the above linked page. I don't know enough about it to make an informed judgment on these arguments, but at least the DHPA are trying to do something to help.

"The various herds are all owned and managed by farmers but to ensure that
the ponies do not group together to form one big herd and therefore graze
the moor unevenly, the use of stallions is vital as they keep their own
mares to their own 'lear' and do not stray to other areas therefore ensuring
that grazing levels are balanced all over the moor. Therefore it is not
possible to simply "stop" breeding unless valid forms of contraception could
be introduced. However, these methods are still being trialed in the USA and
Australia and are unlikely to be implemented any time soon as we were hoping
for funding from Natural England."


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## Haha (5 December 2010)

Well they have cows and sheep on the moor which are far better grazers than ponies.!!


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## SO1 (5 December 2010)

That may well be the case but it does not mean they have to use poor quality stallions, if the natural england are going to give them some funding and they have to have stallions why not invest in some quality registered dartmoor stallions?

why do the stallions need to be out all year - in the new forest they do not stay out all year.




suestowford said:



			I read recently that Dartmoor National Park Authority want MORE ponies on the moor to manage the grazing. You might be interested in reading http://www.dartmoorhillpony.com/news.html this page to see what is being planned, money permitting. As for why they say they need to breed, the following quote comes from the above linked page. I don't know enough about it to make an informed judgment on these arguments, but at least the DHPA are trying to do something to help.

"The various herds are all owned and managed by farmers but to ensure that
the ponies do not group together to form one big herd and therefore graze
the moor unevenly, the use of stallions is vital as they keep their own
mares to their own 'lear' and do not stray to other areas therefore ensuring
that grazing levels are balanced all over the moor. Therefore it is not
possible to simply "stop" breeding unless valid forms of contraception could
be introduced. However, these methods are still being trialed in the USA and
Australia and are unlikely to be implemented any time soon as we were hoping
for funding from Natural England."
		
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## Serenity087 (5 December 2010)

Sad?

SAD?

It's a blinking national tragedy!  Pure Dartmoor ponies are rarer than Giant Pandas!!!! If someone announced they'd just shot 700+ young pandas, there'd be outrage!  International agencies would come down on those responsible like a tonne of bricks! Heads would roll, and roll and roll...

But because they're Dartmoor Ponies, on the critically endangered list of the Rare Breed Survival Trust, it's okay.

As for grazing, ponies are much pickier grazers than sheep and cattle, so much better for natural parks.  A few near us have bought exmoor ponies for that exact purpose.

Breed them pure and breed with pride, else you might as well sign the death warrant of the whole breed.

From the ex-owner of a stubborn, badly behaved right royal pain in the arse - from dartmoor.


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## suestowford (5 December 2010)

SO1 said:



			That may well be the case but it does not mean they have to use poor quality stallions, if the natural england are going to give them some funding and they have to have stallions why not invest in some quality registered dartmoor stallions?
		
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I'm guessing lack of money or lack of available stallions? Or maybe they don't know what  makes a good stallion? I don't know.



SO1 said:



			why do the stallions need to be out all year - in the new forest they do not stay out all year.
		
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I don;t know that either - I was kind of hoping someone on here would know why. Seeing as there are so many knowledgeable folk about.


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## SO1 (5 December 2010)

I don't think they are pure dartmoor ponies as in "registered dartmoors" they are ponies that live on dartmoor, BIG difference between the two!




Yuletide_Gal said:



			Sad?

SAD?

It's a blinking national tragedy!  Pure Dartmoor ponies are rarer than Giant Pandas!!!! If someone announced they'd just shot 700+ young pandas, there'd be outrage!  International agencies would come down on those responsible like a tonne of bricks! Heads would roll, and roll and roll...

But because they're Dartmoor Ponies, on the critically endangered list of the Rare Breed Survival Trust, it's okay.

As for grazing, ponies are much pickier grazers than sheep and cattle, so much better for natural parks.  A few near us have bought exmoor ponies for that exact purpose.

Breed them pure and breed with pride, else you might as well sign the death warrant of the whole breed.

From the ex-owner of a stubborn, badly behaved right royal pain in the arse - from dartmoor.
		
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## jenniaddams (5 December 2010)

They served a purpose. They were used. Better to be killed and used as meat than to be suffering.


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## Maesfen (5 December 2010)

nativetyponies said:



			the NF stallions are inspected every march before they are allowed out on the forest...the ones that dont make the grade, just dont go out on the forest..its as simple as that..the same should happen on Dartmoor and the welsh hills
		
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Too true and they should also get back to only pure registerable Dartmoor ponies on the moor not those ugly scraps called Dartmoor Hill Ponies which have absolutely no place on the moor IMHO.  I remember years ago, only Dartmoors were allowed on there, same as NF and Exmoors; it's such a shame the farmers were allowed to turn out any Tom, Dick and Harry to cover Mary, Molly and Mandy without considering what they would be producing and now they are reaping the casualties of those decisions; the Park Authority should get a bit more bite and insist that those should all be culled or removed asap and never allowed back on.


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## silver zaanif (5 December 2010)

Yuletide_Gal said:



			Sad?

SAD?

It's a blinking national tragedy!  Pure Dartmoor ponies are rarer than Giant Pandas!!!! If someone announced they'd just shot 700+ young pandas, there'd be outrage!  International agencies would come down on those responsible like a tonne of bricks! Heads would roll, and roll and roll...

But because they're Dartmoor Ponies, on the critically endangered list of the Rare Breed Survival Trust, it's okay.

As for grazing, ponies are much pickier grazers than sheep and cattle, so much better for natural parks.  A few near us have bought exmoor ponies for that exact purpose.

Breed them pure and breed with pride, else you might as well sign the death warrant of the whole breed.

From the ex-owner of a stubborn, badly behaved right royal pain in the arse - from dartmoor.
		
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i'm not sure they are pure dartmors , but dartmoor hill ponies.... something , sadly, quite different....


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## Serenity087 (5 December 2010)

silver zaanif said:



			i'm not sure they are pure dartmors , but dartmoor hill ponies.... something , sadly, quite different....
		
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Thats my point! They're crossing pure dartmoors with anything and everything to make hill ponies, and then having to kill the cross breds.

They should breed with pride!


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## SusannaF (6 December 2010)

suestowford said:



			"The various herds are all owned and managed by farmers but to ensure that
the ponies do not group together to form one big herd and therefore graze
the moor unevenly, the use of stallions is vital as they keep their own
mares to their own 'lear' and do not stray to other areas therefore ensuring
that grazing levels are balanced all over the moor. Therefore it is not
possible to simply "stop" breeding unless valid forms of contraception could
be introduced. However, these methods are still being trialed in the USA and
Australia and are unlikely to be implemented any time soon as we were hoping
for funding from Natural England."
		
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That's utter *******s from the Dartmoor Hill Pony people!

I spent a day with the grazing manager at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust last year and we went out to look at one of their "wild" Konik herds. The stallion had been vasectomised. Result - still grazed in the desired fashion, but no new foals.


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## LauraWheeler (6 December 2010)

ISHmad said:



			I agree with Over2You.

The New Forest have a great way of managing their herds.  These farmers need to be equally responsible and then this wouldn't happen.  

Definitely agree that being PTS is far better than an exhausting arduous journey to a foreign slaughter house.  Sooner the indiscriminate breeding of horses stops the better.
		
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I'm sorry to say this but over breeding is a problem in the new forest to. They have been talking about a cull of forest ponies.   I don't understand why they don't just leave the stallions off the forest for a season and give the poor mares a break  . There is little food and I have already seen afew very poor looking ponies on the forest, the winter has only just begun. It makes me so sad.   I do agree shooting is the best option when things are this bad. At the sales this year ponies just wern't selling any that did probably went to the meat man anyway.


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## riding_high (6 December 2010)

i've got 2 ponies that are 'meant' to be dartmoor x cob, now i don't see any cob whatsoever in the one and people are normally shocked when i say he's a cross. i've contacted the DHP people and they came back to me with the name of the farmer that is in the passport. 
they said that only 2 farmers in that area put cob stallions out with the mares in the hope that the ponies will be more substantial riding ponies. 

from what i could gather the farmers leave their stallions on the moors all year round.

i'm lucky that my ponies are well put together but i did see a couple of others that weren't when i went to pick mine up.


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## tristar (6 December 2010)

its too easy to sit at a computer and say shoot them, how exactly does one shoot humanely a wild foal? are they shot on the moors or captured first? not all the facts are here, yes its true they are not agri animals and not under the min of ag if this was dolphins or some wildlife in far away places treated like this there would be a public outcry against it, is this the attitude of modern society, if so life is very cheap.


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## Faithkat (6 December 2010)

nativetyponies said:



			One thing i will say though, is that the mares should be graded as well as the stallions..and those not up to scratch, sold or culled.
		
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God, isn't that ever the truth.  There are some so-called graded stallions on the Forest whose stock I would actively avoid but a huge majority of the mares are not fit for breeding at all but until someone wakes up and brings in a grading process, there will continue to be the pathetic rubbishy foals such as the colts that didn't even get a minimum bid (10 guineas) at the last sale.

I can remember having a lengthy discussion about 10 years ago with a commoner and he agreed that no stallions should be allowed in the Forest for something like 5 or 6 years in order to "sort things out a bit" and to grade the mares that are turned out.


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## suzi (6 December 2010)

My understanding is that the Dartmoor Hill Pony is used on the moor primarily as a conservation tool to maintain the landscape, together with the sheep and cattle that also graze.

They are a mixture of breeds and are supposedly chosen for their hardiness and ability to survive the moor environment.

I have a Hill Pony (he didn't sell as a foal was only about 5 months when he went through the sales) and so was given to my Godmother (a softie who saw him when she went to a trials at the farm he came from) and I inherited him last year.

He actually looks quite like a Dartmoor but is very unlikely to be so due to the mixture of breeds up on the moor and it's virtually impossible to trace their breeding anyway.

There are so many of them that they are essentially worthless but would rather see them shot in this country that exported.

Would be nice to see a programme in place to control the breeding etc but I'm not sure how likely that is . . . .


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## Over2You (6 December 2010)

tristar said:



			If this was dolphins or some wildlife in far away places treated like this there would be a public outcry against it, is this the attitude of modern society, if so life is very cheap.
		
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Completely agree with that. Look at the reactions regarding the Japanese dolphin slaughter and Australian kangaroo slaughter. People are baying for the blood of those responsible. Not here. Oh, no. People are actually praising the farmers - heralding them as heroes for this atrocity. Those poor ponies. May they all rest in peace.


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## comet&joe (6 December 2010)

thats so sad


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## theboysmommy (9 December 2010)

Perhaps we should start culling humans for overbreeding too!


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## tristar (9 December 2010)

i agee with overtoyou it is an atrocity
the entires should be rounded up and castrated, so no more more are covered at all next year, of course there is already a large number in gestation to be born in the spring, too late for those poor little sods.
i think the breeders should be made to feed them hay at 6 pounds bale and look after them like everyone else PROPERLY out in the bad weather, there's nothing like having to pay out to motivate them into reponsibility and planning for the future
they've got of scot free i hope they can sleep at night


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## lynseylou1 (9 December 2010)

I live near (ish ) here and went to a couple of the markets.. now thats sad! Seeing these frightened foals with not a scrap of anything on them. They werent even selling for a fiver a pair!. ... If this stops some of this happening then it has to help. There needs to be some wising up from the people that own these mares and stallions to have some control over breeding.


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## Over2You (9 December 2010)

nativetyponies said:



			And EXACTLY where are people "praising" the Farmers?


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Posts 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, all praise the farmers for taking "responsibility." Not acknowledging that it was their sheer and utter stupidity that caused the problem in the first place. Not to mention all the others (including yours) who seem to take great delight in recommending culls. In fact the vast majority of your posts are in favour of killing horses and ponies. If there is the remotest possibility one could be 'dangerous,' kill it. If one had the audacity to be born with poor conformation or a limb defect, kill it. I don't know how anyone can go through life with that attitude. Thankfully some of the comments here (including mine) are more sympathetic to those who aren't 100% perfect.


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## Kallibear (9 December 2010)

And thankfully some people, the ones who actually matter, have a more practical, less fluffy bunny, approach to life.

No-one has ever said that over breeding is a good thing. Of course it should stop.

No-one has said culling the ponies a fabulous idea and they should keep over-breeding so they can keep culling. Everyone has expressed how sad it is that it got to that stage. BUT that it's by far the best things that could happen to the poor little mites now they're here and make the desicion to kill them was the most resposible one avalible.

But it's a bit late for discussing the wrongs of over-breeding - so what would YOU do with 700 unhandled small wild ponies? Presumably you've got a _really _big backgarden to keep them all in?


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## bensababy (9 December 2010)

theboysmommy said:



			Perhaps we should start culling humans for overbreeding too!
		
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Can think of a fair few i would like to cull for over breeding, would certainly cut down on benefit scrounging in this country, but thats a whole other topic.


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## Piglet (11 December 2010)

I totally agree on the culling of the Dartmoor ponies, it is very very sad, I live on Dartmoor and see the little foals from the day they were born and very wibbly wobbly on their legs to cheeky little monkeys who love to come bouncing up behind you (without you knowing) and spooking your horse.  Unfortunately the type they breed on our moor have no use as most of them don't even reach 11hh they seem to be a cross between Shetlands and whatever else is running on the moor, until the commoners start breeding sensible ponies there will always be this terrible waste.  At least those that were culled will not end up been transported live in inhumane conditions via Ireland to end up on the plates of our continental friends.  They are probaly now running around in horsey heaven with their friends.


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## FairyLights (11 December 2010)

Its about time the breeders of these unwanted low value animals were prosecuted for irresponsibility and breeding them in the first place. I hope they have to pay £100 for each one to be shot and disposed of. Until these people are hit in the pocket they will just carry on breeding ,blame everyone else or the economy for not being able to sell them. ITS THE BREEDERS FAULT no one elses. They should remove the stallions and colts and run better planned breeding programes, only supplying to demand for their product. These poor foals are the innocent parties in all this.


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## bugbee717 (11 December 2010)

I do agree they need to do something about the hill ponies, these ponies are not all runts I have two dartmoor hill ponies, I show them both they have great conformation and are placed above the highlands and welsh ponies they are always first or second in shows. 
 These ponies are our history, the farmers need to understand that they no longer have the job role they once did and stop breeding in the manner they do.


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