THE DARTMOOR PONY
The Standard of the Dartmoor Pony
Height:
| Not Exceeding 127 cm. (12.2hh.)
| Colour:
| Bay, brown, black, grey, chestnut, roan. Piebalds and Skewbalds are not allowed. Excessive white markings should be discouraged.
| Neck & Head:
| The head should be small with large kindly eyes and small alert ears.It should be well set on a good neck of medium length. The throat and jaws should be fine and showing no signs of coarseness or throatiness. Stallions to have a moderate crest.
| Shoulders:
| Good shoulders are most important. They should be well laid back and sloping, but not too fine at the withers.
| Body:
| Of medium length and strong, well ribbed up with a good depth of girth giving plenty of heart room.
| Loin & Hindquarters:
| Strong and well covered with muscle. The hind quarters should be of medium length and neither level nor steeply sloping. The tail is well set up.
| Limbs:
| The hocks should be well let down with plenty of length from hip to hock, clean cut and with plenty of bone below the hock. They should have a strong second thigh. They should not be 'sickled' or 'cow-hocked'.
The forelegs should not be tied at the elbows. The fore-arm should be muscular and relatively long and the knee fairly large and flat at the front.
The cannons should be short with ample good, flat, flinty bone. The pasterns should be sloping but not too long. The feet should be hard and well shaped.
| Movement:
| Low and straight coming from the shoulder with good hock action but without exaggeration.
| General:
| The mane and tail should be full and flowing. The Dartmoor is a very good looking riding pony, sturdily built yet with quality.
|
PART-BREDS
BREEDING A PART-BRED DARTMOOR
If you are looking for a pony with the qualities of the Dartmoor, hardy, good looking and sensible but perhaps a little larger, then why not consider a Part-Bred Dartmoor?
The out-crossed Dartmoor Pony will produce an excellent part-bred combining the characteristics of the Dartmoor along with those of the new blood resulting in a quality pony of a slightly larger type. This means that older children and adults do not have to move on to other breeds but can continue to enjoy riding and showing within the Dartmoor Pony Society.
The choice of out-cross will help define the type of pony produced; an Arab, small Thoroughbred, or quality Riding Pony sire will produce a show pony type whereas a sire with more substance will give a slightly sturdier pony suitable as a Show Hunter or a Working Hunter pony. Whatever your needs a part-bred Dartmoor will surely fulfil them.
BREEDING REQUIREMENTS
The Part-bred Dartmoor pony must be by a licensed stallion and have a minimum of 25% Dartmoor blood. One parent or grandparent must be a fully registered Dartmoor pony. Height at maturity must not exceed 14.2 h.h. Part-bred Dartmoors which fulfil these conditions may be registered with the Dartmoor Pony Society in the Part-Bred Dartmoor Register.
SHOWING
The Dartmoor Pony Society runs special classes for the Part-Bred, both In-Hand and Performance classes at its Breed Shows. The Society also runs two other awards; the Capercaille Award for In-Hand Part-Bred ponies and the Oatlands Award for performance ponies. These Championships are calculated and awarded from the points accumulated by competitors at these Shows over the course of the year. These competitions are well worth entering and rosettes are awarded to all entrants so give it a try and have some fun with your lovely pony. Points booklets are available from the Secretary, Mrs. Viv Brown, so be sure to apply for one.
The Part Bred pony should be plaited and trimmed for shows and may also have a full or part clip.
The Part Bred Dartmoor pony is a wonderful pony and has excelled in all spheres, Show Jumping, Working Hunter Pony, Cross Country, One Day Events, Driving and as important as any of these, it makes a super family pony. There have been several noteworthy Part Bred Dartmoors, amongst them are Dolittle Damocles, Vean Ringlet, Gay Sovereign, and in Working Hunter Ponies Redwoods Concerto, Blairhill Samba and Hopelaws Fernado.
There have also been some wonderful horses carrying Dartmoor blood in their veins, a particularly famous one was Virginia Holgates’ Badminton event horse “Priceless”. It has been said that the native pony blood gives these horses “an extra leg” which could be what makes them winners!
The Dartmoor Pony is recognised as a Rare Breed and is part of our Heritage so using a Dartmoor pony as the foundation for a Part-Bred gives this lovely pony yet another valuable role to play.
{mosgoogle} |
|
|
|
|
|
