Dartmoor Pony - Breed Characteristics

Breed Characteristics

The small head has large, wide-set eyes and alert ears. The body is strong, with a broad, deep rib cage, and of medium length. The legs are strong, long from body to knee and hock, but with short cannons with strong, dense bone, and a flat-fronted knee; the foreleg rises to a shoulder that is well-angled and with good freedom of movement, and the hindleg rises to a quarter that is well-muscled and rounded in appearance, rather than flat or sloping. The mane and tail should be full and flowing, and the pony's movement free and smooth. The Dartmoor pony has a kind temperament, the ponies being reliable, gentle and calm. Most Dartmoor ponies stand between 11.1 to 12.2 hands (45 to 50 inches, 114 to 127 cm); a pony should stand at no more than 12.2 hands under the breed standard, introduced in 1924. Recognised colours include bay, brown, black, grey, chestnut or roan.

Piebald and skewbald colouring is not permitted within the Dartmoor Pony breed. Ponies with this colouring, seen running on Dartmoor, are likely to be Dartmoor Hill Ponies as Dartmoor commoners may graze any type of pony out on the moors. The Dartmoor Hill Pony is classified as a pony born on Dartmoor, but not a purebred registered Dartmoor Pony. It is not a true breed as such, as the registry for Dartmoor Hill Ponies is open only to those born on the moors, so a pony born of two Dartmoor Hill ponies, but not born on the moors, could not be registered with the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association.

Although Exmoor ponies live fairly close geographically and their markings are somewhat similar, evidence now suggests that Dartmoor ponies and Exmoor ponies are not related as was once thought. The Exmoor pony has a distinctly different type of jaw structure, found otherwise only in fossilised remains from Alaska, showing the beginnings of development of a seventh molar, and is thus unique in the living horse breeds.