HorseHage Attends Dartmoor Pony Training Centre Open Day 29th October 2009
Gail Booker, Feeding Advisor for HorseHage, attended the recent Open Day held at the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre (DPTC) in Devon to give advice on feeding native ponies and to offer free samples from the Mollichaff range of fibre feeds.

The Open Day marked the final day of a three-day training programme at the Centre for anyone thinking of buying a pony at the sales or getting one in the future, to help develop the skills needed to make the most of the new partnership.

Said Natalie Torr, of the DPTC;  “We were set up in 2005 initially to take on ponies either left unsold at the markets, or those going for low prices to dealers. Although we successfully re-homed 100% of our ponies we felt that there was more we could do.

“Initially we were called the Dartmoor Pony Rescue Centre, but we decided to change our name and aims in February 2007. This was for a number of reasons.

“We felt that as well as taking on, training and rehoming a number of ponies, we could expand the work we did to encompass more promotional work for the breed.

“At the moment, the market price of hill ponies is still relatively low – I say low, but the price has actually increased a great deal due to the hard work of other organisations. However, when you consider that many ponies will be sold at market for around £20, and will go on to make fabulous all-round ponies, this still seems pretty low to us! Perhaps a better way of putting it would be to say that they are undervalued considering what fantastic ponies they will make!

“We were also worried about using the word ‘Rescue’ in our name, and this is something that people involved in the breed were also concerned about. This concern stems from the fact that people didn’t want Dartmoor Hill Ponies to be a pity case. We could understand this, and decided that what the breed needed was for people to work together and also for us to do as much promotional work as possible. Hence we are now the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre.”

Gail Booker, of HorseHage, said; “Dartmoors as a breed are used to a naturally high fibre diet whilst they live on the moors. Once they are taken to the sales and purchased, it is essential that their diet continues this way. Going from the moor to a domesticated environment can often lead to a huge change to their nutritional routine. The Dartmoor Pony Training Centre works to ensure that Dartmoor ponies are cared for in the most appropriate way and this includes their nutritional management. The training seminar and open day is run to educate people in all these areas. For this reason, Kathryn and Natalie ask me attend to give advice and help on how the ponies should be fed. It is also great for Mark Westaway & Son to help support a very local charity.”