All ponies born and bred on the commons of Dartmoor are owned by registered pony keepers. Their ponies vary in shape, colour and size. There are three main types:

1. Indigenous type (both wild and pedigree)
2. Shetland type
3. Coloured type

The Wild Native Dartmoor Pony roams the open moor and represent the foundations of the Dartmoor Pony Breed. The Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust works with herds of these ponies across Dartmoor to help secure their future survival. Money donated to the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust is invested towards preserving this irreplaceable gene pool. You can find these ponies all over Dartmoor, they are usually bay with long flowing manes with little or no white parts. However they do range in colour and can be black, brown, chestnut or grey.

A mare and foal from the preservation scheme

The Pure-bred or Registered Dartmoor is similar to the wild 'native' Dartmoor pony. However, the registered pony has a known pedigree. The pure-bred pony also tends to be more refined than the native breed; these ponies can be seen at pony breed shows and on studs. There are a few pedigree herds grazing the commons, but this is unusual due to their value. Pedigree ponies are worth considerably more than the wild ponies.

The Shetland pony is not a local breed but was introduced to Dartmoor to produce, small, strong, crossbred animals capable of working down the coalmines of Northern England and Wales. Coming from the Shetland Isles, these ponies are well suited to survive the harsh winters of Dartmoor.

Coloured Ponies are popular with pony breeders because there is a demand for them as children's ponies. As with the Shetlands, these ponies have benefited from a strong marketplace and fetch good prices at market. The Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust does not financially support either of these types of Dartmoor Hill Pony.