This is our archive of 2006 news material.
| Another successful Meet the Pony Day. |
..was held on Thursday 28th December at the DPHT Centre, Brimpts Farm, Dartmeet. Please see our Meet the Pony Day Report for full details.
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| Name the Foal Results. |
After a very successful competition in the Mid Devon Advertiser we are pleased to announce that the New Foal has been named Rolo. He is a wonderful addition to the centre, we are all smitten - even Golden Flame!!
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| Adoption Pony Updates. |
Click here for our November 2006 update on the Adoption Ponies
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| Name the foal competition in the Mid Devon Advertiser Friday 24th November. |
New adoption foal joins the DPHT adoption herd. We will have his full details on the website by early next week. He is very, very pretty and is a wonderful coppery colour. He reminds us of the Autumn leaves!
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| Starlight. |
Our dear Starlight has had a minor operation to help relieve the discomfort her leg has been causing her. She has suffered from a locking stifle. Johnathon our vet operated on her last Wednesday and we are glad to report that she is recovering well. Mandy, Sarah, Phillip, Andy T and Dru all held her while she was operated on, it was important that she stood throughout the op.
She is now on a course of antibiotics, we thought her leg would swell, but it looks very good. She was a bit stiff the day after her opeeration, but is now happily trotting on it and is showing no signs of discomfort. She also seems much happier in herself and doesn't appear to be as nervous as before. So all in all things are looking good.
Johnathon is back on Friday to remove her staples, they have held the wound together and mustn't stay in for too long. We hope to have her out walking again next week, building up her fitness. We plan for her to become a pack pony in the near future.
All the other ponies are fit and well and enjoying the cooler weather, their coats are growing thick and bushy!
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| Horses with Halos |
This article featured in the latest Horse & Hounds magazine. |
Pony Training. |
The Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust is running another of its popular pony handling courses in partnership with Vanessa Bee of Positive Horsemanship on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th November at its centre, Brimpts Farm, Dartmeet, Dartmoor. 10am to dusk. We use all positive handling techniques and take the foals through five foundation skills, by the end of the session all ponies will be wearing halters, leading, tying-up, loading into trailers and picking up feet.
A new batch of weaned Heritage foals are now ready to be handled for the first time before they are sent to there new winter loan homes. If you are interested in learning new handling techniques or offering a loan home. Please phone Mrs. Dru Butterfield on 01626 355314 or email us. Places are limited and are booked on a first come first served basis. Thank you |
| Dartmoor Pony Preservation Scheme |
The DPHT runs a scheme called the Dartmoor Pony Preservation Scheme. As part of this we sponsor 25 herds of traditional native herds. Everything we do is aimed at increasing the value of the annual foal crop and the way in which these wonderful creatures are valued. We:
- market foals and keep a Sales List
- Run foal handling sessions
- Organise castration days
- Train volunteers to help handle foals and young stock
We organised a private sale earlier in the year and hope to repeat this late Spring 2007
If you believe these ponies deserve a future join us as a volunteer or help by making a donation.
We must raise £2,000 immediately to carry this work on. If you have any fundraising ideas please contact us ASAP.
We are curretly visiting all the herds we sponsor in the Dartmoor Pony Preservation Scheme. The drifts (annual pony gather) have been difficult due to the weather; we've been pushed to get around all our herds, but hope to finish next Friday.
We inspect the herds every Autumn to check the mares and assess the quality of the foals produced. We are pleased to say; of the 14 herds visited to date we have had some really super foals and have been pleased to hear the best will be held back as replacements.
If you would like to know more about the scheme or foals now available for sale, please send me an email. Dru Butterfield Project officer
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| Sale Success! |
The Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust held its first sale of Dartmoor Heritage Ponies over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th September.
15 ponies sold for excellent prices, uncut foals made up to £165. This is a far cry from the average price at markets. Handling the ponies before the sale made a huge difference and definitely added to their value.
Vanessa Bee of Positive Horsemanship gave demonstrations throughout the weekend on how she and her team of volunteers have worked on untouched ponies and how they were all halter trained, leading, loading into trailers and picking up feet. She took the ponies through 5 key stages of her foundation course. The results were astounding. For more information on ponies for sale or handling please contact Project Officer Dru Butterfield
Please Click here for the full Sales List
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| We are at Pennywell Farm on 23rd and 24th October for the Dartmoor Pony Festival |
Half term fun at Pennywell Farm. Come and meet Charlie and Golden Flame in their very own show.
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| Wednesday 25th October Walking with ponies, more half term fun |
Meet Nick Baker at the DPHT Visitor Centre in conjunction with the Devon Wildlife Trust. 10am to 1pm. Please phone to book.
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| Arran Sutton |
We are thrilled to inform Arran Sutton’s many followers that she has made a wonderful recovery from her riding accident. Arran retuned home for good on Friday 22nd September after a three month stay in Derriford Hospital. She is a wonder to us all, what amazing will power. Welcome home Arran. Come and visit us very soon. Love all your friends here at the DPHT. George sends a special lick!!
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| Widecombe Fair - 12th September 2006 |
We will be at Widecombe Fair this year with George and Charlie. We look forward to seeing you there.
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| Meet The Pony Day - 5th August 2006 |
All our donors, adoptees and Foudation Members are the life blood of our organisation, we can't wait to show you how the charity is developing and what better way than one of our ever popular 'Meet the Pony' days. Fun starts at 11am, we will have a Bar-B-Que from 12noon and at 2pm a guided walk along the Biodiversity Trail, of course we will be walking with ponies!!!
Let me know if you can make - I need to know how many snags to put on the Barby!!
We look forward to meeting old and new friends,
See you on the 5th August |
| Saturday 22nd July - Widecombe Farmers Market |
We are taking George and Golden Flame to Widecombe Farmers market, so if you happen to be around do come and see us, we will be in the garden behind the church hall. I hope the ponies behave and don't eat the flowers!
We're leaving Starlight and Charlie at home for visitors.
Hope to see you there! Dru, George and Golden Flame |
| Great news!! On Monday 10th July the Dartmoor Sustainable Development Fund agreed to continue funding our Dartmoor Pony Preservation Scheme for one further year. |
This means we will be able to continue supporting 27 herds of traditional Dartmoor Ponies running on the Commons of Dartmoor. However, they have warned this is the final grant they will support the DPHT with. So it is full steam ahead with all our initiatives to increase the foal price and to increase the conservation grazing market.
We received fantastic letters of support from the Dartmoor National Park Authority, English Nature, GAP (Grazing Animal Project), Butterfly Conservation, Rural Devlopment Service and the Dartmoor Pony Society.
Below is part of the supporting letter by Jim Swanson - grazing schemes coordinator across Southern England.
- Adding value to a "primary product" whose production is under threat, in this case responding to a relatively recent decline in numbers by seeking new "markets" for the Dartmoor Pony (also an important part of the culture of Dartmoor)
- Integrating social (for example using Dartmoor ponies in the Ten Tors Challenge for disabled children), environmental [working with the Grazing Animals Project and other land managers and organisations across the UK to provide Dartmoor ponies as conservation grazing animals (and providing advice)], and economic elements (for example providing income for breeders through improved sales of ponies) within their work
- Incorporating active educational elements within their work, e.g. using ponies on the Brimpts farm Tin mine trail..bringing history alive!This is work that is vital to maintain the cultural emblem that the Dartmoor pony represents on the Moor.
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| 28 June 2006: The Country File production team will be filming the ponies at Brimpts Farm on Monday 3rd July.. |
The feature will go out on BBC1 Sunday morning 9th July. we all know how Charlie loves the camera, so we are expecting him to show off in his normal way! As a registered charity it is so important for us to get maximum publicity to promote the current state of the gene pool. As more people find out how critical the situation has become the more support we gain. Hope you find the programme interesting. Let me know what you think? |
| 28 June 2006: Arran Sutton - A wonderful volunteer and great friend.. |
Many of you will have read and seen our adventures regarding our entry into the Ten Tors event in May 2006. Arran and Alan Sutton helped train the children from Millford School and George and Golden Flame.
They have devoted hours to the trust and have been invaluable in establishing our work with young people with disabilities.
Unfortunately, Arran suffered a severe head accident on the 13th June, exactly one month after our success at Ten Tors. Against all the odds Arran is making steady progress. She left intensive care at the weekend and is now awake. We send all our love and very best wishes to them both at this difficult time. |
| 28 June 2006: Dartmoor Sustainable Development Fund grant application. |
The DPHT has just submitted a grant application to run Year 3 of the Preservation Scheme ( a programme of work to increase the overall value of the unregistered Dartmoor ponies and financial support for pony keepers). We wait with baited breath for outcome on the 11th July. |
| 23 June 2006: Pack Pony Project - Training for the Ten Tors Jubilee Challenge pictures now posted. |
Please click here to select the album and view the pictures. |
| 9 June 2006: Grazing Animals Project Field Meeting held at Brimpts. |
A field meetinge for the Grazing Animals Project was held at Brimpts Farm on 9th June. The event was fully booked. Further details of the agenda for the day can be found here. |
| 13 May 2006: Ten Tors Jubilee Challenge: We did it!!!!!. |
We are on a tremendous high, Ten Tors - Jubilee Challenge was amazing, the ponies were fantastic!
We spent the day with large lumps in ours throats which kept us close to tears. The Millford School children were so brave, some of them had to work very hard. The ponies were a great motivator and were presented a special award. The Jubilee Challenge Bronze Medal!!! They had one each. We took young George into the presentation hangar with 400 other participants and he took it in his stride - a real pro. These ponies are brilliant with such super characters. We should all be very proud of them and the children we worked with. Four of us attended yesterday, myself Dru, Aaran and Alan Sutton. Aarran and Alan have been helping with the ponies for months now, coming up to Brimpts and helping take the ponies for walks, helping at the open day and most importantly helping create the relationship with Millford Special Needs School. When they aren't helping the DPHT, they are volunteering for the Donkey Sanctuary Special Needs unit. They are an integral part of this achievement. They aren't volunteers they have become great friends!!
But without Natalie this event wouldn't have been possible, she was amazing and controlled Golden Flame non stop. She got the very best out of her and kept her reassured. I can't explain how intimidating it feels when 1000's of kids start walking past you, the energy from them is hyper and the ponies were charged with it, we all were. To think that Golden Flame was wild and had a halter on for the first time in February of this year is a testimony to the training techniques used, the effort that Natalie has put in and the amazing temperament of these ponies. We now have proof of how versatile, generous and the size of these ponies hearts. We are proud of our charities achievments and are determined to find funding to keep this work going.
A tired, but elated, Dru Project Officer |
| 13 May 2006: Ten Tors Jubilee Challenge. |
Golden Flame is taking part in this event this year as a Pack Pony in the Millford School Plymouth's team. Details of the DPHT involvement in the Jubilee Challenge can be found here. This is the first time a pack pony has been used in this event.Please click here to visit the Ten Tors Jubilee Challenge 2006 website. |
| 10 May 2006: Pack Pony training at St. Michael's School, Kingsteignton. |
On Wednesday 10th May, a training event has been arranged to help further acclimatise the ponies to unusual noises. 4,000 young students enter the Ten Tors event; this creates a great deal of commotion. So the ponies are prepared for the level of distractions and strange noises we have teamed up with St. Michael's School to visit during the busy lunch hour period and pupil home time. The school is fortunate to have a beautiful garden, a large playing field and boasts a superb orchard which will help the ponies settle into this stage of their training.
When the DPHT approached head teacher Martin Harding; he was full of his boundless enthusiasm to involve the children in an unusual environmental issue. The DPHT are looking forward to their visit and are glad the trees are without fruit, it would be embarrassing for the ponies to be caught scrumping apples! |
| 20 April 2006: Visitor Centre Opens!. |
The first stage of our Visitor Centre is now open at Brimpts Farm. Come to Brimpts to enjoy the ponies and to learn more about these lovely animals. Please click here for details. |
| 19 April 2006: Visitor Centre Open Day. |
The Open Day for Foundation Members and Pony Adopters went really well. We are looking forward to meeting everyone again soon. £380 was raised in all. The Holne Chase Hotel offered a free lunch for two as the main raffle prize and this was won by Diane and Syd Robins. We hope they enjoy their meal! |
| 23 Mar 2006: Visitor Centre Moves Forward!. |
The first stage of our Visitor Centre is due to open at Brimpts Farm towards the end of April. Please click here for details. |
| 10 Feb 2006: A further update on our Adoption Ponies. |
A glorious day on Dartmoor. Please click here for details. |
| Volunteers Needed!. As we gear up for our opening, we are in need of volunteers to help in all sorts of areas. |
Please click here to find out more. |
| Another Meet the Pony Day at Brimpts: Tuesday 21st February 2006. Meet your adopted pony or come along to find out more. |
Please click here for more details. |
| 21 Jan 2006: An update on our Adoption Ponies. |
All the ponies are doing well. Please click here for details. |
| 20 Jan 2006: An update on our Training Day held recently. |
Please click here for more details. |
| 20 Jan 2006: Some news about the Pack Pony Project. |
This is a new project we are working hard to get off the ground. Please click here for details. |
