Of the UK’s 15 National Parks, Dartmoor is the 9th largest, with 368 sq.miles, while its neighbour, Exmoor, is the 10th largest with 267 sq.miles. Together they span the north-south breadth of south-west England, mainly in Devon and partly in Somerset. They both take their names from their rivers, the Dart and Exe respectively and they are both home to the UK’s oldest breeds of pony.
Both ponies reach around 12hh and they are extremely well suited to what can be a gruelling environment. They both have their own Pony Societies, established in the 1950s, to maintain the studbooks. The Exmoor pony is the most endangered of the two, but small herds are being utilised around the country for grazing difficult terrains and this type of program is helping to boost their numbers.
In addition to the ponies there are other rare species enjoying the hills and plains of the moors, such as red deer, the cuckoo and the UK’s largest beetle. There are numerous listed buildings and scheduled monuments within the area, which seems to have attracted many Bronze and Iron Age settlers, judging by archaeological evidence. Today, millions of tourists visit annually to walk, cycle, swim and admire the beautiful scenery.
(Top image: Wsupermain2 at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)
